The enrollment in this free, 10-week noncredit course on modern and contemporary American poetry was 42,523 in the fall of 2012, and 38,150 in the fall of 2013 and 38,800 in the fall of 2014, 34,000 in the fall of 2015, and 21,000 in the fall of 2016. Contributions to the discussion forums were read (well, viewed) 957,000 times in 2012. Video recordings of collaborative close readings of poems were viewed nearly a half million times in ten weeks (in '12, '13 and '14 each). The course site remains open for those enrolled for another nine months after each session ends in mid-November. Here are some links:
The poet, associated with the Brazillian concrete poetry movement, died today. He was 85 and lived in Sao Paulo. With Augusto and Haroldo de Campos he edited the magazne Noigandres e Invenção and they together wrote Teoria da Poesia Concreta (1965).
Perhaps his most famcous concrete poem is this one, from 1957:
Moon rising behind Mt. Esja, Iceland, 30 November 2012
On the eve of my first Að landa post, the sky over Reykjavík plunged from pink to indigo when the last light dwindled near 17:30. Jupiter rose in the north as I set up my tripod, charged my camera battery. Holding a wrist near eye level to block the city lights, I scanned the horizon above Mount Esja for hints of moonlight.
Nicolas Billon taught me the wrist trick during his first visit to Iceland in October. I’d been curious to meet him, a fellow Canadian who'd authored Iceland. And so we found ourselves at Stykkishólmur’s Library of Water. New moon. Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl and I had just finished a poetry performance; we gathered outside of the library to stare at northern lights, partly obscured by high, thin clouds. Nicolas raised his wrist and coaxed us to follow his lead. With the electric harbour lights of Stykkishólmur blocked, we could see the aurora.
Call for Papers The 2nd Convention of Chinese/American Association for Poetry and Poetics &International Symposium on Modern and Contemporary Literatures in English Wuhan, China June 8-9, 2013
In September 2011, the 1st Convention of Chinese/American Association for Poetry and Poetics (CAAP) took place successfully, attended by about 300 scholars and poets from the world. In order to further promote international exchange and scholarly prosperity, the University of Pennsylvania-based CAAP will collaborate with the School of Foreign Languages and School of Humanities of Central China Normal University, Foreign Literature Studies, and Forum for World Literature Studies in hosting “The 2nd CAAP Convention and International Symposium on Modern and Contemporary Literatures in English” (June 8-9, 2013) in Wuhan, China. Scholars and authors all over the world are welcome.
Geeta Dayal in «Slate Book Review» reviews a book that will make you dizzy. In "BASIC: A single line of code sends readers into a labyrinth" she explores the mysteries of a brief line of computer code that draws a strange, beautiful and endless maze pattern on the screen, and much more besides. Here's a precis of what she writes:
ModPo overview
The enrollment in this free, 10-week noncredit course on modern and contemporary American poetry was 42,523 in the fall of 2012, and 38,150 in the fall of 2013 and 38,800 in the fall of 2014, 34,000 in the fall of 2015, and 21,000 in the fall of 2016. Contributions to the discussion forums were read (well, viewed) 957,000 times in 2012. Video recordings of collaborative close readings of poems were viewed nearly a half million times in ten weeks (in '12, '13 and '14 each). The course site remains open for those enrolled for another nine months after each session ends in mid-November. Here are some links:
1. ModPo home page (you can enroll any time—it's free)
2. participant reviews (CourseTalk site)
3. Facebook group: ongoing, although the course has officially ended
4. a blog created by ModPo’ers: to continue post-ModPo
5. a blogroll of ModPo students’ post-ModPo blogs
6. introductory video
7. twitter feed, ModPoPenn (ongoing)
8. ModPo YouTube channel (includes recordings of live webcast sessions)
9. blog review/update
10. another blog review
11. another blog review
12. another review
13. another review
Décio Pignatari (1927-2012)
The poet, associated with the Brazillian concrete poetry movement, died today. He was 85 and lived in Sao Paulo. With Augusto and Haroldo de Campos he edited the magazne Noigandres e Invenção and they together wrote Teoria da Poesia Concreta (1965).
Perhaps his most famcous concrete poem is this one, from 1957:
Rhyme-off of off-rhyme
Moon, wrist in Iceland(ic)
On the eve of my first Að landa post, the sky over Reykjavík plunged from pink to indigo when the last light dwindled near 17:30. Jupiter rose in the north as I set up my tripod, charged my camera battery. Holding a wrist near eye level to block the city lights, I scanned the horizon above Mount Esja for hints of moonlight.
Nicolas Billon taught me the wrist trick during his first visit to Iceland in October. I’d been curious to meet him, a fellow Canadian who'd authored Iceland. And so we found ourselves at Stykkishólmur’s Library of Water. New moon. Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl and I had just finished a poetry performance; we gathered outside of the library to stare at northern lights, partly obscured by high, thin clouds. Nicolas raised his wrist and coaxed us to follow his lead. With the electric harbour lights of Stykkishólmur blocked, we could see the aurora.
CFP: CAAP convention on American poetry & poetics in Wuhan, China
Call for Papers
The 2nd Convention of Chinese/American Association for Poetry and Poetics & International Symposium on Modern and Contemporary Literatures in English
Wuhan, China
June 8-9, 2013
In September 2011, the 1st Convention of Chinese/American Association for Poetry and Poetics (CAAP) took place successfully, attended by about 300 scholars and poets from the world. In order to further promote international exchange and scholarly prosperity, the University of Pennsylvania-based CAAP will collaborate with the School of Foreign Languages and School of Humanities of Central China Normal University, Foreign Literature Studies, and Forum for World Literature Studies in hosting “The 2nd CAAP Convention and International Symposium on Modern and Contemporary Literatures in English” (June 8-9, 2013) in Wuhan, China. Scholars and authors all over the world are welcome.
Amazing patterns!
From a single line of old, clumsy code ...
Geeta Dayal in «Slate Book Review» reviews a book that will make you dizzy. In "BASIC: A single line of code sends readers into a labyrinth" she explores the mysteries of a brief line of computer code that draws a strange, beautiful and endless maze pattern on the screen, and much more besides. Here's a precis of what she writes: