As a high school English teachers, the sites I find most helpful are poetry archives, but I also found a site to help with publishing and a site with some great e-poems.
www.writersmarket.com
While this site does require purchasing a membership, I think it is the quintessential resource for those wanting to get published. And signing up for this online service for a couple of months is much cheaper than buying the print edition. This site provides publishing information in an organized, easy to find manner. It also has publishing advice and even lets you set up reminders to help you keep up with dates for submission and follow-up.
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/
This site is from the library of congress and provides a poem a day for American high school students to read. It also includes a little tutorial on how to read a poem out loud (which many students need help with). What a good way to read a variety of poems and keep you mind focused on your craft on a daily basis.
http://poetry.eserver.org/
This site provides a great list of links to canonical verse from the Carnegie-Mellon English Server. And while it is not very comprehensive, it does provide a good sampling from many different types of poems.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/amverse/
Is a site dedicated to archiving as much American poetry as possible that was written from 1920 to the present. It is part of the University of Michigan Humanities Text Initiative. It contains a variety of ways to search through the archive.
http://library.msstate.edu/magnolia/news/poetry.htm
Magnolia is an archive of on-line poetry archives ranging from Milton to modern to German and even includes a link to an on-line books page.
http://technekai.com/
Aya Karpinska is a digital media designer, and she displays some of her e-poetry on this page.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Week 4's Blog
Net Verse
I appreciate that his site is written by someone that has been covering poetry on the internet for over 10 years. He has seen the evolution of poetry on this vehicle/platform. Since his articles were limited by his publisher to 300 words, they are a concise, quick read. Based on his introduction, though, I was expecting current articles, too, but they only spanned from ’96 to ’01. In his first article he talks about how the sites have changed from boring gray, and black to the “in vogue” colors with bells and whistles. We have come a long way. 12 year later, if someone comes across a completely boring looking site, they are like to just keep going. Aesthetics have become quite important in the world of the internet.
I was drawn to the article titled “Blimey. This Internet thing really works!” I think its fun to read about people reaction and shock to the internet. This article seemed to express his surprise that someone in Africa knew about his site and want to be included. Even from the beginning, the internet really was making this planet a smaller place.
And of course, a title like “Sex and Search Engines” grabbed my attention; aren’t these supposed to be about poetry? Here he mentions searching for poetry versus searching for sex on the internet, with sex getting about 350,000 hits and poetry getting about 220,000 hits. Curious, I did my own experiment. I agree with someone a comic I saw on TV that said no matter what is typed into a search engine, some of the results will include sites with sexual content. When I googled “sex” I came up with 863,000,000 results. Googling “poetry” only yielded 169,000,000 results. I think this is very telling. While the internet may not be the devil like my father once cautioned, it defiantly has its evils.
He also has a link to his own “site for poems and poetry resources” which I found to be a lot like the other poetry resource site covered in this class. It is organized well with quite a variety of sites.
Hypertext Poetry
I was surprised when I checked out the next site and discovered that it was from the same guy that did the net verse page. This page is just one of the links off of his homepage.
I really like that, since a Flash player is required for most of these links, he was kind enough to have this page set up to show what version of flash you have if you have flash player, and if it is working. I’ve never seen that as an automatic thing on a site; they usually just tell you to get it if you don’t have it. Being a little computer ignorant like I am, I don’t remember from one time to the next what I have on my computer so I was impressed with this site from the very beginning.
On to the hypertext links…
I stopped by his gallery of small hypertext poems hoping to find something small and palatable to help me appreciate the world of e-poetry a little more. What I found here hardly qualifies as poetry in my opinion; it just seems like creatively playing with text and movement on a computer. I can appreciate the creativity that went into them, and they are fun, but I think it weakens the genre of poetry to call this set of activities poems (I am only referring to this set of e-poetry; I get how much of e-poetry is, well, poetic).
I found “Like Smoke” however to be a very creative expression that was enhanced by the hypertext usage. I don’t think that these words would have been much of a poem without that tool.
