Oulipost warm Up #3

Sources: Valley Advocate- 3/13/14, Belchertown Sentinel- 3/20/14, Los Angeles Times- 3/27/14, KyivPost -3/26/14, Epoch Times- 3/27/14, The Hindu- 3/27/14

This assignment the last preview assignment before Oulipost actually begins is called a beautiful outlaw (belle absente). The outlaw in question is the name of the person (or subject) to whom the poem is addressed. Each line of the poem includes all the letters of the alphabet except for the letter appearing in the dedicated name at the position corresponding to that of the line: when writing a poem to Eva, the first line will contain all letters except E, the second all letters except V, and the third all letters except A.  

    

I couldn't fit all 25 words into one line so I made each letter into separate stanzas.  The word I picked was jazz. I don't know how I'm going to do this assignment in 24 hours on April 8th, but I signed up to do just that, so I am somehow going to.  I think the key is using multiple newspapers and the internet document search function to find applicable words. 

J Art  bookngs CD DJs entertainment fans gathered

   historic integrity Kumin legacy more nation overlooks 

   paean qualties renditions stage unfettered venues writing

   XYZ Yuengling Zombieland

A bounds contradictions distribute experience folks 

    girl-child health invigorate joy knife live magic 

   nutrients objected production quarter-century

   righteous scene tabla Unbounded Valley world 

   xenophobia you’re Zoe

Z Act beat critical dark explores festivals genre-straddling
    helping imagine Jorgensen kick longings 

    multi-instrumentalist next originated people quite
   recognized season thinking uncorseted versions 

   welcoming X-men youth

Z  America brilliant community digital everyone females

    gig house illumination Jayanthi knowledge locally males

    NYC obliquely pride Queer respect standards 
    testament unique vibrant watershed Xbox yes

Oulipost warm up #2

Source: "The shortest season" by Maureen Turner Valley Advocate March 13th

Assignment: Write an iambic pentameter using an article from the newspaper had to change production to product and needed to have an extra half foot to the last line. I also deleted a bunch of words in between the words I choose.

Changing landscape maple syrup product

concede certain Yankee customs charming
the Sugar Season… Syrup waiting sampled

Oulipost warm up #1

Source: Valley Advocate, March 13, 2014

Assignment:  Tuatagram — a poem in which, primarily, each word begins with the same letter (In Greek, Tauto gramma means “same letter”).  I chose "P" and plucked the following words from my paper.  All I did was add the punctuation.  Even the capitals came with the paper.

President Peter Parker pressed

Pennsylvania-Portland pipeline.

People plan protest.

MY PRE-OULIPOST INTERVIEW

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I'm involved in this found poetry project called Oulipost.  It creates poetry on a subject based on rules.  I will post one poem a day in April.  Also I will do a few pre-assignments as well.

WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT OULIPOST ?

I have immense respect for newspapers as a media source.  Being able to combine my skills as a poet and  a citizen journalist is awesome.

WHAT, IF ANYTHING, SCARES YOU ABOUT OULIPOST?

 I’m afraid of the time commitment.   I have other projects and personal issues happening at the moment.

HAVE YOU WRITTEN EXPERIMENTAL OR FOUND POETRY BEFORE? IF SO, TELL US ABOUT IT.

I was part of Pulitzer Remix in 2013, during which I used Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie as my source text.  I wrote quite a few found poems about the 2012 Sandy Hook Massacre.  I began a project to create a found poem about every mass shooting in 2013.  I had to abandon this project in September,  2013 because it was so emotionally draining.    

WHAT NEWSPAPER WILL SERVE AS YOUR SOURCE TEXT?

The Belchertown  Sentinel, the Valley Advocate, the Springfield Republican, possibly the Daily Hampshire Gazette, and Massachusetts Daily Collegian (University of Massachusetts/Amherst’s newspaper)

WHO’S YOUR SPIRIT OULIPIAN?

Jacques Roubaud... We share many of the same losses and a love of gerunds.