So, some time earlier this year I found out that my poem "Give Me Pluto" was nominated for the Science Fiction Poetry Association's Rhysling Award. In a small field like poetry, and in the even smaller field of genre poetry, this nomination means A LOT to me, and I am absolutely grateful to the person who nominated me (thanks, and you rock, whoever you are) and to Strange Horizon's wonderful Sonya Taaffe for accepting the poem for publication in the first place.
But then, a couple of days ago I found out that not all of the other nominees had been sent proofs of the Rhysling anthology in which all nominated poems are collected. Although people at the SFPA are aware of this, to my knowledge, nobody has received a formal apology, and worst of all, some of these poets' pieces have been reprinted with errors in them, and in poetry, even such things as not italicizing a certain passage or forgetting a line-break here and there matter. I would think that the SFPA is very aware of this, I would think that they care.
In any case, the whole thing makes me doubt the professionalism of this anthology, and as a poet it just makes me feel sick for the other nominees to know that voting is supposed to take place based on a book that contains errors introduced some time during the making of the Rhysling anthology.
Therefore, I follow Elizabeth McClellan's example and encourage you to not buy the Rhysling anthology if you had been planning to do so, and to let the SFPA know that you are not buying it and why. I also encourage you to read this post by Lisa M. Bradly, another poet who never received her proof.
ETA 7/18: It seems SFPA President David Kopaska-Merkel sent out a proof and a brief apology now to the nominees who didn't receive their proof in the first place; while the printed version cannot be changed, this proof can thus only affect the pdf version of the anthology.
Comments are being moderated.
But then, a couple of days ago I found out that not all of the other nominees had been sent proofs of the Rhysling anthology in which all nominated poems are collected. Although people at the SFPA are aware of this, to my knowledge, nobody has received a formal apology, and worst of all, some of these poets' pieces have been reprinted with errors in them, and in poetry, even such things as not italicizing a certain passage or forgetting a line-break here and there matter. I would think that the SFPA is very aware of this, I would think that they care.
In any case, the whole thing makes me doubt the professionalism of this anthology, and as a poet it just makes me feel sick for the other nominees to know that voting is supposed to take place based on a book that contains errors introduced some time during the making of the Rhysling anthology.
Therefore, I follow Elizabeth McClellan's example and encourage you to not buy the Rhysling anthology if you had been planning to do so, and to let the SFPA know that you are not buying it and why. I also encourage you to read this post by Lisa M. Bradly, another poet who never received her proof.
ETA 7/18: It seems SFPA President David Kopaska-Merkel sent out a proof and a brief apology now to the nominees who didn't receive their proof in the first place; while the printed version cannot be changed, this proof can thus only affect the pdf version of the anthology.
Comments are being moderated.
