Jo Shapcott: poetry and technology

This is a really short clip, where Jo Shapcott discusses the future of poetry and technology. I think she's absolutely correct in believing that technology really 'opens horizons' of traditional poetry. No longer to people have to hear poetry, or be in opposition to poetry. Furthermore, traditional writers do not need to fear the 'spiky' ideas of technology. The idea that poetry has to be directly connected to old-fashioned ways of ink and paper is long gone. There is now more opportunities for people to publish all types of works in an instant! This really does open up the door for more people to engage in poetry for fun, for therapeutic reasons, and for the love of poetic expression. She also really briefly addresses the use time delay, and text movement as new techniques that poets can now use. Poems are now taken out of traditional books, and deepened online!

 

It's A Wrap!

I thought this poem would be a great way to leave this course. It's quite humourous and is in traditional written poetry form. The link is below, for those of you who are interested in looking for more poems from this site. 

http://www.scrapbook.com/poems/doc/8524/12.html

Computer Swallowed Grandma

Submitted by: Beverly Faith

Author: unknown

The computer swallowed grandma,
Yes, honestly it's true.
She pressed "control" and "enter"
And disappeared from view.
It devoured her completely,
The thought just makes me squirm.
She must have caught a virus
Or been eaten by a worm.
I've searched through the recycle bin
and files of every kind:
I've even used the Internet,
but nothing did I find.
In desperation, I asked Jeeves
My searches to refine.
The reply from him was negative,
Not a thing was found "online".
So, if inside your "Inbox",
My Grandma you should see,
Please "Copy", "Scan" and "Paste" her
And send her back to me!

Great Young Poets (spoken word)

This is a great example of Spoken Word Poetry. I loved this! It's great when you can see the hand gestures and facial expressions of the poet. It really invites you into her world. The poem was written/performed/read by Sarah Kay.

More of this poet's work can be found at http://www.project-voice.net/poetry/.

Project Voice was founded and directed by Sarah Kay, and is also co-directed by Phil Kaye. They are great examples of young, fresh-thinking poets who have grasped the benefit that technology and the internet has on spreading the word about Spoken Word Poetry (no pun intended ha!).

Technology and Poetry: A Focus on Today

When doing my second assignment for EAC601, I began looking for poetry that was dependent on technology of today. Many poetry lovers have focused on classical poetry because it is known to have quality. They have focused on old technologies that seem almost irrelevant to our lives today. These technologies include the typewriter, voice recorders, and the printing press. We have come so far from those days. We should focus on what's around us now. Poetry has changed over the past few years because of the Internet and the computer. However, the use of the computer to create text is also somewhat outdated too. It is the Internet that has allowed more people to express themselves in the most unique ways. I think that all people should be poets, in there own way. Whether it be through video poetry, moving poetry, sound poetry, hyperlink poetry, or even traditional written poetry. Poetry is therapeutic, just as a diary can be, however the benefit of poetry within blogs and websites compared to words written in one's diary, is that it can help others reflect and relate to, and not just be hidden under one's mattress.


The following is an example of Moving Poetry. It was created by poet/filmmaker Adrian Smith, and is entitled "The Man Who Couldn't Tweet".

http://movingpoems.com/2012/11/the-man-who-couldnt-tweet-by-adrian-smith/

It's a great example of how technology and the internet has helped enhance poetry and make it so much more accessible to every day people like myself.

Beat Poetry theme for Silliman

Silliman spoke about Hettie Jones' poetry and it interested me because, in an interview, she said that she was too linear to be a beat poet. I find myself relating to her abilities. Beat poetry, as displayed on Silliman's blog, can be abstract, musical, and simply linguistic. I think that it takes a lot more work to be a beat poet than to simply write linear, classic poetry. It seems to take more inner strength and control to create work that is laking control. Beat poetry has to be, in some ways, entertaining which is what classic poetry does not have to worry about being.

Christian Bok's DNA

Bok's proposal on creating poetry within genes is remarkable. Not only would this benefit the preservation of human culture and poetry, it would shine light onto the complexity of DNA and poetry. This seems to be the creme de la creme of poetry in technology. Scientists and artists, which have always seemed to be opposites would now have a chance to appreciate one another's work. Bok shows us how far human technology has really come. We have come so far from the introduction of the computer. Technology is now fun. Technology can now become a way of showcasing our lives, rather than controlling our lives.

Dear Reader
By Rita Mae Reese

You have forgotten it all.

You have forgotten your name,

where you lived, who you

loved, why.

                      I am simply

your nurse, terse and unlovely

I point to things

and remind you what they are:

chair, book, daughter, soup.

 

And when we are alone

I tell you what lies

in each direction: This way

is death, and this way, after

a longer walk, is death,

and that way is death but you

won’t see it

until it is right

in front of you.

 

              Once after

your niece had been to visit you

and I said something about

how you must love her

or she must love you

or something useless like that,

you gripped my forearm

in your terrible swift hand

and said, she is

everything—you gave

me a shake—everything

to me.

               And then you fell

back into the well. Deep

in the well of everything. And I

stand at the edge and call:

                  chair, book, daughter, soup.