Poet a Day Blog

How would you like to decide what poems are printed in your favorite poetry journal? That’s the twist at
Angelic Dynamo, a printed poetry journal project. The magazine is sponsored by the University of Warwick in the UK and printed with the support of the Oxford University Conted Department and the Universeity of East Anglia Conted Department. It publishes works submitted by published and unpublished poets - but here’s the twist. The editors sift through their submissions and post a shortlist online at their website - and readers vote on which ones should be included in the journal. They call it “Poetry and Democracy”. I call it a fun idea.

The winning poems from the first four issues - the latest one is Issue 4 - March 2009 - are posted on the web site. In addition, there are three poems in the running to be considered for the next issue. They’re also accepting submissions, so do check it out!

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poem a virtual poetry group is an online poetry prompt site with a difference. The poetry prompts run in monthly cycles, with four weeks of poetry and prompts arising from a single poem posted at the start of each month. The site is hosted and maintained by jillypoet and carolee, two veteran poet bloggers who are great networkers and do a great job of maintaining the group and keeping things rolling along. If you like a little more meat to your poetry prompts, or really enjoy getting your teeth into a new form or theme, poem is definitely a site where you’ll find likeminded poetry bloggers and poets.

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Haiku.com is more than a site to read haiku. It’s a combination wiki, blog and shoutwall all in one. The unique poetry website calls itself a “human powered directory created by people throughout the world”, and claim that it provides patterns of relevancy that search engines and algorithms cannot achieve. HAIKU is also a place where you can discover over 1,000 directory entries about haiku, more than 2,500 entries on poetry and more, more, more.

Some of the best fun on Haiku though is where Haiku meets Web 2.0. You’ll find a page devoted to TWAIKU - Haiku on Twitter, which lists Twitter haiku feeds. You can discover Tweeps like ghost_of_basho, who writes things like …. well, like Basho.. a small sample:

on the midnight watch | dolphins glow in the bow wave | moonlight on taut sails

and

silent predawn sky | blue rise and trees breathe the sun | waiting for the storm

You can join HAIKU on Facebook, post Facebook and Google haiku on one of the Haiku walls or publish your own Personal Haiku page, as well as help contribute and edit any of the other directory pages on the site. It’s definitely worth checking out - but be sure you have an hour or so to waste. It’s really really easy to get lost in there.

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One of the quirkier poetry projects I’ve run across, In Cinq invites readers to snap a self-portrait, write an identity cinquain and post it for the world to see. The in cinqs are fun to read, and contemplating the differences between the images presented in illustration and in words can be engrossing. Here’s the guidelines from In Cinq:

You’ve snapped the self portraits. Now snap yourself a self poem. Reveal yourself in a 9-word cinquain.

1st line: one word that represents you

2nd line: two words that describe you

3rd line: three words that show you

4th line: two words that express you

5th line: the essence of you, in one word

Also share your:

Gender, age, location.
Examples: “guy, 28, third floor corner cubicle”; “girl, 19, Boston.”

Link to a photo or illustration.
No standard yearbook shots, please (browse cinqpics for inspiration).
Your pict will be sized to 306 pix-width, and may be cropped (this is
rare).

Website or blog url. Optional, if you want your self portrait linked back to you.

Go on then. Show the world what you look like in cinq.

Check it out and leave your own in cinq.

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The Miss Rumphius Effect is a delightful blog written and maintained by a teacher and mom from Richmond, Virginia. Her reviews of kid’s literature, discussions of poetry, reading and literacy and her weekly “Monday Poetry Stretch” make this blog well worth reading regularly. In addition to writing poetry and writing about poetry, Miss Rumpious also shares insights on reading, teaching and sharing poetry with children - and maintains a list of links for anyone interested in children, what they like to read and what makes them tick.

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It occurs to me that in trying to be ‘fair’ and ethical by not promoting sites with which I am affiliated, I’m not giving props to one of the best online poetry sites it has ever been my pleasure to find. GotPoetry.com is one of the most comprehensive poetry resource sites on the net. The site is simply ginormous - but still manages to feel cozy and homelike, thanks to the awesome involvement level of various members and staff. My own favorite part of the site is the Workshop Forums, where you can post your works in progress for suggestions, encouragement and critique. The forums are lively and active, both in the poetry sections and in the off-topic sections. Free membership gets you access to the forums - paid members (and membership is a measly $25 a year) get to create their own forums on the subjects of their choosing and run them as they see fit.

In addition to the Workshops, there is a Finished Poems section where anyone can post their work (paid members bypass the poem approval process and get to see their poems posted immediately) to be commented upon and rated. The Finished Poems section includes pages where you can read the Most Popular Poems, the Top Rated Poems, check out the Highest Ranking Poets or Read a Random Poem. You can enter a Page Slam with your finished poems, or start one of your own.

In addition, there are regularly Featured Columns by poets, slammers, and other commenters, Poet Blogs and home pages for all members (there is FREE membership that entitles you to almost full access to the site), games to play, Encyclopedia, a Rhyming Dictionary, a Book Creator and a Chat Room that doesn’t see near enough use. Oh - and there is News, which includes updates from multiple poetry communities around the country, listings of local events and feature readings, a poetry map of poetry venues around the country - really, there’s a laundry list of valuable resources that never seems to end.

Site manager and owner John Powers is a daily presence on the site, and adding/refining features constantly to keep up with what the readers want. Long-time members frequent the forums and the finished poems sections to keep conversations moving and engaging. There’s a place for everyone at GotPoetry, from the hobbyist to the professional, and for every type of poetry. It is, in short, one of the most open and welcoming active sites on the Web, and I apologize for taking so long to spotlight it here.

Poetrydances.com showcases the work of various emerging writers. In the course of its reading program across selected poetry websites (or other sites which host user submitted poetry), Poetrydances.com links to poems it considers to be exceptional. Many of the writers behind these poems are able to enjoy ‘Favorite Writer’ status on the site. Poetry can also be submitted directly to the site along with links to great poems found by users themselves.

That’s directly from the latest press release put out by Poetry Dances.com founder and owner Tony French. Tony’s idea is a simple one - find poems that you like on the hundreds of poetry groups on the net, and link to them from one central site. In addition, there’s a monthly magazine of the ‘best’, links to submit your own poems for inclusion, a Favorite Writers list and links to submit poetry that you find and would like to see featured. Be prepared to wade through lots and lots of contextual ads, but there’s lots of poetry here - and maybe you’ll find one of yours.

Bird Droppings is a site of very personal poetry, written by one woman with an ear for lyrical language. Ayesha posts in spurts - so it’s worth checking back frequently to catch up on what she’s done recently. I particularly liked her poem “Bead Factory” which reminded me of the poem Jamaican Market - a flowing list of things seen. A very pretty site, as well - and Ayesha has enabled a “Rate This Post” feature that lets you assign a 1-star to 5-stars rating to each of her poems, for those that want to play judge and jury.