His poems “Intersperse” and “Ugly” both went over my head. All I got when I clicked on “Ugly” was a black screen; I’m hoping that it just didn’t load properly. “Intersperse” seems like a neat concept with its jumbled text that, for lack of a better term, rejumbles with the click of a button; however, I was never able to get it into a form that was understandable (or maybe that’s the point).
Overall, this site helped me at least see some examples of hypertext poetry, whether I liked them all or not. I now see this as something doable and fun to experiment with. I may even introduce it to my students. It pushes the limits of traditional concrete poetry.
Poetry Markets
I decided to search the nonpayment links in the poetry market to give me some publishing ideas for this class since I have never even really tried to publish any of my work. I found some pretty interesting things like “54: Fiction and poetry that is 54 words no more, no less.” OK. Why 54? Why not, I guess. That’s a fund challenge but not what I’m looking for.
Moving past that, I get a little overwhelmed. While this site only shows 10 links at a time, it just keeps going and going. I think I would prefer a more concise list or a list that is organized into categories and types of publication. And most of the descriptions are a little vague. I mean, really, what’s the difference between on ezine that “publishes poetry and short fiction that appeals to young readers” and the next one. And why would “no restrictions” be a positive. Am I supposed to be proud to get published by a source that publishes anyone. At least with “54” I knew exactly what they were looking for and they had guidelines (be they seemingly arbitrary as they were). It seems a little overwhelming to try and search all of these one at a time to find the right one. I just don’t find this very user friendly.
I appreciate that his site is written by someone that has been covering poetry on the internet for over 10 years. He has seen the evolution of poetry on this vehicle/platform. Since his articles were limited by his publisher to 300 words, they are a concise, quick read. Based on his introduction, though, I was expecting current articles, too, but they only spanned from ’96 to ’01. In his first article he talks about how the sites have changed from boring gray, and black to the “in vogue” colors with bells and whistles. We have come a long way. 12 year later, if someone comes across a completely boring looking site, they are like to just keep going. Aesthetics have become quite important in the world of the internet.
I was drawn to the article titled “Blimey. This Internet thing really works!” I think its fun to read about people reaction and shock to the internet. This article seemed to express his surprise that someone in Africa knew about his site and want to be included. Even from the beginning, the internet really was making this planet a smaller place.
And of course, a title like “Sex and Search Engines” grabbed my attention; aren’t these supposed to be about poetry? Here he mentions searching for poetry versus searching for sex on the internet, with sex getting about 350,000 hits and poetry getting about 220,000 hits. Curious, I did my own experiment. I agree with someone a comic I saw on TV that said no matter what is typed into a search engine, some of the results will include sites with sexual content. When I googled “sex” I came up with 863,000,000 results. Googling “poetry” only yielded 169,000,000 results. I think this is very telling. While the internet may not be the devil like my father once cautioned, it defiantly has its evils.
He also has a link to his own “site for poems and poetry resources” which I found to be a lot like the other poetry resource site covered in this class. It is organized well with quite a variety of sites.
Hypertext Poetry
I was surprised when I checked out the next site and discovered that it was from the same guy that did the net verse page. This page is just one of the links off of his homepage.
I really like that, since a Flash player is required for most of these links, he was kind enough to have this page set up to show what version of flash you have if you have flash player, and if it is working. I’ve never seen that as an automatic thing on a site; they usually just tell you to get it if you don’t have it. Being a little computer ignorant like I am, I don’t remember from one time to the next what I have on my computer so I was impressed with this site from the very beginning.
On to the hypertext links…
I stopped by his gallery of small hypertext poems hoping to find something small and palatable to help me appreciate the world of e-poetry a little more. What I found here hardly qualifies as poetry in my opinion; it just seems like creatively playing with text and movement on a computer. I can appreciate the creativity that went into them, and they are fun, but I think it weakens the genre of poetry to call this set of activities poems (I am only referring to this set of e-poetry; I get how much of e-poetry is, well, poetic).
