2010 Best Books of Indiana Poetry Entries
Thank all of you for serving as a nonfiction judge in the sixth-annual Best Books of Indiana competition. You will find an entry form which provides background and basic guidelines for the competition at http://www.in.gov/library/judges.htm
Here are brief introductions and contact information for your fellow judges:
Mr. Richard Pflum runs the Poetry Salon for the Writers’ Center of Indiana and was instructor of Advanced Poetry Writing at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis during the late 80′s. He was a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony and poetry co-editor of Stoney Lonesome with Roger Pfingston and David Wade. His books include A Dream of Salt (Raintree Press 1980) and A Strange Juxtaposition of Parts by the Writers’ Center Press in 1995. He appears in several anthologies, including A New Geography of Poets, University of Arkansas Press, 1992, The New Laurel Review, 1999, and Glass Works, Pudding House, 2002. He can be reached at drahcir@indy.net
Dr. Elizabeth Weber is an associate professor of English at the University of Indianapolis, teaches creative writing and directs the Kellogg Writers Series. She has two collections of poems, Small Mercies and The Burning House and her poems have appeared in many literary magazines. Her poem, "City Generation," was chosen to be part of Indianapolis' Cultural Trail at the Poet's Corner. She can be reached at eweber@uindy.edu
Ms. Doris Lynch is a librarian, college instructor and published writer. Her work appears in Bitter Oleander, Commonweal, and Tattoo Highway. New work is forthcoming in Adirondack Review and Xanadu. Her chapbook, Praising Invisible Birds, appeared from Finishing Line Press in November 2008. The Indiana Arts Commission has awarded her three individual artist's grants: two for poetry and one for fiction. She can be reached at dorisjeanlynch@gmail.com
The decision process itself is up to the panel of judges for each category. Your panel can make individual decisions and then get together in person/email/phone to reach a group consensus, or you can make decisions as a group. You may want to use the “Evaluation Guide” to use in rating the books. Each panel picks up to three (3) finalists and from these chooses one (1) Best Book.
Important Dates (tentative):
September 27: The judging panel should provide the following: list of three (3) finalists and identification of the Best Book (email is fine).
September 28: Finalists will receive notification by this date. Note: They will not know which book is the Best Book until the awards ceremony.
October 1: Identify the winner among the three finalists and collectively submit a 3-6 sentence comment for each finalist (see attached sample from previous year).
Please contact Drew Griffis at agriffis@library.in.gov if you have questions, comments, or suggestions during the judging process.