e-Game as e-Lit

via Brian Kim Stefans' Free Space Comix: the blog:

Isn’t it possible, though, that many hugely successful computer games — those that depend on or at least utilize storytelling conventions of narrative, character, and theme — can be seen as examples of electronic literature? And isn’t it likely that the truly significant new forms of electronic literature will prove to be (like games) so deeply interactive and procedural that it would be impossible to present them as paper-like “e-books”? The editors of First Person have gathered a remarkably diverse group of new media theorists and practitioners to consider the relationship between “story” and “game,” as well as the new kinds of artistic creation (literary, performative, playful) that have become possible in the digital environment.

Reviewing Reinhard Döhl's "Apfel"

via Bob Grumman's po-X-cetera (certainly in response to this at dbqp):

There are a number of current visual poets who do not consider the above poem, one of the most popular visual poems of all-time, highly. So, to continue to be a Prime Annoyer in vispo circles, I've taken it upon myself to defend it. On the surface, it is merely a specimen of visual onomatopoeia, or poem whose text says what it looks like--or, if you prefer, poem whose graphic elements show what its text says. I think even those who don't think much of it would admit that it was clever and effective for its time. I think it may be more.

Visual Poertugesetry

via Crag Hill's poetry scorecard:

Curious about the vigorous concrete/visual poetry movement in the world? Curious about the strong, ongoing tradition of concrete/visual poetry in Portugal in particular?

A Pen-Case with Inkwell

via Serkan IŞIN's zinhar somut ve görsel şiir galerisi:

Generally in concrete poetry each letter is considered as units, and the pauses and subscribing of the coescalences that reflect the whole image of the poem. The aim is partly placing the letters, words in the spaces on page in concrete poetry, typography and visualization. If you glance at Campos' and Günersel's works you will find out what I meant. Visuality works in two layers, first is at the seeing eye, second is at the localization of imagination which is reading and the things intended to make read according to each other. This is an energetic field and the eye goes into there with the aim of reading poetry. Look from a distance to the poem.

Defining Electronic Writing

via Brian Kim Stefans' Free Space Comix: the blog:

If I were to come up with a fortune cookie answer to the question, I would say that it is any form of writing that takes advantage of the possibilities afforded by digital technology – such as the internet, or graphics programs such as Illustrator or Photoshop, or animation / audio / interactive programs such as Flash – in their creation and presentation.

Creating a Mathemaku

via Bob Grumman's po-X-cetera:

One of my characteristic sort of tropes occurred to me--use of some word having to do with thought processes as a verb for some physical action. The result I like best so far is "another year/ understanding/ up into/ a fresh order of/glaze and scent." I'm not at all satisfied with any of the remainders I've come up with.

New Mexican American Poetry

via Kaz Maslanka's Mathematical Poetry:

There are four axes in this Cartesian system: the first axis is that of east and west the next axis being north and south the third axis being up and down and the last axis being inward and outward. Mathematically speaking the point described uses the analytic geometric midpoint formula to define the midpoint in each of the four axes. Metaphorically speaking The point described is at the center of everything and nothing.

From Mathematical to Visual Poetry

via Kaz Maslanka's Mathematical Poetry:

One way it functions mathematically as a visual paradigm for a physics tenant of kinematics. Notice a paradigm is not a metaphor it is a simile. The Second way it functions is mathematical vispo because it performs math operations on text. The bottom line is that I would not call it mathematical poetry as such because we are not performing mathematical operations on words as meaning with the intent for connotation.

A Call for Vispoets from the Northwest (and Southeast)

via Ted Warnell's mo'po:

The theme will be Northwest Concrete & Visual Poetry. This is a call to submit work toward that end. The eventual product of this document will be on CD. In attempting to take a snapshot of our diverse and mutual alphabetic attraction, I ask that you forward this call to those whose work I'm not familiar with. The geographic scope I've chosen should encompass Calgary & Vancouver(and outlying), Montana, Oregon, Washington, & Alaska [and Idaho].

The Deep Focus of Nico Vassilakis

via Dan Waber's minimalist concrete poetry:

One (of the many) things poetry (all poetry, any poetry, be it concrete, visual, sound, or academically sanctioned) should do is make us look at language in new ways. Because looking at language in new ways allows us to look at the world (exterior and interior) in new ways. I have never seen anything by Nico Vassilakis that didn't make me look at langue in a new way--and I've looked at a lot of work by Nico Vassilakis.

Three Ways of Looking at a r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r

via Brian Kim Stefans' Free Space Comix:

Further adventures in the one-letter-at-a-time pieces, Flash setting of masterpieces of world literature as simple movies. Here is a setting of a wacky e.e. cummings’ poem, spaces, tabs and all.

