Celebrity Poetry

It seems a good few celebrities have had a go at the old poetry game over the years and now Charlie Sheen becomes the latest addition to the scene. I say ‘poetry’ but I do wonder if I’m being too liberal in classifying it as so. Indeed, I find it quite amusing that the Poetry Foundation (as pointed out by John Lundberg) won’t even include celebrity poetry in their bestsellers list.

As I read through reams of celebrity poetry, one question kept spring up: Do they actually know what poetry is? Some is what I can only describe as non-prose, but to call it poetry is an insult on the field.

Here we go, Dolly Parton’s collection Poetic Selections on reasons to live, reasons to love and reasons to smile. Hmmm, well, aren’t these just song lyrics? They could certainly not be called poetry…

Beauty is a rare perfume, precious,

Yet doesn’t last long

And youth is but a playful breeze

That blows our way once

And moves on.

And actors seem to love dabbling in what they like to call 'poetry'. There’s the somewhat famous Jimmy Stewart performance of ‘Beau’ (which is surely only admired for his seductive voice rather than the poetic merit.) Give it a listen...

And of course, let’s not forget the ‘poetry’ of Leonard Nimoy:

 

I love you


 not for what


I want you to be


But for what you are



I loved you then


For what you were


I love you now


for what you have become

Mmmm. And more recently Val Kilmer, Suzanne Somers, Viggo Mortesen and Charlie Sheen have had a go. I’ll leave you with one of his better ones:

I.D. Blues By Charlie Sheen

"Excuse me, aren't you...?"

"Hey, you look just like..."

"Oh my God, that's..."

"Look, I never do this, but, my wife thinks you're..."

"My friend is so convinced that you're..."

"I'm so embarrassed, but, aren't you...?"

"I know you must be tired of this, but..."

"WAIT!!"

All eyes held in stare, all mouths locked open in shock, as he pulled the latex Charlie Sheen mask from his head, revealing the rotted skull of President Lincoln. 

.

The Future: Ebooks & Poetry Part 2

To continue the ebook discussion, it isn't just for schools and academics where poetry ebooks will blossom. It will certainly rise within the ‘recreational’ market too. Ebooks are perfect for reading ‘on-the-go.’ The ebook poem could revitalise the dying poem. For instance, the ‘Poems on the Underground’ idea could be revitalised. Only now, in the 21^st century, commuters don’t have to strain their necks to read that ad-space above their heads, or carry a hefty anthology around, now they can pull out their Kindle or iphone and read the daily poem to while away the tube journey.

This ‘daily’ format could see the future or the poem rise again. If the idea of a poetry anthology is daunting to non-academics, then why not offer a single inspirational poem a day for a nominal amount? In fact, this same model could be offered with short stories or serialising longer fiction.

Poets & Music

A great little retrospective look at some poets who 'experimented' with music, or saw poetry as music in some cases. Definitely worth listening to these five minutes radio shows, broadcast by KEXP radio of Seattle.

So far,
William S. Burroughs, Jim Carroll, Ursula Rucker, Jack Kerouac and more to follow each week.

http://www.kexp.org/learn/documentaries.aspx?docid=18

The Future: Ebooks & Poetry Part 1

E-Books, everyone knows what they are nowadays, in 2011. And yet, publishers are apparently still running around wondering what to do. They are undeniably a serious part of the modern book market; the Association of American Publishers (AAP) have some very interesting figures: in December alone (of 2010) ebook sales have shown a 172.4% growth over 2009, whilst hardcover sales have dropped 24%. They also predict that by 2012, ebooks will make up to $6 billion of a $20 billion annual book market. (from http://www.publishers.org/).

So it is obvious that ebooks are a growing phenomenon, only set to get bigger. They are here to stay, and why not? They are the perfect format for the 21^st Century reader; simple, user-friendly technology with instant access to millions of books and information? Who wouldn’t want that? And at the moment, ebooks are cheaper than print with a large selection of classics being presented for free.

But how does this fit into poetry? Well, Ebook technology gives publishers the opportunity they’ve been looking for to ‘revamp’ poetry – even the classics. In my opinion, an ebook should offer something more than the print version, and with a little bit of thought, ebook poetry can be amazing.

On an educational level, an ebook poetry anthology is perfect. It could have critical essays and analysis attached; it could have biographies, pictures, videos or even links to pertinent online discussions. It starts making classroom teaching a blessing. Projecting an annotated poem, or e-mail an annotated poem to your class is great and allows everyone to get involved.

For students, ebook poetry just makes it easier. They can search for words within Paradise Lost for instance, to make their essay about ‘Hell’ that little bit easier. They can pull up a dictionary and quickly find out the meaning of Milton’s archaic language, they could even browse Gustav Dore’s engravings side-by-side the text.

Thus far, I have not seen a poetry ebook or app with any thought gone into it whatsoever. In order to capture the younger, ebook generation, publishers have to offer customers something new and exciting, and not suffice with selling an ancient book to customers that already have it in print. 

