The Chief Editor has been indisposed due to circumstances beyond his control and there has been a delay in the processing of the submissions during the window ended 15th January.

This work has now been completed by Nick and Alicia, the co-editors, and it is likely no bad thing that the other guy has not had an influence on the final selection this time round. Change is as good as a rest.

• Email responses to submissions in that window will be coming out over the course of the next week.
• Remaining poems that were slated for January publication will re-commence shortly.
• The latest batch of accepted poems will be published mainly in March, maybe a few drifting into April.
• We anticipate that submissions in the current window that ends on February 28th will be dealt with according to usual process, and we expect responses to those to be forthcoming by mid-March.

After an extended Christmas break, we are back a little later than expected, and the poems we have slated to publish in January will likely spill over into February now.

The most recent submission window closed on 15th January and we are starting the selection process – people can expect responses at the end of this month. The new window opened on 16th January and will run to the end of February – for poems to publish in April.

To get things rolling again, here is our usual bi-monthly poll for a Readers’ Choice poem. In November and December there were four poems that stood out in terms of reader response, and here they are. Voting will close on 26th January when our mug-winner will be announced.

• Together – by Stewart Carswell
• Unpeople Stay in a Travelodge – by Helen Kay
• Those Pyjamas – by Helen Freeman
• Most Determined Daughter – by Gareth Writer-Davies

…to all our readers and contributors, and a big thank you to everyone who has been a part of Algebra of Owls in whatever way. That includes my co-editors, past and present, who put a lot of hours into this project.

Without all that, I would just be a bloke sat in front of a computer muttering to himself.

We have one more poem to publish in 2018, on Boxing Day, then a week off before we start publishing poems again in January – with a Readers’ poll due and the Editor’s Choice Poem of Ian Harker to look forward to.

Finally, a quick reminder that the current submission window is slightly longer than usual and ends on 15th January… for poems we anticipate publishing in March next year.

May your season be joyful.

The Editor’s Choice poem for November/December will be selected by Ian Harker.

Ian’s debut collection Rules of Survival was published by Templar Poetry in 2017. Most recently he’s been poet in residence at the Henry Moore Institute and runner-up in the BBC Proms Poetry Competition. He’s co-editor of Strix magazine, which was shortlisted for a 2018 Saboteur Award.

Our current submission window closes on 30th November, for poetry that we expect to publish on the site in January 2019.

Our next window will be slightly longer, running from 1st December to 15th January, for poetry we intend to publish in March 2019. This is because we are giving ourselves a month off actually publishing anything in February 2019….

The submission window for poetry to publish in April 2019 will run from 16th January to 28th February.

Delighted to announce that the winner of the September/October poll for the Readers’ Choice Award is Michelle Diaz. A prize mug of infinite joy will be on its way to her shortly. That may be hyperbole but I’ve been at the wine.

My Mother Came Back as a Pigeon  – by Michelle Diaz

The Editor’s Choice Poem is:

Memory is held by water – by Jackie Biggs

selected by Clare Shaw who said:

“This was no easy task – a wonderful bunch of poems with many strong contenders! I narrowed it down to five and could go no further for a while – should I choose the passionate, powerful, urgent imagery of “The Function of Emotions” (Olivia Tuck), the concise and precise strength of “Bishops’ Hearts” (Matthew Stewart) with its devastating final line; or the ache and punch of “Instructions for My Husband When My World Comes Undone” (Michelle McMillan-Holifield), with its fractured imagery? Or the perfect portrait of “Hospital Night Wardress” (Natalie Scott), oozing with darkness and sensuality?

All wonderful poems, and plenty more besides. In the end, I chose “Memory is held by water” by Jackie Biggs with its painful, chilling insights and its stunning restraint. This takes the story of one man in one place, and through the voice of the river, offers us something universal – as disturbing and heartbreaking as the subject demands. In its strangely calm and impersonal sense of compulsion, completion and comfort, it speaks for the people it depicts – with tenderness and respect. A great poem.”