What's Neat on the Net: Visual+

Here's what's neat on the net, according to me, and leaning for some reason to the visual this time:

1) Matt Kish, originator and artist who did Moby Dick in Pictures: One Drawing for Each Page, of which I am a huge fan, has now announced (according to the Tin House blog) his next project, pictures for Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Go, Matt! We can't wait!

2) TAXI is featuring Ukrainian artist Shupliak Oleg's portraits in the medium of optical illusion. You won't believe this. Check out Anthea Quay's article.

3) If you subscribe to the Tupelo Press e-newsletter, you will have received an email for a buy-one-get-one-free offer (I don't find it on their website otherwise, but could be wrong). If you don't subscribe, do it--they have lots of sales that they will notify you of, and if you subscribe now, maybe you can get in on this one too. Scroll to the bottom of the page linked here, and do it now!

The Million-Line Poem

Tupelo Press is open-sourcing a million-line poem, assembled from couplets written by people all over the world. If you want to contribute, here are the guidelines (copied from the Tupelo Press website):

"Each day we post two lines from which contributing poets draw their inspiration. All entries are assembled by an editor (keeping the integrity of the couplets) and posted to the Million-Line Poem for viewing the next day with the contributor’s name and city.

You can participate in the creation of this art form as it grows organically, day-by-day. The nature of the poem — what it’s about, its ideas, its subjects, its overall aesthetic — will develop over time.  Your contribution will be part of that process and synergy.

There is no limit to the number of contributions each poet can make, except we ask that only two lines per poet per day be submitted. All poets will be credited for their contributions.

To contribute, send an email to MillionLinePoem@tupelopress.org that includes: (a) your name, email, city and state, and (b) the two lines. A poet who wishes to make additional contributions on additional days must repeat this process.

The Million Line Poem is open to all writers, anywhere in the world, regardless of prior experience, and regardless of nationality, provided that all lines must be submitted in English."

Very similar to the Japanese renga form! I wish I'd known about this before the semester ended. It would've made a good assignment.

Eroticism & Cash

Two upcoming deadlines:

Tupelo Press is looking for erotic poetry due by (when else?) Valentine's Day. Check out this link.

Also, the Sustainable Arts Foundation is now accepting applications for its spring awards (due March 1). These awards are for artist-parents and parent-artists. See the following post for explanations. (And I guess you if you read (or write) too much erotic poetry, you might soon need a Sustainable Arts Foundation grant.)