I received the news yesterday that my full-length manuscript wasn’t chosen as a finalist for The Washington Prize. Naturally, I feel some disappointment. (Who doesn’t want to be the winner??)  But it’s still an honor to have been selected as a semi-finalist, especially my first time out (i.e., first press to whom I submitted the book). Knowing that people at The Word Works read and (presumably) liked my poems encourages me. I’ll be sending the same manuscript out to several more presses this fall. Avanti!