I found “Like Smoke” however to be a very creative expression that was enhanced by the hypertext usage. I don’t think that these words would have been much of a poem without that tool.
His poems “Intersperse” and “Ugly” both went over my head. All I got when I clicked on “Ugly” was a black screen; I’m hoping that it just didn’t load properly. “Intersperse” seems like a neat concept with its jumbled text that, for lack of a better term, rejumbles with the click of a button; however, I was never able to get it into a form that was understandable (or maybe that’s the point).
Overall, this site helped me at least see some examples of hypertext poetry, whether I liked them all or not. I now see this as something doable and fun to experiment with. I may even introduce it to my students. It pushes the limits of traditional concrete poetry.
Poetry Markets
I decided to search the nonpayment links in the poetry market to give me some publishing ideas for this class since I have never even really tried to publish any of my work. I found some pretty interesting things like “54: Fiction and poetry that is 54 words no more, no less.” OK. Why 54? Why not, I guess. That’s a fund challenge but not what I’m looking for.
Moving past that, I get a little overwhelmed. While this site only shows 10 links at a time, it just keeps going and going. I think I would prefer a more concise list or a list that is organized into categories and types of publication. And most of the descriptions are a little vague. I mean, really, what’s the difference between on ezine that “publishes poetry and short fiction that appeals to young readers” and the next one. And why would “no restrictions” be a positive. Am I supposed to be proud to get published by a source that publishes anyone. At least with “54” I knew exactly what they were looking for and they had guidelines (be they seemingly arbitrary as they were). It seems a little overwhelming to try and search all of these one at a time to find the right one. I just don’t find this very user friendly.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Week 3's Blog
Levertov’s Final Interview
I don’t know if it’s because I am not as well read yet as I’d like to be, but I am not familiar with Levertov’s poetry; however, I enjoyed reading her interview quite a bit and will be looking into her work.
I love that writing poetry was natural to her; she just “had the impulse to do so.” Not only that, but she hardly even attended school. This is just raw talent; granted she seemed to refine it as she matured and worked with other poets. She was not only writing poetry at a young age but was also interested in ballet and painting. She was obviously very artistic with many interests and possibilities. These are characteristics of gifted children (too many potential careers and strong intrinsic motivation).
I also appreciate that she says she learned her craft “by writing and a lot of reading.” I believe that good writing requires both being well read and a lot of practice. I find it interesting that since she didn’t go to school, she “never had to read anything (she) didn’t want to read, or write anything (she) didn’t want to write.”
I really liked reading that William Carlos Williams’ poetry helped her adjust to American life and expressing herself in this new place. Poetry is such a person expression that has the potential to exclude, include, or inform about/with others’ experiences; it’s up to the reader.
When asked if she chooses the subjects or her poems or if they choose her, her response, “there’s very little strictly deliberate about anything I do,” is great. I can totally relate; what I write depends on the subject, when and where it hits me, what I’m trying to express, and how I’m feeling.
I found her response to the question about revising her work to be very illuminating. I like to see this process in an accomplished poet. Before this class, I thought my poems should stay in the raw, first form in which they came to me in order to best express the emotion of the experience. I now appreciate the value of revisiting and revising.
What I appreciated most in this interview was when she admitted her concerns about losing some credibility when she started writing about her religious beliefs. She goes on to imply that regardless of the religion, being honest about the search and yearning for the something more seemed to appeal to her readers. I found this of particular interest because I had similar concerns about sharing my more spiritual poems in this class. I was worried that people would red my religious poems and form a bias against my other, non-religious poems. My spirituality is a very important part of me, but it is still only a part of me. And I do want to express things from various parts of my experience.
Toolkit for Poets
At first glance, this site is rather overwhelming, but after perusing a bit, I discovered that it is not only manageable but a great resource. The list of links is organized in to great categories, and each link is given a good description so time isn’t wasted exploring site that are not what you want. This site is a great tool for both the experienced and the novice poet brought to a stand-still with writer’s block, the perfect word, proper allusions, or publishing opportunities. It is also simple enough to be navigated by the not-so-tech-savvy individual. It is also a great source for the English classroom from elementary on through graduate studies (a range that broad if tough to come by). You could follow the links to other pages with links on to an endless journey of information. Not a lot of pretty bells and whistles, but I think they would only detract from the practicalness of this site.
