Mayor Gray presenting Hap Houlihan with the official Lexington Poetry Month proclamation at Morris books. June 30, 2013.
Photo courtesy of Bernie DeVille

Lexington Poetry Month has come to an end! It’s been an amazing journey and everyone involved should be proud of him- or herself. We’ve had almost 60 poets submit at least ten poems to be posted on the blog, 5 of whom posted 30. In fact, we posted over 1,000 poems during the month of June!

But it’s not just about the numbers. It’s about the people. Of course we’d like to thank everyone involved, from the poets who persevered through thick and thin all the way to those who wanted to but couldn’t for circumstances beyond their control. We want to thank our partners, including Broadstone Books, Old Cove Press, the University Press of Kentucky, Wind Publications, Sqecial Media, and Joseph-Beth Booksellers. We want to thank the Carnegie Center, who are always supportive of local poets, as well as the Lexington Public Library for hosting a reading that will air on the library’s official cable channel. We must thank Mayor Jim Gray for announcing June 2013 as Lexington Poetry Month and the mayor’s communication specialist/special events liaison Lori Houlihan for penning his decree in verse.

Of course we have to thank the fine folks at the Morris book shop, especially Hap Houlihan who co-founded this event with Accents’ own Katerina Stoykova-Klemer. And while it may seem tacky, what with this being the Accents Publishing Blog (and therefore, Katerina’s blog), I want everyone to give a hearty shout-out to Katerina for everything she’s done for the community.

It has been truly remarkable watching this passionate community come together. Amateur poets and professionals have shared the same space, helping, sharing, and supporting each other’s work. While this year’s Lexington Poetry Month was bigger than we’d anticipated, we can’t wait to see what the next year has in store. And just because the month is over, that doesn’t mean we’re done writing. In fact, we’ve only just begun!

For a list of every registrant and his or her poems, click this link. If you notice any errors in reporting, please contact me at blog.accents.publishing (at) gmail.com.