Introduction:
Since the creation of the internet in the late 50’s, people have been carving out and forcing their own space in this digital world—and while they have been forging their place they have also been arguing what are the limitations and possibilities of this new technology. Even almost 60 years later, the public is still learning what they can do with and on the Internet.
The focus of my project and my essay is how the Internet has transformed poetry as we know and see it today. For the course of the semester I have researched and explored the different ways that Internet users have used the Internet to post and publish poetry on the Internet.
The Internet is allowing for users to create their own anthologies of new and old poets in sites that they have posted their favorite poems or poets. YouTube videos are being made newer poet’s poems complete with animations and fans of past poets are taking their poetry and bringing it to life in new ways in YouTube videos. Other Internet users are creating sites where users can get online interact with online magnet poetry or the poetry cube. There are other sites that have been created to allow for users to log on and create accounts where they can submit their work and other users on the site can give feed back as well as feed back from editors and publishers. These are the sites that have been the focus of my project and will be the focus of my essay.
Online Anthologies:
In 1995, Brian Nation created a website in tribute to his favorite poet, Pablo Neruda. Nation’s site was primarily for him to post his writing and a few pictures. Nation saw the internet for what potential it could be, a way for people to go online and read his work without his knowledge and if they wanted to they could leave feedback, they weren’t forced too—as it is when you hand someone your work and you watch them read it and then they feel obligated to offer feedback.
In 1988, Nation bought his first computer with a modem, with this he saw the potential of taking all of the scraps of poems that he had collected over the years and stored in binders and uploading them onto his website to share with the public—whoever might be interested in his collection of poems and poets that he admired. “As I was assembling the second or third revision of my site I happened on a piece by Pablo Neruda… I didn’t have much on my site, yet, so I added the Neruda piece just for the hell of it.” (Nation) Since adding Neruda’s poem “Love,” Nation has posted his own poetry, poetry of his friends, and poems from his favorite poets with commentary and room for comments from his readers.
Nation was aware that in the early days of his website that people would not search for his work or his site, but rather they would be able to pull up his site upon searching for Pablo Neruda. “But, as it turned out, a lot of people searched, and continue to search, for Pablo Neruda. There were not so many web sites around in those days and so most of these seekers found me, thanks to my Neruda page. Over a million people have visited my site. (I have no illusions about how many of them stayed long enough to read anything, but enough have – more than would ever have even looked at my book had I published one.) Neruda made me famous and I owe him more than I can repay. I appreciate all he’s done for me.” (Nation)
Nation is not the only Internet user to create online anthologies of poems and poets that are the creator’s favorites. Sites like this include:
· http://www.poets.org/ -- Is a site that provides access to all sorts of poets and poems. Here users can look up any poem or poet from the site’s database or anthology. It allows the user to buy books and it also recommends books that the user might also be interested in based off of their previous or current purchase. As well as give the users updates on local poets that might be performing in their area.
· http://www.poetseers.org/ -- Is another database of poems or an online anthology of poems that gives the user the poem of day as well as allows them to search their online database for poems from previous days or just to search for specific poems or poets. This is great for my project, because it is an awesome resource of a site that users have provided a plethora of poems and poets for users to access upon a simple search through their pages.
· http://hellopoetry.com/#!/community -- Is a website for poetry. It allows the user to read poetry from their favorite artists, as well as, read the poem of the day. It allows its users to share their poems and sell their books off their website. It provides a whole archive of resources that allow you to search through their dictionary of poets and poems, as well as include yourself in their dictionary of poems and poets with three tags that will allow you to be found.
YouTube:
For my trailer I really wanted to capture what could be done with poems from past poets with today’s technology. I took the poem that Brian Nation used on his site “Love” and had random people that walked through the lobby of a dorm read individual lines. This captured a variety of different voices in a single poem. I searched the Internet for other users that might have a similar idea and I came across Natalie Merchant singing old poems on TED television. Merchant sings different poems from poets like: e.e. cummings, Charles Edward Carol, Rachel Field, Robert Graves, Robert Louis Stevens, and Edward Lear. Merchant takes children poems and puts them to music. Merchant’s goal in this project is to bring life to these old poems.
Merchant’s project to give a voice to old poems helps give life to these poems and allows listeners who are not familiar or do not have an ear for poetry to still be able to enjoy it and get the meaning of it like they would if they were listening to the radio. Like with me and my project, Merchant put her own spin on each of the poems she puts to music. Such as where the intonation on each of the words goes, how the lines run together, and where she takes a breath. Just like the readers in my trailer chose where they were going to break up the lines and read the words. This may not be how the writer of the poem intended it to be read, but it brings to life the poems of old in a new way. (TED, 2010)
From this post on TED television I found a clip from Sarah Kay and her spoken poem “If I Should Have a Daughter…” Spoken word poetry on YouTube or TED television is becoming more and more popular on the Internet. Kay stands up and presents her poem in a way that is both hypnotizing and entertaining. She captures her audience with both her facial expressions and her intonation as she speaks her poem.