Resources for poets
I found this site to be helpful but much less comprehensive than the toolkit. I think it is geared more for someone that tends to be overwhelmed with too many options. While it has descriptions of each link, the descriptions are not as detailed. The links are not categorized either. While this includes a link to poetry communities, the only thing the toolkit seemed to be missing, most of the other sites seem more geared to the novice or casual poet.
I don’t know if it’s because I am not as well read yet as I’d like to be, but I am not familiar with Levertov’s poetry; however, I enjoyed reading her interview quite a bit and will be looking into her work.
I love that writing poetry was natural to her; she just “had the impulse to do so.” Not only that, but she hardly even attended school. This is just raw talent; granted she seemed to refine it as she matured and worked with other poets. She was not only writing poetry at a young age but was also interested in ballet and painting. She was obviously very artistic with many interests and possibilities. These are characteristics of gifted children (too many potential careers and strong intrinsic motivation).
I also appreciate that she says she learned her craft “by writing and a lot of reading.” I believe that good writing requires both being well read and a lot of practice. I find it interesting that since she didn’t go to school, she “never had to read anything (she) didn’t want to read, or write anything (she) didn’t want to write.”
I really liked reading that William Carlos Williams’ poetry helped her adjust to American life and expressing herself in this new place. Poetry is such a person expression that has the potential to exclude, include, or inform about/with others’ experiences; it’s up to the reader.
When asked if she chooses the subjects or her poems or if they choose her, her response, “there’s very little strictly deliberate about anything I do,” is great. I can totally relate; what I write depends on the subject, when and where it hits me, what I’m trying to express, and how I’m feeling.
I found her response to the question about revising her work to be very illuminating. I like to see this process in an accomplished poet. Before this class, I thought my poems should stay in the raw, first form in which they came to me in order to best express the emotion of the experience. I now appreciate the value of revisiting and revising.
What I appreciated most in this interview was when she admitted her concerns about losing some credibility when she started writing about her religious beliefs. She goes on to imply that regardless of the religion, being honest about the search and yearning for the something more seemed to appeal to her readers. I found this of particular interest because I had similar concerns about sharing my more spiritual poems in this class. I was worried that people would red my religious poems and form a bias against my other, non-religious poems. My spirituality is a very important part of me, but it is still only a part of me. And I do want to express things from various parts of my experience.
Toolkit for Poets
At first glance, this site is rather overwhelming, but after perusing a bit, I discovered that it is not only manageable but a great resource. The list of links is organized in to great categories, and each link is given a good description so time isn’t wasted exploring site that are not what you want. This site is a great tool for both the experienced and the novice poet brought to a stand-still with writer’s block, the perfect word, proper allusions, or publishing opportunities. It is also simple enough to be navigated by the not-so-tech-savvy individual. It is also a great source for the English classroom from elementary on through graduate studies (a range that broad if tough to come by). You could follow the links to other pages with links on to an endless journey of information. Not a lot of pretty bells and whistles, but I think they would only detract from the practicalness of this site.
Resources for poets
I found this site to be helpful but much less comprehensive than the toolkit. I think it is geared more for someone that tends to be overwhelmed with too many options. While it has descriptions of each link, the descriptions are not as detailed. The links are not categorized either. While this includes a link to poetry communities, the only thing the toolkit seemed to be missing, most of the other sites seem more geared to the novice or casual poet.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Week 2's Blog (e-poetry sites)
http://epc.buffalo.edu
While at first glance, this site was not very aesthetically pleasing, it turned out to be a vast resource that was quite easy to navigate.
