Source one: Toolkit for Poets
I'm a sucker for this kind of site. I love resource lists because you can find so many hidden gems that you might not have stumbled across otherwise. I quite like compiling my own resource lists, which reminds me... I really should rebuild my worldbuilding resources for fantasy/SF writers.
This site is a really great resource for any poet, from weathered masters to green newbies. The introductions to poetic terms/forms as well as the overwhelming number of links to other poetry sites provide a great springboard for anyone looking to expand their poetic horizons. There is also a very useful section on publishing and copyright; it focuses mainly on copyright in the US (with a single link to an Australian site), which works for this class, but could be expanded to include other countries.
Perhaps the most useful sections of this site are the links to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and quotations. It's inevitable that I won't be able to figure out the right word to use, and having more than dictionary.com or thesaurus.com will be incredibly helpful. I also love that the site lists a Middle English dictionary. It might be interesting to dig through there, find an obsolete word, and see if I can write a poem around it. The quotation links can come in handy, too, even for one of our poetry practices. Take a familiar quotation from one of those sites and fiddle with it a bit, then build a poem around it.
The information on different poetry forms is really interesting and useful. I'm really interested in playing with new, less common poetic forms. I found the page about the Korean form, sijo, to be really interesting, as I've never heard of that form before. I was ready to complain that the webmaster hadn't included any Korean sijo as examples, but I found the translations page, and I really appreciate that. I also liked the page on Japanese poetic forms. I'm familiar with haiku and get a kick out of writing them, but I hadn't heard of tanka or renga. I do wish there had been more information on Chinese poetic forms; I'm interested in seeing if Chinese poetry seems to focus on nature as deeply as Japanese and Korean poetry seems to.
Source two: Word Circuits
I've been writing on the internet for over ten years now, and I have no idea why it never occurred to me that HTML, CSS, Flash, images, etc, can be used for poetry. When writing fiction on the web, I used images on occasion to illustrate sections, but the idea of "writing" a poem using images is really new (and provocative) to me.
The excerpt from Bill Bly's We Descend reminds me of a strange, poetic version of those old "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories from my childhood. Using HTML links to move the prose-poem forward, and the footnotes give the reader somewhat unreliable look into the scholar's mindset and emotions.
Jackie Craven's "In The Changing Room" reminds me even more strongly of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories. The poem is made up of 8 different characters' perceptions of an event. The path through the poem is in no way linear, and every time you read through the poem, the story will be a little different. Of course, you could read straight through each character's story, but the fun and intrigue in this poem is to click on the intertwining links within the narrative and jump back and forth between the characters' points of view.
I think my favorite poem in the gallery is Peter Howard's Flash presentation, "Subatomic and Particle Poetry." The comparison of poems and subatomic particles is strangely fascinating. I've been reading a book on cosmology, astrophysics, and the future of the universe, so maybe I was predisposed to liking this poem, but Howard's observations about the behavior of poetry in cyberspace and comparison to particle behavior is at the same time funny and insightful.
This wasn't the focus of this site, but this has inspired me to see if I can find any cyberpunk poetry. I'm a big fan of that genre of fiction, but I haven't found any poetry yet. Maybe I'll even write some.
Source three: ALTX Online Network
And my wish for cyberpunk poetry is fulfilled. I am so incredibly pleased to find the alt x e books section, with PDF and Print-on-Demand versions of the ALTX anthologies. I spent quite a while perusing the Hard_Code anthology edited by Eugene Thacker. Now, I'm not a coder or a programmer or anything like that. I can make websites and write HTML and CSS, both of which are more design-oriented than anything, and I can muddle my way through a bit of the web programming language PHP with a set of really good instructions. I could probably learn the coding stuff if I really applied myself, but it's not like I exactly have time for that sort of thing. But I do find the idea of merging fiction and poetry with code to be intriguing. MEZ's "_Datableeding" incorporates text as if the narrator is creating a program for reading. The reader must shuffle through bits of code interspersed in the code, notes, and so on. It's really a fascinating format. I also like the incorporation of common cyberpunk themes such as the concept of body with stories like Rebekah Sheldon's "Visible Body Project."
