Poetic Strokes & Word Flow poetry anthology

The response gathered a total of 307 poems from 223 unique poets from 36 different communities, representing all 11 SELCO counties. Two panels of volunteer judges, three judges for each competition, were solicited to complete the evaluation of the poems and to recommend their choices for the final selectees to be included in the anthology. Evaluation of the poetry took place in January 2014. The panel, in a double-blind process, completed their task by selecting 51 poems written by 49 regional poets from 16 different communities in seven of the 11 SELCO counties to be published in the 2013 Poetic Strokes anthology. SELCO staff then worked with em en design to create the layout for and produce the final anthology. After publication, copies of Poetic Strokes & Word Flow were provided to all of the poets, SELCO member libraries, regional library directors, and members of the Minnesota Legislature inclusive of the Governor. After the anthologies had been distributed, the judging panel, contributing poets, library staff, and patrons who checked out the anthology were surveyed. Copies of Poetic Strokes were added to the SELCO professional collection so patrons statewide could checkout a copy via interlibrary loan.