My first task was to find an explanation of e-poetry. After clicking the e-poetry link, I went to Glazier’s link under “About E-Poetry”. There I found a digital version of what appeared to be a print manuscript titled Digital Poetics: The Making of E-Poetries. In his introduction while talking about how and why e-poetry came to be, he states, “new materials alter what constitutes writing.” Well, this only makes since. Poetry has changed a lot in the last century so the invention and popular acceptance of a new medium that allows so many artistic variations logically leads to a new format. I love the notion that e-poetry exists within a cooperative community on-line that transcends geographical boundaries is what seems to be the ideal artistic society. He explains this new mode of writing very well: “digital work (is not) an extension of the printed poem, but the idea of the digital poem as the process of thinking through this new medium, think through making.” This is where my understanding was breaking down. I thought e-poetry was simply embellishing written pieces with sounds and images from the web, but it is actually expressing the emotions and ideas in poetry through sounds and images available on the web.
This site also contains quite an impressive list of links to actual examples of e-poetry, links to reviews of and essays about e-poetry, e-poets’ web-sites, blogs of e-poets, and portals to resources helpful to creating e-poetry. After perusing through the examples found here, I think I appreciate this new genre even more. As the risk of sounding trite, it’s so poetic.
Deena Larsen’s Quick Buzz around the Universe of Electronic Poetry
http://orelitrev.startlogic.com/v1n1/HistoryE-Poetry.htm
Larsen’s site is not really a database filled with links to e-poetry sites, but is really summed up by her title. Her goal seems to really be breaking down e-poetry into definitions and its components. This site is useful for novices like me that are interested in exploring this genre of poetry and trying their hands at actually writing it but with no idea of how or where to get started.
In her definition she explains that e-poetry takes poetry from “a two-dimensional plane on paper to multi-dimensional universes on the computer.” Well put! She goes on to explain that poetry in its print forms is still being defined and constantly evolving so it should be no surprise that e-poetry is difficult to confine to a simple definition. I think this is why she focuses more on exploring the components and examples of e-poetry and allowing her readers to come up with their own working definitions.
She first discusses poetry in images. Here she explains that most e-poetry incorporates color, images, and fonts that can’t be captured on the printed page. These elements, however, are not just meant to be visually appealing but are essential to convey the meaning the poet intends. She uses Robert Kendalls’ A Study in Shades as a beautiful example of how the changing images and appearing words work together to create a powerful meaning, but neither would be complete without the other component. The example ~Water~Water~Water~ is a beautiful piece of art /poetry.
She goes on to discuss sound in poetry. While some made me want to grab my bongos and grow back the goatee that my wife hates, I was confused how others, like Jim Andrew’s Nio were considered poetry. His piece just sounded like a great experiment with jazz music. He explains that it expresses thoughts that can’t be said in words, but I still don’t see what classifies it as poetry rather than music. Then again, I teach songs as poetry set to music. I guess if I go with that approach, maybe dance is poetic as well.
This segues into her discussion of poetry that switches genres. Looking through these examples, I begin to wonder where the lines blur between what is defined as modern and abstract art, and e-poetry; which she conveniently goes on to discuss: why does it have to be either/or?
Larsen also explores poetry communities on-line some of which connect poets to each other and various events, while others use the community of poets to create the poem. She also discusses the freedoms of time and space that technology offers and the future of computer generate poetry.
http://www.wordcircuits.com/
This site opens with the following: This is a place for poetry and fiction born to pixels rather than the page--writing that's digital down to its bones. That about sums it up.
Word circuits is a site designed to help those interested in creating hypertext poetry, both those experienced in this form and beginners.
A gallery is offered to display current work and to serve as an example of what this form looks like. Here I explored Jackie Craven’s In the Changing Room, a fascinating piece that interconnects characters and themes through hyperlinks within the text. What a great literary expression. I also wanted to explore Deena Larson’s Stained Word Window after finding her other site so useful. She uses hypertext to reveal what appears to either be small poems or stanzas thematically linked to the hypertext.
For a quick tour of the website, the gallery was most helpful. The other links would be very helpful in creating my own hypertext poetry which I am interested in experimenting with.
While at first glance, this site was not very aesthetically pleasing, it turned out to be a vast resource that was quite easy to navigate.
