an update on the Bop anthology

---Here is an update to those who are interested in the progress of the anthology of Bop poems that Tara Betts and I are doing.

We have not secured a publisher, despite some inquiries.  We have not sent out additional inquiries in the past several months to conflicts in our respective schedules and the necessities of having to adjust to personal emergencies.  During the winter break we will be sending out queries to publishers once again.  

The journal Brilliant Corners, edited by Sascha Feinstein, will have the Bop as its focus in the forthcoming December issue.  You will have a chance to read the original essay I wrote for the Bop in 1997, when I was a member of the first faculty to be invited to teach at Cave Canem.  There is also a small section of poems chosen by Mr. Feinstein from the manuscript of the anthology.  We plan to include this issue of Brilliant Corners in our queries to editors.

We are quiet happy with the manuscript of the anthology, but in discussing it over the course of the last two years, we have noticed there are not too many celebratory or even humorous Bops.  As you proceed as poets, please not that the Bop is for the full range from heavy to lighter fare in subject matter.

Also note, especially if you are teaching the form, that a poet should always choose or create a refrain that is free of copyright restrictions.  As I created the Bop for the workshops at Cave Canem, I was not concerned about copyright issues.  As the form has entered the public, I would like to emphasize that you treat previously published material in music as you would any other when writing.  A created refrain is the most secure, and as such, it can be inspired by music that is under the protection of copyright.  You need only say so and be sure your refrain is your own work.

We will release updates as we go along.

Thank you for being a part of this anthology project, and we are sorry it is taking so long.  We are doing the best we can.

Afaa & Tara





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