I’d like to extend my hearty thanks to Tim, our long-serving but sort of retired Poet Lariat for taking the Lariat board to new heights of success. During his tenure, he featured an impressive list of Guest Lariats, including Richard Wilbur, and the late Anthony Hecht.

This forum will continue the successful experiment where moderators and, even regular members how have the opportunity to host a Distinguished Guest and are encouraged to take the initiative to do so. The Distinguished Guest does not necessarily have to be a poet, given that we also have fiction and art forums.

I will be more or less moderating this forum, partly in the interest of leveraging the Able Muse featured and other poets, and partly to accept and review requests to invite and host Distinguished Guests.

The need for review is necessary due to the following reasons:

- To determine the qualifications and suitability of the proposed guest – does s/he meet our standards and topicality?

- To determine the ability and/or qualification of the requester to host such an event, I might accept welcome the suggested guest but look for a more fitting host, or, do it myself.

- To coordinate the hosting calendar and resolve schedule conflicts.

I should also mention that the hosts will have considerable leeway on the form of interaction with their Guest – they might conduct an interview, invite general Q&A from members, elicit opinion or comments on selected work from members, or, use a combination of these modes of interaction.

I’m looking forward to new and interesting times for the Distinguished Guest forum ... If you have a Distinguished Guest you can invite and host, PM Maryann or me!

Cheers,
...Alex