Editor’s Notes

Greetings Readers,

In this issue we have poetry by a former selection committee member, the youngest editor of a university literary magazine, a performer, and a research assistant. The poems are as varied as the activities and occupations of the contributors. I hope you enjoy the last issue of the year.

Speaking of last issues, we are currently putting the finishing touches on the final issue of our ninth year of the Bywords Quarterly Journal to be launched as part of our annual fundraiser reading for the Cornerstone Women's Shelter, which takes place on Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 2pm at the fabulous and supportive Collected Works Bookstore. We will have poetry by some of the contributors and music by the talented Andrea Simms-Karp, not only a frequent Bywords performer, but also a personal favourite of mine. Bring coin and bills for the hat and we will donate your money to Cornerstone. We call this reading Bywords Warms the Night because our goal is to make the nights of downtown homeless woman a wee bit warmer by ensuring they have shelter and support.

Speaking of Collected Works, I would like to thank the store for hosting half our readings in 2011 when we were going through our nomadic phase, and hosting us again through 2012. The store graciously offers us their fantastic space without charging for it. In return don't forget to shop at their fine establishment. Now you can even order on line.

Speaking of fine, I wish to congratulate a member of our selection committee, Claudia Coutu Radmore, the winner of the 2011 bpNichol Chapbook Award for her chapbook Accidentals published by one of Ottawa's finest chapbook publishers, Apt. 9 Press. Previous winners include Bywords-published poet Sandra Ridley.

Speaking of selection committees, I would like to thank our selection committee in 2011 who have read a lot of poems and made excellent decisions this year. This month's selection committee:

Janie Beriault
Gwen Guth
Pamela Mosher
Kemisha Newman
Claudia Coutu Radmore
Sarah-Grace Ross
Carol A. Stephen

Finally I would like to thank all of you, the readers, contributors, event organizers, publishers, the City of Ottawa, book store proprietors and staff for supporting Bywords in 2011. I wish you a joyous holiday season and a splendid 2012. 2012 has a wonderful array of events coming our way, including the second annual VERSeFest a week-long festival devoted completely to poetry. I hope to see you there.

If you have comments, suggestions or date pinwheel cookies to share, please e-mail me at amanda@bywords.ca.

For regular event updates, please follow us on Twitter or join our FaceBook fan page.

Amanda Earl