Saturday, July 17, 2010

Page vs. Virtual Page

There are more internet journals than you can shake browser at. Nowadays, some established print journals (TriQuarterly, for example) are becoming internet publications. So it's almost too easy to get sucked into Page vs. Cyber-Page debates when talking to other poets.



As a reader-

There is nothing like holding printed materials in your hand. The texture of the cover. The smell of the ink. The tactile experience of turning each page. The process lends itself to exploration. So I tend to "discover" poets to add to my list of favorites, more often in the pages of print journals.

On the other hand, the availability of online publications is great when you are looking for a specific poet. When someone catches your eye or piques your curiosity, it's great to have Google point out where you can immediately read more of their work.


As a poet-

I try to take advantage of both worlds. It's nice to know that I've got some poems "out there" in the pages of some print issues that might get read by people I will never meet.

But it's also good to know that if any of those people like one of my poems that they've stumble upon, they can easily find a few more floating around in cyberspace if they consult the Google oracle..



I should try to keep those kind of links updated on this blog, so here are a few to start with:


Three poems in an old issue of Southern Ocean Review

and one in an old issue of Tryst

4 comments:

  1. This is my 3rd attempt at leaving a comment. Sad isn't it?

    Yes, how right you are! The title is from Tarantula. Not many get that right.

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  2. I doubt you were at fault. Blogger was refusing to load for me, over the past few days...so I suspect it was a problem on their end.

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  3. I love your approach, I agree that nothing compares to holding a book in hand. I also like to discover new poets "on page," but then do hit the Internet right away to find out more info on them.

    I don't know that in my mind there is a debate- I would love to be published in some of the online journals just as much as some of the print journals. I like both for different reasons, with a slight preference toward print because it is easier for me to become absorbed in it and to really digest the material.

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  4. Yes, we definitely seem to be on the same page...whether it's decorated with ink or html.

    When I do look up a poet that catches my eye, it's nice to find more of their poetry. But I also like when you find that they have something like a blog, where you can glimpse more of their world than their poems can imply.

    Then it makes me feel a little guilty for having such a dull blog, myself.

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