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MMPoetry 2013: Round 1 Flight 2 Matchups Underway

All 64 first round words of March Madness Poetry 2013 have been unveiled. The Flight 1 words can be found here.

Here are the Flight 2 words …

Humor Region
6-perpendicular (Laura Shovan) vs. 11-flaccid (Alison Hertz)
3-awry (Robyn Hood Black) vs. 14-verjuice (Matt Forrest Esenwine)
7-interlock (Marcus Ewert) vs. 10-elongated (Jim Hill)
2-lodged (Cara Slavens) vs. 15-narcotize (Eric Ode)

Empathy Region
1-dazzle (Victoria Warneck) vs. 16-diphthongs (Julie Larios)
8-winsome (Ann Magee) vs. 9-moratorium (Ken Slesarik)
5-puttering (April Halprin Wayland) vs. 12-sophisticate (Deborah Holt Williams)
4-chagrin (Buffy Silverman) vs. 13-liquefaction (Ana Paest)

Logic Region
6-malarkey (Cheryl Lawton Malone) vs. 11-grok (Doraine Bennett)
3-shank (Jen Kelley) vs. 14-unbutton (Lissa Clouser)
7-espouse (Susan Taylor Brown) vs. 10-asymmetric (Allan Wolf)
2-gesture (Damon Dean) vs. 15-meretricious (J.J. Close)

Passion Region
1-rent (Joe Mohr) vs. 16-parallax (William Peery)
8-bereft (Katya Czaja) vs. 9-burgle (Samuel W. Kent)
5-parse (Carrie Finison) vs. 12-troubleshoot (Penny Klostermann)
4-liability (Callie C. Miller) vs. 13-vendetta (Greg Pincus)

Voting on the matchups above will begin on Thursday morning, March 14th.

Voting on the Flight 1 matchups will begin Wednesday morning, March 13th.

Enjoy the madness …

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March 12th, 2013 | Tags: , , , , | Category: Events, MMPoetry2013, Poems
  • http://www.laurasalas.com laurasalas

    Holy…moly. I’m all for interesting words in poems, but I have to say I wish all the words were ones that kids in 5th grade or so would have at least heard of before, even if they weren’t common poetry words. I feel a little sorry for some of the poets. On the other hand, a game’s a game, and this will certainly make it more challenging. Rock on, poets!

  • http://susantaylorbrown.com Susan Taylor Brown

    Laura, thanks for saying what I was thinking.

    There’s the challenge to write a poem using the word but then there’s the challenge to make the poem one for kids, especially trying to keep it for those 5th grade (and under) which might mean teaching the word as well.

    But it’s a fun game and I am sure I’m going to be astounded by the talented poems people come up with again and again.

  • http://www.thinkkidthink.com Ed DeCaria

    I appreciate you saying this. Good feedback. I will say, though, that it is the words that poured in from last year’s ousted authletes that pushed me in the direction of increasing the difficulty of the words at each level relative to last year. I can certainly recalibrate future rounds if the balance between “fun” and “challenge” has swung too far in the latter direction. That was not my intent at all …

  • http://www.NoWaterRiver.com Renee LaTulippe (@ReneeMLaTulippe)

    I will chime in to say that words like parallax, verjuice, narcotize, diphthongs, and grok seem to go beyond fun and are there more for the purpose of tripping up than challenging. The flight 1 words are somewhat tamer overall.

    That said, I think I would go slightly insane trying to gather and categorize words for all these difficulty levels, so kudos to you on that!

  • Michele Krueger

    I appreciate the discussion, and agree with Renee that some of the words are so challenging and rarely seen at any age level in poetry. Ed, maybe consider turning it down a notch in the future in favour of more familiar words for kids. And me.

  • http://www.thinkkidthink.com Ed DeCaria

    Sounds like this is the general sentment, so that is exactly what I will do. I will also ask that authletes who do not make it past round one who are asked to submit words will follow the same advice! Thanks again, and good luck everyone.

  • http://www.mainelywrite.blogspot.com Donna

    Ditto, here. I was thinking the same thing about the words when I posted this: “The word bank had to be incredible this year – the words range from pretty solid words we might use every day to words that most have never even said in their entire lives, and have never even planned to say, ever, and would have to look up in a dictionary and maybe even have it pronounced for them if they wanted to use them someday like today.”

  • http://www.pennyklostermann.com Penny Klostermann

    Thanks, Ed, for all you do. I wanted to chime in and say that just yesterday I was asked to participate in a workshop this summer where we will be giving teachers poetry resources to use in the classroom with their students. In a previous conversation, I had with the Region Service Center, I told them about March Madness. It is specifically one of the resources she wants me to use in the workshop presentation. Teachers could refer back to to a March Madness at anytime of the year for an interesting variety of kid-friendly poetry for students to study and analyze for meter, rhyme scheme, etc. With that in mind, I did see a few words that will give some teachers pause. That’s OK. Teachers need to evaluate any resource and pick and choose what is to be used in their classroom. But I do feel that we can all keep this in mind as we write our poems and help with word choice going forward.
    Again, Ed, thanks for this tournament. I appreciate your work!! It is a jumping-up-and-down kind of fun!

  • http://www.thinkkidthink.com Ed DeCaria

    Thanks, Penny. Hopefully everyone sees this as a small blip and we ‘ll plow ahead. I will say again that the poems coming in are fantastic, even the ones based on the toughest words. And that is a tribute to all of you. So thank you!

  • http://www.pennyklostermann.com Penny Klostermann

    Definitely, Ed…plow ahead with gusto and a spirit of competitiveness and utmost fun! I’m poetically pumped!

  • http://www.lindaboyden.com Linda Boyden

    Will echo the kudos for all you do, Ed. Gotta say I must now look up grok and verjuice…never heard of them! Can’t wait to see what those two poets in particular come up with.

  • http://susantaylorbrown.com Susan Taylor Brown

    Ed, I want to balance my thoughts with immense gratitude for all the work you do to pull this together. You can’t be all things to all people so at the same time you are evaluating how you want your tournament to work, we all have to evaluate what it is about the tournament that makes us want to play.

    Thank you for so many opportunities to write and discuss poetry with people who share my passion for poetry.

  • Bill

    I personally don’t take issue with the challenging words, but as a 16, do I receive words like ‘parallax’ each round should I make it? Eek!

  • angie breault

    This being my first year in the tournament, I assumed that it was exactly as it should be. I’ve been blown away by what these poets have come up with for even the most difficult words. I guess we can write regular poetry any time, but this is one time out of the year that we REALLY have to think outside of the box. I think all of us will be better writers for it. Even so, I’m happy either way. Thanks for all your work Ed! Looking forward to the next round whether as a participant or an observer. Thanks again!

  • http://www.alisonhertz.com Alison Hertz

    Ok – read every poem, placed my votes. Well done to all.

  • http://www.childrensauthorbjlee.com B.J. Lee

    amazing poems with these difficult words. Well done poets!