My first task was to find an explanation of e-poetry. After clicking the e-poetry link, I went to Glazier’s link under “About E-Poetry”. There I found a digital version of what appeared to be a print manuscript titled Digital Poetics: The Making of E-Poetries. In his introduction while talking about how and why e-poetry came to be, he states, “new materials alter what constitutes writing.” Well, this only makes since. Poetry has changed a lot in the last century so the invention and popular acceptance of a new medium that allows so many artistic variations logically leads to a new format. I love the notion that e-poetry exists within a cooperative community on-line that transcends geographical boundaries is what seems to be the ideal artistic society. He explains this new mode of writing very well: “digital work (is not) an extension of the printed poem, but the idea of the digital poem as the process of thinking through this new medium, think through making.” This is where my understanding was breaking down. I thought e-poetry was simply embellishing written pieces with sounds and images from the web, but it is actually expressing the emotions and ideas in poetry through sounds and images available on the web.
This site also contains quite an impressive list of links to actual examples of e-poetry, links to reviews of and essays about e-poetry, e-poets’ web-sites, blogs of e-poets, and portals to resources helpful to creating e-poetry. After perusing through the examples found here, I think I appreciate this new genre even more. As the risk of sounding trite, it’s so poetic.
Deena Larsen’s Quick Buzz around the Universe of Electronic Poetry
http://orelitrev.startlogic.com/v1n1/HistoryE-Poetry.htm
Larsen’s site is not really a database filled with links to e-poetry sites, but is really summed up by her title. Her goal seems to really be breaking down e-poetry into definitions and its components. This site is useful for novices like me that are interested in exploring this genre of poetry and trying their hands at actually writing it but with no idea of how or where to get started.
In her definition she explains that e-poetry takes poetry from “a two-dimensional plane on paper to multi-dimensional universes on the computer.” Well put! She goes on to explain that poetry in its print forms is still being defined and constantly evolving so it should be no surprise that e-poetry is difficult to confine to a simple definition. I think this is why she focuses more on exploring the components and examples of e-poetry and allowing her readers to come up with their own working definitions.
She first discusses poetry in images. Here she explains that most e-poetry incorporates color, images, and fonts that can’t be captured on the printed page. These elements, however, are not just meant to be visually appealing but are essential to convey the meaning the poet intends. She uses Robert Kendalls’ A Study in Shades as a beautiful example of how the changing images and appearing words work together to create a powerful meaning, but neither would be complete without the other component. The example ~Water~Water~Water~ is a beautiful piece of art /poetry.
She goes on to discuss sound in poetry. While some made me want to grab my bongos and grow back the goatee that my wife hates, I was confused how others, like Jim Andrew’s Nio were considered poetry. His piece just sounded like a great experiment with jazz music. He explains that it expresses thoughts that can’t be said in words, but I still don’t see what classifies it as poetry rather than music. Then again, I teach songs as poetry set to music. I guess if I go with that approach, maybe dance is poetic as well.
This segues into her discussion of poetry that switches genres. Looking through these examples, I begin to wonder where the lines blur between what is defined as modern and abstract art, and e-poetry; which she conveniently goes on to discuss: why does it have to be either/or?
Larsen also explores poetry communities on-line some of which connect poets to each other and various events, while others use the community of poets to create the poem. She also discusses the freedoms of time and space that technology offers and the future of computer generate poetry.
http://www.wordcircuits.com/
This site opens with the following: This is a place for poetry and fiction born to pixels rather than the page--writing that's digital down to its bones. That about sums it up.
Word circuits is a site designed to help those interested in creating hypertext poetry, both those experienced in this form and beginners.
A gallery is offered to display current work and to serve as an example of what this form looks like. Here I explored Jackie Craven’s In the Changing Room, a fascinating piece that interconnects characters and themes through hyperlinks within the text. What a great literary expression. I also wanted to explore Deena Larson’s Stained Word Window after finding her other site so useful. She uses hypertext to reveal what appears to either be small poems or stanzas thematically linked to the hypertext.
