Unplanned Linkage

17º ~ the temp actually went down 1 degree in the last hour, what's that all about?  ~ the forecast says we won't break 30 today, the snow remains on grassy areas on day 3

My reading chair on the deck.

I hadn't planned today to be a day of links, but that's what's happened.  Three links today, but they are mighty links.

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I've mentioned Nic Sebastian's blog/project Whale Sound before.  Poets, editors, readers can all submit any poem that has been previously published online.  If a poem is chosen, Nic produces a podcast of her interpretation.  The voice alone is to die for, but the careful handling of the poems is a close second.  In any case, Monday, Joshua Robbins' poem "Theodicy" was the feature.  Do yourself a favor and listen to the poem right now.

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The editors of one of my favorite online journals, Linebreak, are embarking on a lightning fast foray into the world of producing a book of poetry for e-readers, Two Weeks: A Digital Anthology of Contemporary Poetry.  Here's a bit from the announcement:

For years, ebooks have been ignored by most poetry publishers. Today, the few poetry ebooks available are little more than cut-and-paste versions of their print counterparts. And many fail to preserve line breaks and other basic formatting.

They are accepting submissions until January 19 and will sell the anthology they create on the 25th.  Holy Lightspeed Turnaround, Batman!

I had my first look at a book of Emily Dickinson poems on an e-reader over the holidays.  I was so sad to see that several of the line breaks in each poem had been destroyed, and she has some famously short lines.  One reason I haven't purchased an e-reader is that I read so much poetry and so little is available in e-format.  Now that I see how it is being presented, I'm doubly glad not to have bought one yet.  


Click here for the announcement.

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Finally, like most of the nation, I've been struggling to make sense of the shooting in Tucson.  The fact that the shooter had attended the area community college and had been expelled due to mental instability struck home with me, especially when commentators began to say that the college should have done more (we heard this same refrain of Virginia Tech, so it isn't limited to cc's). 

I'm thankful this morning for fellow poet and cc instructor/administrator, Kristin Berkey-Abbott's post about the subject.  I hope you'll read it and think it over. 

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We're finally going to start the new semester, two days late due to snow and ice conditions.  I find I'm ready to rise to the challenge again.  Onward.

Take care and tell the ones you love how much they matter.