H A P P Y FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY, MM!



Look for my 'Year in Review' soon!

Thanks all for making the Mosaic shine!
~Cleo

Just a quick reply on the past year's board stats in a nutshell to start with (if you're nutty about numbers as am I).

Alright - here goes, in the past year, we've had;

20,125 posts (replies to new topics)
1677 per month on average
56 per day on average

2,039 topics
170 per month on average
6 per day on average

and 68 new members joined our family.

We've also published two new chapbooks this past year:
Hued Horizons, Collection of Poetry by John L. Yelavich
Published in December, 2006. Inside this 52 page chapbook compilation by John L. Yelavich, you'll find 39 page-turning poems filled with themes that both radiate and energize our souls. Imagination can crystallize our visions, and determination brings us closer to destiny’s design. In John's third published chapbook, you'll take a journey through Blissful Bonds, Idyllic Perceptions and Bittersweet Shadows.

Patagonia Lost, Books I and II , Collection of Poetry by Sylvia Maclagan
Published in April, 2007. Inside this 104 page chapbook collection by Sylvia Maclagan (sold as a two book set only), you'll find 46 page-turning poems (with 13 equally impressive photographs of Patagonian sights) that emphasize ecological climate changes taken from the author’s personal experiences. Take a trip through the mystical land of Patagonia and witness the imagery Sylvia describes through vivid word pictures. Dan Newland, former Editor-in-Chief of the Buenos Aires Herald, eloquently summarizes this collection as follows; “Her poems capture the essence of the terrain: wide open yet somehow oppressive, raw yet gentle, desolate yet comforting, a land of contradiction and emotions that elicit both a rare joy and a persistent lump in one's throat. There is, in the almost solidified blue of the sky in the Patagonian steppes, a hint of something more that lies just beyond, a glimpse of infinity, a fleeting promise of immortality.”

We have also started the design work a special collection of MM chapbooks that will each spotlight a specific poetic form with poems by our talented members. The first is currently underway for the form, "Swap Quatrain".

One of the most engaging and exciting changes this past year has been our acceptance into the IBPC (InterBoard Poetry Competition), hosted monthly by Web del Sol. The IBPC aims to bring continual growth, in both quality and popularity, of poetry on the Internet. We believe MM to be a great asset to that union and benefit on several levels. We also feel that the talent and quality of works posted at MM is worthy of a larger audience.

The InterBoard Poetry Competition (IBPC) was conceived in 1999 by Michael Neff, Director of Web Del Sol. Neff worked with the Atlantic, Utne, and other on-line poetry boards to create a meaningful mission for the IBPC. The goals were several. First, to seek to improve the quality of poetry and discourse on participating boards and on the Internet in general; second, to discover and publish new poets; and third, to help these new poets become recognized by leading literary periodicals.

Currently, the IBPC includes twenty-two participating boards. IBPC recognition of poets, and the boards they represent, has become an increasingly prestigious honor. Meanwhile, the nature of the competition has fostered creativity and improved communication among the on-line poetry community. Recently, IBPC staff have successfully engaged print journals with the competition. They plan to continue bridging the media gap between internet and print poetry.


Since January, when we officially became a participating forum, the following members have had poems submitted to the competition (chosen by their peers here at MM through the monthly nomination and polling process):

JustDaniel
Eisa
Merlin
Cathy
AMETHYST ~ Honorable Mention in April
azurepoetry
Gregory
JaxMyth ~ Honorable Mention in April
Cleo_Serapis
Kathy ~ 3rd Place win in June
Nada Lott
Judi
Michelle

Well done all!
~Cleo

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ... MOSAIC MUSINGS!!!


Has another year gone by already??? Then again, 4 years, it feels like many more years than that, but then again I can't believe it is already 4 years... So this is what senility feels like!

Let's give Lori a Large applause for all she does to keep Mosaic Musings Running like a home for her poetic family!






We love you Lori ... and we're all grateful for the work, money and efforts you put into MM to keep it here for us like a blanky on a stormy night...


Hugs, Liz

Congratulations to Lori for keeping this venue moving along on a forward course and thanks to all of the members and staff who make this a vibrant and friendly place to visit, chat, and share creativity.
JLY

Happy Anniversary, Mosaic Musings !

Congratulation, Lori and all.





Aggie