For a quick tour of the website, the gallery was most helpful. The other links would be very helpful in creating my own hypertext poetry which I am interested in experimenting with.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Blog #3
Nikki Giovanni interview
Giovanni puts into words exactly what I’ve been trying to say when I teach poetry. I tell students that poetry is simply the expression of emotion, but I’ve never been able to explain the difference between expressing emotion and good poetry. Or as Giovanni put it, is you don’t know poetry you end up with “trite crap”.
I also like how she explains that her poetry is so closely connected to who she is and where she comes from.
I agree that a writer must write. It may not pay the bills, but you have to write. I am not a writer, per se, but my wife is. She has to write. When she gets a rejection letter, she may get down for a while, but she has to keep writing. Giovanni put it very well. I think that’s what makes an artist an artist: it’s just who they are.
Her comments on the comfort of books makes me think: books are comfortable to those of us who didn’t grow up with anything besides books, but in a world where children are more comfortable with a computer screen than a person, much less a book, will these be the sentiments of the generations to come. Why, just last night, I was at a graduation ceremony and watched a two-year-old playing on a portable game system (grant it, my two-year-old often prefers books to toys, and sometimes to people). I think we may be entering into a time when the printed page has less of emotional importance, and thus less of a significance in our society. This segues into the world of e-poetry. We are seeing the arts take on many new forms due to technology. I guess what I am realizing as I type is that as the word changes so does our art.
But where does that leave the parts of the world that are not living in the technological age?
Giovanni puts into words exactly what I’ve been trying to say when I teach poetry. I tell students that poetry is simply the expression of emotion, but I’ve never been able to explain the difference between expressing emotion and good poetry. Or as Giovanni put it, is you don’t know poetry you end up with “trite crap”.
I also like how she explains that her poetry is so closely connected to who she is and where she comes from.
I agree that a writer must write. It may not pay the bills, but you have to write. I am not a writer, per se, but my wife is. She has to write. When she gets a rejection letter, she may get down for a while, but she has to keep writing. Giovanni put it very well. I think that’s what makes an artist an artist: it’s just who they are.
Her comments on the comfort of books makes me think: books are comfortable to those of us who didn’t grow up with anything besides books, but in a world where children are more comfortable with a computer screen than a person, much less a book, will these be the sentiments of the generations to come. Why, just last night, I was at a graduation ceremony and watched a two-year-old playing on a portable game system (grant it, my two-year-old often prefers books to toys, and sometimes to people). I think we may be entering into a time when the printed page has less of emotional importance, and thus less of a significance in our society. This segues into the world of e-poetry. We are seeing the arts take on many new forms due to technology. I guess what I am realizing as I type is that as the word changes so does our art.
But where does that leave the parts of the world that are not living in the technological age?
Blog #2
Mez interview
I like that Breeze, or Mez, incorporate difference arts and mediums into her poetry. This is something I have never considered before and was a little unsure about when I started this course, but have embraced the challenge and am enjoying it.
While his “mezangelle” style is fascinating, it seems as though one could only really understand and enjoy if they have studied his style and learned to translate it. This may limit his audience, but for some reason, I don’t think that concerns him.
I’m an out of the box thinker (which is why I love teaching literature and sometimes struggle with grammar). I love writers like ee cummings and Emily Dickinson that push the norm and play with the accepted standards. I’m intrigued by Breeze’s style which appears to push the envelope even farther. The question that logically follows, though, is at what point do we loose the art itself in our attempts to break the mold? Is there some form required to keep within the parameters of art? What separates art from nonart?
As I continue reading this interview, I see that Breeze himself struggles with the label of “poetry” for what he does while conceding that it does have some poetic qualities.
I like that his art includes modern takes on language, something that is often considered inappropriate on a professional level.
If nothing else, this challenges me to experiment with incorporating other mediums within my own writing. I also have a tendency to want to use the high vocabulary I work so hard to equip my students with, but this article has challenged me to consider using more vernacular wordings and phrases. Finally, I am challenged to consider poetry to be more than just words on a page.
