Only a few more days to go.

Just finished reading another packet of poems for the North American Review's Hearst Poetry Prize. My Craft of Poetry class had the opportunity to help in the selection process, so I took it. This year's judge is Billy Collins, former US poet laureate, and we're narrowing the 2500+ entries down to about a hundred before we send them off to him. Most of them are, to quote Corey, "piles of shit on paper," but there a few that have been so well crafted that they have taken the breath from my lungs.

Having this sort of opportunity helps me to appreciate my own work, which doesn't seem so bad after reading a couple hundred piles of shit (sounds quite humble, doesn't it?). And in a weird way, seeing the process of submission and rejection reduces the anxiety I have about sending out my own work. But that's still a far way off; I am submitting work to our student publication, InnerWeather, in a couple weeks, but that doesn't really count.

Ooo, can't even wait for Movie Night tonight. We're watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles on the big screen TV at St. Stephen's. Should be hilarious.