Poetry Journals: The Nail in The Coffin, Or The Paramedic?

A glance at the relevance of the poetry journal in the 21st Century. 

The journal can be seen in two lights: The first, that they give modern poets the format for publication. The second, that they actually oppress the progress of poetry and poets.

To look at the first case, poetry sales have been in steady decline for the latter half of the 20^th century, and now, in the 21^st, publishers are under more and more pressure to sift out commercially weak books. Poetry makes up a tiny percentage of a publisher’s turnover and as a result, we have the ethos that poetry is dead. The journal is where poetry can stay alive. Poets can find an outlet to publish in print.

But the flipside is that journals are somewhat elitist, only to be found in public libraries, catering towards the academic. An every-day reader is unlikely to pick up a journal and read it. Even I find them boringly conservative: uninspired design and far too wordy – and I’m a poet and critic myself! I have a strong suspicion that poetry journals do nothing to enhance the readership of poetry at all. If we want to convince the world that poetry is alive and exciting, shoving a journal under their nose is not going to do a thing.

If journals did not exist, would poets find another outlet? Would the odd ethically conscious publisher keep the form alive, such as Salt Publishing? Now with youtube, performance poetry can reach the masses; now with the rise of e-books, poetry could make an explosive comeback, now with a huge online community, poetry can do so much more.

Do we really need journals in the 21^st Century? 

Twitter Poets

Here are a few of my favourite Twitter poets at the moment.

@coyoteSings:

thoreau taught me 

 that some of the best words 

 are sleeping in the woods

***

e. e. cummings taught me 

 that not all words 

 need letters

***

sunrise teaches me

 to get up 

and be beautiful

I think he is the best Twitter poet that I've found so far; not only does he write some stunning poetry (most Haiku & Senryu) but he Retweets some fascinating poets and ideas. His blog is also worth checking out as well: http://mydreamsmoveslowly.tumblr.com/

@escarp

Cassette tape strewn in roadside grass 

Gleams like snail-paths in the moonlight

***

In the tired gray gloaming of light-polluted modern life even the fastest train cannot carry you where you need to go: to sleep

This bunch are great. They compile some interesting work from Twitter poets. Their website is another good one: www.escarp.org

And some others worth following: 

@ThoseTh3Words: 

the curved back 

of the white mandolin 

half day moon

@Ysabeluna: 

kiss my cerise lips

 in moon’s sphenoid splendour 

 my sweet mon amour

@twihaiku: 

every time it rains

 I remember the rhythm 

of our pounding heart

@morganabag: 

sheets blankets 

extra pillows 

table cloths

 stored for next year

 family gone

@expatinCAT: 

choking 

on her lies

 I spit them out

 in the kitchen 

sink

@perlygates: 

all-night drive-thru dreams 

 background music 

no extra cost

A few others I've discovered: 

@Labisiffre

@DarkHaikuMoon

@Amoz1939

@Cirrusdream

But any other suggestions are welcome, I'm still in the early stages of exploring Twitter, and I'm bound to have missed some absolutely amazing Twitter Poets & Blogs. 

Micropoetry on Twitter

There is no official term for it yet. It seems everyone has their own phrasing: Twihaiku, Twittery, Poetwee, Poetwi, poetweetry, twiterature, the list goes on, but whatever we call it, since the arrival of Twitter, there has been a huge fascination in micropoetry. It seems as if the Eastern poetics have taken the lead and have happily slotted themselves into the world of Twitter.  The ancient forms of Haiku, Senryu and Tanka now find themselves in the midst of a resurgence.  The 21st Century reader, who wants their news and entertainment in 140 characters or fewer, can now get their dose of poetry in the same medium; 140 characters. How perfect. Who’d have thought that haiku would have transcended from 17^th Century Japan into the modern digital age? It's 'poetry on-the-go', almost as if it were designed for the modern reader's busy life.  

In my next post I will compile some of my favourite Twitter Poets right now.

Any suggestions are welcomed. 

How Poetry Should Be Performed

"I'm tired of poets who talk like this, I'm tired of poets doing poems for pussy." Shihan

Poetry is an oral tradition, so why do we all shudder at the thought of Poetry Readings? The performance and dynamism of a poem is what gives it life, so to remind us of how poetry should, and can, be performed, have a look at these links. These are Performance Poems, some more so than others, and I consider them important in contemporary poetics. They are all from HBO's series Def Poetry Jam -here are some stand outs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e2UR_MFUR8 - Saul Williams - Coded Language

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn-f8PgLVjU - MutaBaruka - Dis Poem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ydutKWEoA&playnext=1&list=PL9B5FA78437CFF24D&index=44 - Gemineye - Poetic Bloodlines

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFhFaRKVpTY&feature=related - Poetri - Dating Myself


Others worth checking out: J. Ivy, Lauren Hill, Alicia Keys, Shihan, Anthony Morales, Mark Gonzales