Kay after presenting her poem goes into the importance of spoken word poetry to her. For her it was a way to entertain and inspire and spoken word poetry is more effective at doing this than written poetry. And how she believes this is where poetry should be going, what it should be evolving into, because it allows for the listener to hear both the pain and emotion of the poem. And how you immediately rewarded for your presentation whether it is a room full of your peers or it is the comments feed on YouTube. (TED)
Interacting Poems:
Interacting poems is something that I wasn’t aware existed on the Internet until this project. Off of StumbleUpon.com I found Magnetic Poetry. This is a site where the user can go online and put together a poem using the magnetic words that are provided the user. Here the user can construct their own poems using only the words that are provided them and then submit them to the website. This site is also creating an anthology of poems based off of only the poems created on their site. Poems that are only constructed using magnetic words that are provided the user upon first logging on to the site. (StumbleUpon)
Other forms of interacting poetry that I discovered were the ones that I found off of Jason Nelson’s website. Jason Nelson is an individual that recognizes himself as a digital poet. On his site he has created a variety of different ways of interacting with his poetry online. An application that I participated in was his “Poetry Cube.” The “Poetry Cube” is an application like a rubix cube, which allows users to go in and choose how the lines of the poem will fall in order on the cube. In turn this also determines the meaning and order of the cube and how it is read. Nelson also allows for his users to create their own poetry cubes, allow they have to do is go in and come up with a number of lines to create a poem to manipulate and transform. (Nelson)
Helpful Sites:
What really impressed me with all of my research were the poet help sites that were out there. The three that really stuck out to me were Lulu.com, a Place for Writers and WeBook.com. These were sites that allowed the users to go online and publish their work and get feedback from different users and publishers and editors. These are sites that are designed to allow the users to move in the direction of getting published. The key aspects of these sites are:
· http://www.lulu.com/ -- Is a self-publishing site that allows its users to log on and create an account. From there the user is allowed to submit their poetry to be published. It also provides other resources, like the rhyme generator that allows its users to go in and type in the word that they need a rhyme for. This can be anything from a perfect rhyme or an off rhyme. This is helpful for my project because it goes off the different resources that are available for poets out there.
· http://www.placesforwriters.com/ -- Is a website that provides links and information about upcoming contests and publication journals that are looking for contestants or writers. It provides the user the necessary information to apply or submit for these projects. Along with this it includes ads from Google that include resources if you are embarking on writing a book, in need of a literary agent, or need a publisher.
· http://www.webook.com/ -- Is a website for writers who are interested in getting published, but want someone to look at their work before they send it off. It allows for other users of the site to read through their work and give comments, as well as literary agents who give feedback and advice for getting published. It even has a page for writers who are not ready to publish: a page for writer’s block that allows you to punch in on whether you are struggling with settings, characters, dramatic entrances, dialogue, commiserate, etc. It also has a join a project page, which allows the user to join up with other users to create and build onto an ongoing project.
Conclusion:
The Internet is opening the doors to endless possibilities for a variety of different fields, genres and communication among its users. However, it is also changing how users interact, read and write poetry, as seen with the variety of different examples I have provided in this essay. Users are now able to spread their poetry and the poetry across the web to thousands of readers in a matter of seconds and they are able to present their favorite poems from past poets in a variety of different ways.
Works Cited
(n.d.). Retrieved April 03, 2011, from Poets.org: http://www.poets.org/
(n.d.). Retrieved April 03, 2011, from Poetseers.org: http://www.poetseers.org/
(n.d.). Retrieved April 03, 2011, from HelloPoetry.com: http://hellopoetry.com/#!/community
WeBook. (n.d.). WeBook. Retrieved April 2011, 2011, from WeBook: http://www.webook.com/
Lulu. (n.d.). Lulu. Retrieved April 03, 2011, from Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/
Nation, B. (n.d.). falling objects (neruda and me). Retrieved April 03, 2011, from Beat the Devil: http://boppin.com/1995/04/falling-objects-neruda-and-me.html
Nelson, J. (n.d.). Secret Technology Net Art/ Digital Poetry/ Video Oddodities Jason Nelson. Retrieved April 03, 2011, from Secret Technology Net Art/ Digital Poetry/ Video Oddodities Jason Nelson: http://www.secrettechnology.com/
Places for Writers. (n.d.). Retrieved April 03, 2011, from Places for Writers: http://www.placesforwriters.com/
StumbleUpon. (n.d.). Magnetic Poetry. Retrieved April 03, 2011, from StumbleUpon: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/5IoXzv/www.magpo.com
TED. (2010, April). Natalie Merchant sings old poems to life. Retrieved April 03, 2011, from TED Ideas Worth Spreading: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/natalie_merchant_sings_old_poems_to_life.html
TED. (n.d.). Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter ... Retrieved April 03, 2011, from TED Ideas Worth Spreading: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1JHZm1
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