Introductory Post -- What Is Serial Poetry?

[ysabetwordsmith]

Some of you folks already know me from previous hosting weeks or other activities on this community. For everyone else, hello, I'm Elizabeth Barrette, wordsmith for hire. I write a great deal of poetry, especially in my monthly Poetry Fishbowl project. I'm also active in the Crowdfunding Creative Jam, the Torn World Muse Fusion, and Schrodinger's Heroes projects -- all of which include some poetry. This week I'm going to talk about serial poetry in particular.

EDIT 1/21/13:  I'm reposting the complete set of these articles on my website under "How to Write Serial Poetry."

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Poem: "The Wingdresser's Kitchen"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem began with a prompt from jjhunter  about how, if everyone had wings, there would be people providing professional wing care. That got me thinking about the politics of ethnic hair and discrimination against African braiding in cosmetology. So I extrapolated what might happen with wings, and I looked up bird species (Jardine's Parrot and Red-bellied Parrot) from Africa to go along with this. 

The poem has proven very popular. You can read some feedback under the original post on Dreamwidth (the biggest discussion) or on LiveJournal, or under a signal boost on Poetree. See also the lovely sketch by onewhitecrow . The ideas and discussion points stuck in my mind. They emerged again during the October 2-3 Poetry Fishbowl through a cluster of poems about demons (the month's fishbowl theme), angels, and wings. None of those deal with the same characters or voice, and they haven't been sponsored yet. However, they share common themes and a subtle resonance that, in my mind, places them within the same world and series, now entitled Fledgling Grace. Visit my Serial Poetry page to see a description of the series and a list of the other poems. 

( On a wing and a prayer... )

The Shared World as Serial Literature

[ysabetwordsmith]

A shared world is a setting created by multiple contributors working together. It may include poetry, fiction, artwork, worldbuilding descriptions, and/or whatever else people feel inspired to make. The Cthulhu Mythos is one famous example, and it includes poetry. While the basic concept has existed for many years, cyberspace makes it much easier to create and share material collectively. So shared worlds are thriving online.

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Poem: "The Lost and Found Legion"

[ysabetwordsmith]

The Silk Road Allies tells of a world in which China and Italy became close friends. It started with a prompt that I left in a Poetry for the Masses session by LJ user thesilentpoet. From there it grew to include poetry by myself and LJ user marina_bonomi. Each of us has different relevant experience to add to this project.

This poem came out of the July 3, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl. It was sponsored by Marina Bonomi. It reveals the roots of the alliance. This poem originally appeared on LiveJournal. You can read more about the Roman Empire, Roman legions, the lost legion, and Emperor Nerva online.

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Poem: "The Girl Who Wanted Too Much"

[ysabetwordsmith]

Torn World is a science fantasy shared world about a place that was broken and is slowly mending itself. As the scattered shards of time rejoin, they leave behind dangerous remnants such as time crystals. The people in Torn World learn how to deal with these challenges, but that's a gradual process and it has some casualties along the way. As you read poems from this setting, you can see how the different cultures evolve over time.

This poem came out of the June 5, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl. It was sponsored by Anthony and Shirley Barrette. The characters belong to the Duurludirj culture, a race of tough seafarers most of whom are dwarf-sized. This poem explores what happens when a time barrier falls early in their history, allowing access to new territory -- and new hazards. You can read the original post on Torn World.

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Quick Admin Note

[poetree_admin]

jjhunter

I'm temporarily turning on text-based CAPTCHA for anonymous commentators again to send the spammers packing. This post will self-destruct when the admins deem the attack to be over. (Any comment with a long string of unbroken gibberish in the subject line is characteristic of spammer opening tactics and will be treated as such.)