Have You Thought of "Shift & Switch" Recently?

via rob mclennan's blog:

Impressive, too, that the editors would include as much visuals as they have, since visuals in trade books seem few and far between (the production values of "Cantextualities: Contemporary Visual Poetry in Canada," the visual poetry issue of Open Letter edited by Jars Balan [10th series, number 6, summer 1999], was unusually bad). Unfortunately, very little of the visual pieces do anything for me, and even for me, who knows so little of visual works, I feel as though I've seen so much of this type of work before in the works of older Canadian writers, including bpNichol, Steve McCaffery, Judith Copithorne, bill bissett, jwcurry and others, but for a piece here or there by Max Middle, or derek beaulieu's "For Brian" piece (otherwise, I know for a fact that derek, one of the most visible of the younger visual poets in Canada, can do better; we will know for sure when his book of visuals from Talonbooks comes out in the spring…). Windsor, Ontario writer gustave morin, as well, has produced some extremely interesting visual works, but unfortunately, there is little evidence of it here, and Jason Le Heup, who used to self-produced odd chapbooks of visuals when he still lived in Vancouver, included text as his submission (he's been threatening to produce a full manuscript of visual pieces for years, but so far, nothing seems to have surfaced).

Shift & Switch & Controversy

via Sharon Harris' I Love You 365:

The reviews are starting to circulate, and they're mixed. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it yet -- the book is still very new, and after all, I'm a biased contributor. It's a brave project and its editors and publisher should be applauded for taking chances on new and "untested" work. The book might be a bit overwhelming. In most Canadian literary magazines and anthologies, we're used to seeing one or two token "experimental" works for spice, but rarely an entire volume of different avant-guarde pieces (er, a spice rack?).

Bait & Switch & Shift & Pivot & Repeat & Review

via a.raw's 537neon:

Early public reactions to the anthology have included frequent reference to the volume of visual poetry and graphic documentation of poetic projects. You'll find Chris Fickling's textual translations of found art, Jeremy McLeod's printer poetry, and gustave morin's treated found collage. There's an excerpt from Matthew Hollett's digital poetry speechballoon, a still from the interactive Flash project (go play now!!); its font-play reminds me of Paul Chan experiments.

Guerilla Vispo, Part Two

via Serkan IŞIN at zinhar:

So what is "life" for a visual poet? Among the thousands and billions of images, words, letters a visual poem is an accident which happened accidently but consciously. So it is some kind of a semiotic accident, low in probability for the designer or for television programmers, logo designers, commercial graphic ads artists, game designers, high in possibility which is manipulated, found or assambled by the visual poet, for life, in-life, against life.

The Other Side of the Pond

via Kaz Maslanka's Mathematical Poetry:

Bob Grumman has recently posted another mathpoem worth thinking about. Its history goes back to early March 2005 when Bob was blogging about his version of the Basho haiku which concerns a frog jumping into an ancient pond.

Portmanteau Punctuation

via Bob Grumman's po-X-cetera:

But yesterday, when writing an entry for this blog, I used an embedded exclamation mark (!), which was not all that exciting a thing to do, except that it made me remember the interrobang, and suddenly see how convenient the following "parenclamation mark" would be:

"Writing to be Seen" Seen

via Bob Grumman's po-X-cetera:

Dan Waber was wondering about Writing To Be Seen, the anthology of visio-textual art that Crag Hill and I edited a while back. I realized we have no website (that I know of) for it. It should have one, even though it is more or less unavailable at this time.

Bill Keith on Safari

via Bob Grumman's po-X-cetera:

Now to the first poet in the anthology, the late Bill Keith, very-much-missed friend and important force in more than one art, but especially visual poetry.

Visiosculptural Poetry and its Neighbors

via Bob Grumman's po-X-cetera:

Below is another great visual poem--visiosculptural poem, I should say, as it's a photograph of a work in wood--by Kathy Ernst. It's one of her pieces in Writing To Be Seen. Each contributor has twenty pieces, plus any extras they may have included in the Artist's Statement each was asked for.

Bait & Switch & Shift & Pivot & Repeat

via Daniel f. Bradley's fhole:

silliman reviews Shift & Switch – rightly pointing out one big flaw in the book, most of the visual poetry is published in this anthology is crap. it is pretty funny that i agree with him on this (but for different reason), because silliman is usually very wrong about visual poetry.

Bait & Switch & Shift & Pivot

via Ron Silliman's Silliman's Blog:

The work in Shift & Switch is broader than that, happily. Reg Johanson, Glen Lowry & Nathalie Stephens are all poets new to me whose work I now know I have to seek out. But, combined with some of the dicier side-effects of computer typesetting – the names of poets in both the table of contents & contributors’ notes are difficult to read, having been printed in a pixilated gray, AND combined with the anthology’s weakest element – three uncoordinated, repetitious introductions by its editors – the heavy sprinkling of vispo gives the overall project a haphazard, makeshift air that does a disservice to the book as a whole.