Poetry 99

Dang, Chico! What’s got you so inspired? We received more than 400 poems from you for the 2010 Poetry 99 contest. While we had room for only 28 of your best pieces, overall we received an impressive amount of really great work. This has probably been the best Poetry 99 so far.

Our judge this year was Beth Spencer, editor of Bear Star Press, a local printer that publishes works of poetry and short fiction. She also occasionally teaches in the Literary Editing and Publishing program at Chico State.

We gave Spencer the enormous stack of poems, stripped of the writers’ names to ensure each was judged based on its merit—just the 99 words or fewer as they appeared on the page. Given Spencer’s involvement in the local writing community, there was the slight possibility she’d recognize a poet by words alone—and she did. In this instance Spencer recused herself from voting and CN&R editors stepped in to judge and place the entry.

Spencer had a big job reading and considering the merits of each poem, and the CN&R is very grateful for her help. She chose selections that nicely represent the broad range of writers in the area.

“I hope CN&R readers will find something to like in the work that is published and not be discouraged if their own poems were overlooked. Judging anything is somewhat subjective,” Spencer said. “Thanks for the opportunity to read our region in this way!”