Poets: Get Ready To Die

I use this poem from #kennethpatchen to make clear that:

This year’s selection process has been nothing short of a massacre. One-third of all poets failed to meet the points threshold. We are still in the process of finalizing the selections, as each jury member has three bonus or malus points to either secure a spot for a poet or remove someone from the list.

Here’s a brief overview:

FESTIVAL STATES

• Massachusetts:
  Nearly all entries from Massachusetts were eliminated. It feels like Edgar Allan Poe’s revenge. From all poets in this state, only one made the cut. I have a serious issue with Boston’s representation, but if that’s the outcome, I’ll accept it.

POETRY TRAIN STATES

• New Jersey:
  Same story here. Only one survivor! While it’s less dramatic than Massachusetts, it’s not as critical since we don’t host our festival in New Jersey. We just pass through.
• Delaware:
  This year, we received our first-ever submission from Delaware, one of our Poetry Train States, but unfortunately, it didn’t make it into the anthology. I’m genuinely saddened by this.

OTHER STATES

• Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois and North Carolina:
  All entries from these states have been eliminated. While I can live with the loss, I’m especially disappointed about Illinois. One of the poets had been with us for the last two editions, and she even read at our Los Angeles festival. Sadly, she didn’t make it this year.

OTHER COUNTRIES

• North America
  We got one entry from Canada. He didn’t made it.
• Europe
  This year we got poems from three different European countries, UK, Germany and Belarus. Only one entry from United Kindom got selected for our festival.
• Asia
  We got one this year also an entry from India. He didn’t made it. 
• Africa and Australia
  We got entries from Africa and Australia and in both continents we could come to a selection.
• South America
  We didn’t get any entries from South America this year.

Fingers crossed—maybe, just maybe, the three bonus/malus points each jury member holds will change someone’s fate, either bringing them up or taking them down!