People have bemoaned the internet as the death of print for a while now. Can we ignore that argument for the time being and just talk about the internet as the birth of endless literary publishing possibilities? The Ugly Duckling Presse website has an amazing example of the online book: Jen Bervin’s “a non-breaking space”. The book is a work of art, presented on the web as a scanned image in high-resolution so that the reader/viewer can see the texture and layering of materials; the only thing missing is the sense of touch (which the author discusses in “about this book”). This is a book that, due to the use of paint and fragile paper in its assembly, most likely would not have been possible to mass produce, and online publication of its image allowed for an uninhibited creation of a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece of literary artwork.
The site also has an archive of many chapbooks that are presented in the same format. Daniil Kharms’ “The Blue Notebook” seems relevant in our current war-ridden world, and haunting in its absurdist honesty. He juxtaposes beautiful and strange, sometimes violent, images: ”The sky grew dark. The stars twinkled./ Some rats chewed up a mouse under the floorboards.” There is much to learn in these poems about how we present what we have to say. In what way do we give our observations of the world to the world?
Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, will we keep writing for the public if what we create will never be seen? Kharms chose to, and as writers we should heed his words, “To have only intelligence and talent is too little. One must/ also have energy, real interest, clarity of thought and a sense of/ obligation.” In Dorothea Lasky’s “Poetry Is Not a Project”, she posits that the work itself is what is important, not the idea of a project. If we can value the “poems over projects” (and we can substitute our individual forms for poetry if need be), Lasky says, “We might even create a century full of aesthetic renaissance. Don’t you want that?” Our answer should be a resounding, emphatic affirmative.
POST BY: Jessie Rose Moore, Online Editor
