Editor’s Notes

Greetings dear readers,

The May issue of Bywords.ca features resolutions, dark things, shelter, and moonlight, which pretty much describes this time we're in. I hope you enjoy the poems.

Submissions of late have been low. If you're writing poetry these days and you meet our qualifications: current or former Ottawa resident, student or worker, I urge you to send us your unpublished poetry. Poets receive an honorarium of $30. The poem is then considered for the 2020 John Newlove Poetry Award. The Newlove Award recipient and honourable mentions get the opportunity to read as part of the Ottawa International Writers Festival, and the poet who wins the Newlove Award gets the chance to have a chapbook edited and published by Bywords. Please refer to the guidelines and send us your work. If you have any questions, feel free to ask at any time.

I am pleased to welcome our new selection committee member, Ellen Chang-Richardson, an active poet and event organizer who has recently come to Ottawa. We are always looking for volunteers for the selection committee. In order to be eligible you must have either poetry publishing credentials or training in the form of an academic degree specializing in poetry or have taken poetry workshops with well-known Canadian poets. If you want to contribute to Ottawa's literary community and gain some experience as a poetry editor, if you have an hour or so a month to devote to reading and voting on between thirty and sixty poems, please e-mail me to join our team.

Thanks to our selection committee this month:

Jesse Aubin
Ellen Chang-Richardson
Margo Lapierre
Kemisha Newman
Ashley Prince
Jade Riordan
Helen Robertson
Carol A. Stephen
JC Sulzenko
Rob Thomas

I hope you are coping with these unsettling times.

If you have questions, comments, suggestions or a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup to offer, please feel free to e-mail me at amanda@bywords.ca.

Amanda Earl
Managing Editor

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