Best of the Net 2023 Selection

As editor of The Five-Two, I get to choose six poems published July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 for Best of the Net 2023 consideration. Since every poem I publish is one of my favorites, I like to give The Five-Two's audience three of the six picks:

• You can vote by commenting on a poem's post or Liking its YouTube video.
• Your comment can be feedback on the poem or just "Best of the Net 2023."
• Deadline: The three poems receiving the most comments and Likes by Wednesday, September 14, 2022 will be submitted along with my three picks.

Here are the six nominations submitted September 29, 2022:

• "How to Make a Whale..." by Amy Holman (August 9, 2021)
• "Susan Smith's Dream" by Sally Weston Ziph (September 13, 2021)
• "The Devil Has Gone Home" by Sharon Waller Knutson (November 22, 2021)
• "Unresolved Story..." by Saira Viola (January 10, 2022)
• "Conversion" by Pamela Hobart Carter (May 16, 2022)
• "Her Shadow" by Kelly Sargent (June 20, 2022)

The complete anthology contents will be announced by the end of January 2023. Good luck to all.

2020 Best of the Net Nominees

Every poem I publish at The Five-Two is a favorite of mine, so in past years I've allowed readers to vote on three of my six submissions for Sundress Publications' Best of the Net anthology.

With the COVID-19 outbreak this year and other business, I had no time to open the voting, but at yesterday's deadline, I submitted the following.

In the order they debuted during Best of the Net's July 1, 2019–June 30, 2020 eligibility period:

• "Intruders at Akumal" by Clarinda Harriss
• "Just Shoot 'Em" by Faye Turner-Johnson
• "The Ogre's Wife" by Robert Plath
• "Prom Queen" by Tom Barlow
• "Autobiography of Ursula" by Margot Douaihy
• "CA" by Ron Riekki

Thanks and good luck to all.

2019 Best of the Net Nominees

Every poem published at The Five-Two is a favorite of mine, so in past years I've allowed readers to vote on three of my six submissions for Sundress Publications' Best of the Net anthology.

This has been quite a busy year, so I chose all the submissions right at the September 30 deadline.

In the order they debuted during Best of the Net's July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019 eligibility period:

• "Florida Man" by Peter M. Gordon
• "That Alternative Universe" by Nancy Scott
• "Punk" by Rusty Barnes
• "Murder at the Monastery" by Gregory Cioffi
• "Ballad of a Tabby Man" by Howard Ho
• "First Degree Murder" by Roseanne Fahey

My thanks and good luck to all.

Best of the Net 2017

Again this year, The Five-Two will enter Sundress Publications' Best of the Net competition. I am allowed to submit six of the poems that appeared here July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017. Every poem I publish is my favorite in some way, so I leave it Five-Two readers to determine three of the six picks.

From 10:30 a.m. July 15 to 10:30 a.m. July 21, the five poems below received the highest combined number of blog comments, Twitter retweets, and Twitter likes. Three tied for third place, so I extended readers' say to five picks and made one of my own:

• Kimo Armitage, "Nuclear Gift..."
• Aja Beech, "Borders"
• Amy Holman, "I'm a Rabbit Girl"
• Karen Petersen, "The Last Battle"
• David Rachels, "Costume"
• Sara Tantlinger, "Dangerous Honesties"

Thanks, everyone, for participating. Congratulations and good luck to the poets.

2016 Best of the Net

The Five-Two entered six poems published July 1, 2015–June 30, 2016 for possible inclusion in Sundress Publications' 2016 Best of the Net anthology. Our readers determined three entries by highest total of Twitter Likes and blog comments: "Mortal Terror" by Sarah Stockton, "Mistrust" by Nancy Smahl-Syrop, and "The Beggar" by Bruce Harris.

Editor Gerald So choose the remaining three entries: "Not So Super" by John Grey, "Melodrama at the Biograph" by Sharon Israel, and "For the Love of Death" by Shirley J. Brewer.

Results should be announced in first-quarter 2017. Good luck to all.

Sundress Publications' Best of the Net 2015 Results

In July 2015, I sent six Five-Two poems to be considered for inclusion in Sundress Publications' Best of the Net anthology. I picked three of the six and determined the rest by number of Favorites on Twitter. Sundress announced the results March 20, and our selections did not make the anthology, but I'm glad to honorably mention them again:

• "The Alphabet of Murder" by Nancy Scott
• "First Grade Criminal" by Anne Graue
• "You Didn't Mean to Kill Anyone" by Roger Netzer
• "Star Wars: Dark Forces Re-Awaken..." by Elizabeth Lash
• "We Didn't Know" by Bill Baber
• "Love Me Like a Murder Scene" by Sara J. Tantlinger

Best of the Net 2015

I've submitted six Five-Two poems for Sundress Publications' 2015 Best of the Net anthology consideration. Because I believe every poem I accept is the best, I had Twitter users pick three of the six:

Five-Two fans, choose 3 of the poems we send to @SundressPub's Best of the Net. Favorite tweets w/ hashtag #BestPoemsOnCrime to vote.

— The Five-Two (@PoemsOnCrime) July 9, 2015

Here are the three most-Favorited poems, along with three of my choice, in the order they were published at The Five-Two:

• "The Alphabet of Murder" by Nancy Scott
• "First Grade Criminal" by Anne Graue
• "You Didn't Mean to Kill Anyone" by Roger Netzer
• "Star Wars: Dark Forces Re-Awaken..." by Elizabeth Lash
• "We Didn't Know" by Bill Baber
• "Love Me Like a Murder Scene" by Sara J. Tantlinger

Congratulations and good luck to all.