I like that Breeze, or Mez, incorporate difference arts and mediums into her poetry. This is something I have never considered before and was a little unsure about when I started this course, but have embraced the challenge and am enjoying it.
While his “mezangelle” style is fascinating, it seems as though one could only really understand and enjoy if they have studied his style and learned to translate it. This may limit his audience, but for some reason, I don’t think that concerns him.
I’m an out of the box thinker (which is why I love teaching literature and sometimes struggle with grammar). I love writers like ee cummings and Emily Dickinson that push the norm and play with the accepted standards. I’m intrigued by Breeze’s style which appears to push the envelope even farther. The question that logically follows, though, is at what point do we loose the art itself in our attempts to break the mold? Is there some form required to keep within the parameters of art? What separates art from nonart?
As I continue reading this interview, I see that Breeze himself struggles with the label of “poetry” for what he does while conceding that it does have some poetic qualities.
I like that his art includes modern takes on language, something that is often considered inappropriate on a professional level.
If nothing else, this challenges me to experiment with incorporating other mediums within my own writing. I also have a tendency to want to use the high vocabulary I work so hard to equip my students with, but this article has challenged me to consider using more vernacular wordings and phrases. Finally, I am challenged to consider poetry to be more than just words on a page.
Blog #1
Wang Ping (poets writing in English as second language) interview
Let me start by saying I love the poem that Ping wrote. What a beautiful interpretation of second language learner’s emotions: almost a manifesto that they can declare their thoughts and emotions in whatever means necessary.
My experience in education has taught me that people often assume that people that struggle with English are of lesser intelligence. The unfortunate truth is that there are many people of high intelligence and education trapped within the confines of language acquisition. Even once the language is mastered, they are faced with the stigmas and prejudices an accent carries.
I love that Ping found freedom in writing poetry in English. I also appreciate that she had the chutzpah to stand up to a first language poet about her language difficulties. It’s like Ping felt comfortable expressing her feelings in her second language that were not acceptable in the restrictions of her first language.
When she talks about knowing the roots to English words but not even thinking about the roots of her native language, I’m reminded of the fact that a second language learner often knows the rules and origins of the language they are learning much better than someone that just picked up the language naturally. They also have a greater appreciation for the language after having studied it and work at it.
This challenges me to really consider the words and rules while writing rather than just arbitrarily writing whatever comes to mind. I usually just consider writing poetry as a spontaneous expression of emotions regarding a topic rather than something I toil over. If I am truly working on it, I’m working on what I want to express more than how I want to express it. I feel that Pink is also challenging us at the same to time not overly adorn our poem with what I call fluff. There is beauty in the simplicity.
Let me start by saying I love the poem that Ping wrote. What a beautiful interpretation of second language learner’s emotions: almost a manifesto that they can declare their thoughts and emotions in whatever means necessary.
My experience in education has taught me that people often assume that people that struggle with English are of lesser intelligence. The unfortunate truth is that there are many people of high intelligence and education trapped within the confines of language acquisition. Even once the language is mastered, they are faced with the stigmas and prejudices an accent carries.
I love that Ping found freedom in writing poetry in English. I also appreciate that she had the chutzpah to stand up to a first language poet about her language difficulties. It’s like Ping felt comfortable expressing her feelings in her second language that were not acceptable in the restrictions of her first language.
When she talks about knowing the roots to English words but not even thinking about the roots of her native language, I’m reminded of the fact that a second language learner often knows the rules and origins of the language they are learning much better than someone that just picked up the language naturally. They also have a greater appreciation for the language after having studied it and work at it.
This challenges me to really consider the words and rules while writing rather than just arbitrarily writing whatever comes to mind. I usually just consider writing poetry as a spontaneous expression of emotions regarding a topic rather than something I toil over. If I am truly working on it, I’m working on what I want to express more than how I want to express it. I feel that Pink is also challenging us at the same to time not overly adorn our poem with what I call fluff. There is beauty in the simplicity.
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