The E-Town poetry community’s response to PoFest ’08 has been fantastic! Better than we could have hoped for! You should all sit down and give yourselves a nice round of applause (or down a round of boilermakers, if that’s your thing). Despite all odds – zero budget, a late start, some organizational hiccups, Jeff Carpenter’s Mickey Rourke fixation – this year’s PoFest is looking like it’s going to be the best yet in terms of participation. Here are some quickie numbers:

Not bad for a middling city in a generally anti-arts province and a festival with only a few sheckles in its whiskey bag (the old Crown Royal bags? Anyone?). On behalf of the org team, I want to say a giant thank you to everyone who signed up to read and volunteered to help this little endeavor fly. We owe you hugs and kisses. And some beer. Only two days to go!