And no, the text isn't on a sugar high.

 

 

[Although you may think so after seeing some samples of hypertext poetry.]

 

Our next step into the unknown-I mean e-poetry- is hypertext poetry.

 

Yeah, but really, what is it?

 

 

[BoRinG-Useful] Definition: It is text arranged on the screen in a certain order; it will include hyperlinks to other sites with visual/audio media or other pages that will enrich the meaning of the poem.

 

 

Hypertext is particularly fun. My first experience with hypertext [Millennium Buggery by Ernesto Sarezale) was filled with rainbow colored bars across the screen and completely random links to websites (some that don't exist anymore-a peeve!). I suppose the most exciting event is not a PowerPoint animation of text at 1 AM.

Riding the Meridian explores how hypertext is not only poetry and its effects[oh yes, there is more]. It is also a new medium for prose. But forget about prose. What hypertext has done to poetry is that is interactive; you don't just sit there and read, you have to click first. A writer in this medium is forced to much more selective in what content is displayed, and the reader taken for the ride.

 

But, enough talk: let's click!

 

[click me!]

 

[This will lead you to a hypertext site by Mary Hedger. Where you click on the letter spelling H-Y-P-E-R-T-E-X-T. On the left hand side you will be linked to the poem; on the right hand side you get a small blurb about the poem ]

 

In the next installment: Hypertext Poetry by Mary Hedger [We're going to click into the deep!] and other examples of hypertext poetry.

 

The Rough Cut: What is digital poetry?

What is the first image that shows up in when you think poetry? Is it a sonnet written hundreds years ago? Well, you can press delete on that image right now because today, poetry isn't just neatly published words on your textbook. Digital poetry is two small words to describe the underground wave of poetry that you can experience through images, audio and words. It is also known as e-poetry.

Even though it has been known that poetry isn’t just a form of writing but an art that is spoken; it has adapted to the digital media where it is mobile and easily accessible. You could say it is has taken the “open-source” passage like OpenOffice.

Digital poetry began in the late 1950s. Long before personal computers, digital poetry had become a stable and accepted form of expression.

Yet, with the advent of personal computers, more innovation occurred. For example, in the 1980s Hypertext emerged as a form of poetry where text is interconnected in specific design, not necessarily linear.

Like:

(Source: Ernesto Sarezale)

Or Like This:

hymns of the drowning swimmer

Copyright © Jason Nelson

Certainly not your average poem in the works here.

Now, is there a clear definition of digital poetry? It's own definition evolved with the dynamic form. What some define as digital poetry, now is evaluated by other critics as "Poetry and New Media". Which in most basic terms, is a very similar classification. For the purposes of this blog, we shall just encounter this form as poetry innovated by computer technology.