I'm a fan of comic books, and I love visual narrative. I like that ALTX has galleries of net art and "visible narrative" in the hyper x section of the website. The use of images that are seemingly unconnected to the words in some of these works makes for an interesting effect; it's not so much about telling a story with the image as you would in a comic book as it is about evoking an emotion that complements the words. I thought this was particularly effective in "dollspace...hauntologies," a collaboration between Francesca da Rimini, Ricardo Dominguez, and Michael Grimm included in "Alt-X-Hibition Visible Narratives."
Listening to: Robert Downey, Jr. - "Kimberly Glide"
Reading: The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs
Red
About Me
- TDF Pamela
- I'm currently wandering through life, looking for the best path. I love reading, writing, pop culture, SF/fantasy, playing the Sims 2, and daydreaming. I blog here: http://www.thediscriminatingfangirl.com
8 comments:
Response to Toolkit for Poets
http://thewordshop.tripod.com/links.html
Reading your blog provided me with so much insightful information! This site is an excellent resource for any writer/poet (beginner and experienced) to start researching and learning about uncommon poetic forms and different cultures, like Korean. Such information is invaluable to a teacher and a poet (or an aspiring poet) because it is important to expose students to different forms of poetry, beyond the usual, to enrich their knowledge and interest in writing. Of course, learning the variant styles of cultures and the messages conveyed, students and viewers of this site broaden their scope of poetry and different customs. With the examples, students (and poets) can evaluate the use of different poetry terms and forms this site defines.
In addition, links to poetry sites, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and quotations assist in researching, writing in general, and developing poetry. The Middle English dictionary provides translations of poetry, or works, written in that style. And, for those with an interest in publishing and copyrighting, this site includes the content and other sites (mainly U. S., but one Australian) that are beneficial.
I liked your blog; however, I too read the circuit web site, but I had a different feeling about it. I actually did not like that site, because it was to confusing to me. But I'm glad you got something out of it. I did agree with you concerning your other two entries. Again, I enjoyed your blog responses.
I liked your energy about the circuit website. I think that the idea behind image based e-poetry is great. I enjoyed your response to the poems that used many different intertwining links to tell the story from different views. I love when you get to see many different sides. I think it helps society to see this, I think the majority of people are all way to one sided. I think it helps us to view more than one side of things. I really enjoyed this post.
I am not a big online poet, but you have given me a great sense of understanding with your comment about e-poetry (particularly the visual narrative)- "it's not so much about telling a story with the image as you would in a comic book as it is about evoking an emotion that complements the words." My biggest argument against e-poetry was that it limits the mind and distracts from the poetry, but this certainly brings a new perspective to it. Thanks!
A middle english dictionary? That's going to come in handy. There are a lot of great poems written from the 1200's to the 1500's that just aren't accessible to most people because of the words being written in a much different manner. I've never heard of sijo either. The short form of the sijo reminds me of the haiku in that they are both very contracted forms.
I too really like the idea of using images (and sound as well) to write poems...it gives the possibility of many new and unexplored dimensions of poetry.
Sounds like this is right up your alley! I had know idea all of the wonderful things you can do with this poetry stuff online.
Also the imaging is really neat.
I guess I am sort of "old school" and think of peotry as lines on paper. So this experirence is wonderful.
Thanks for the details and wealth of information here!
I also read Peter Howard's Flash presentation, "Subatomic and Particle Poetry" and didn't get it at all. Perhaps your background allowed you to understand it more than I am conceptually able. Kudos to you. Your interests are definitely diverse and unlike mine, so reading your blogs is like an introduction into poetry genres I have never considered: cyberpunk poetry, sijo, and the use of Middle English. These are truly less common and fascinating. I am glad you provided a path to explore these areas; it helps us all broaden our limited idea of poetry or lit(art)ure.
*heh* I have sometimes thought I should hire you to take my classes because that way there's someone besides me who is all into this weird online and techy stuff! Luckly for me you don't seem to need to be bribed!
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