Friday, April 16, 2010

New Media

Though this quote pertains to comics, I think it holds true for other mediums as well:

Comics can tell any kind of story. They're infinitely flexible. Comics will never disappear. New media do not replace existing media. "New" forms free up existing forms, allowing them to do more interesting, less commercially driven things (emphasis mine).

Bill Griffith has a great list of tips for comics. It's always interesting to read about craft in any form. You can check it out here (found via the MCA illustration blog, full of great tips and techniques).

We've all heard a lot about the death of print publishing, but I think this is an exciting time. There are a lot of great small presses out there that show us how relevant print can still be. Effing Press prints beautiful books that are as much art objects as they are great literature. I think any press that values its authors and honors the text will still entertain an active readership. People enjoy a break from computer screens sometimes (at least I do!), but especially if they can read something that couldn't be read in the same way in an electronic format. These mediums can and should have distinctions. I'd also love to see more electronic outlets embrace the potential of their publishing format. I'm curious to know of any journals (or presses?) that do this. It seems that when I come across any hypertext poetry, it is often independently hosted (I admit I am not well versed in this area), but this would be a great addition for lit journals looking to do something more.

Sunday, April 04, 2010

treasure

Recently, writer Michael Kimball visited BGSU for a Q&A and reading. (I just finished reading Dear Everybody yesterday, which I adored.) During his Q&A, Kimball talked about an ongoing project in which he writes a person's life story on a postcard. He mentioned how the whole project started as a joke, but then took on a life of its own.

Similarly, in an interview on the KR Blog, Lily Hoang talks about her forthcoming collection Unfinished, which began when she and a friend exchanged abandoned/unfinished stories. Hoang desired to expand the idea from something centering around the idea of play, asking writer friends to send her their "trash" that she in turn worked into something more whole.

The idea as a commodity is interesting to me--there are so many ideas of my own I've abandoned, but Hoang mentions how easy it was for her to continue these starts. Perhaps we should all make a habit of passing on some of our trash. As the saying goes...

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P.S. One of my poems is featured in this month's issue of elimae. Please check it out and let me know what you think! My friend Matt Bell was kind enough to post about it on his blog. Thanks, Matt! Be sure to check out all of the goodies available on his website, and read some of his great stories.