Here's the second article on exciting digital literature projects written by the people who make them happen. If you'd like to spill the beans about the perils, pitfalls and pleasures of the work you do and join the longlist to be an Ifsoflo laureate of digital brilliance, contact liz at futureofthebook dot org dot uk.

IF:SO LAUREATES: TWO:
GLOBAL POETRY SYSTEM
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

6 months mapping poetry: the view from behind the scenes

Lucy Macnab, Project Leader on GPS and Ryan Ormonde, a GPS intern, answer questions about the new website.

Why Global Poetry System?

Lucy: GPS is a user generated world map of poetry. It’s based on Lemn Sissay’s idea that you can find poetry everywhere, from gravestones to graffiti, birthday cards to blogs, in the landscape and in our memories. It asks people to find the poetic in everyday life, and map it, sharing it with each other online via google maps within the site. The people who discover the site seem to love it – I’ve just read a facebook comment saying it’s ‘this gps thing is a damn good project’ (thanks Wondering About), the google analytics statistics are really promising and my own experience is that it makes me see the world differently - sharpens my poetic eye if you like. It does something new and quietly creative. It connects people with poetry and how it makes them feel (some of the most compelling parts of the site are the descriptions of where a poem has been found or what it means to someone) and it’s a new way of exploring and commenting on place.


Ryan: As a poet and student of poetry with an interest in the possibilities of online media in creation/distribution of work, I was very keen to see how a large organisation like Southbank Centre would develop a public poetry project that announces itself with the tagline ‘Poetry is all around you’. I was familiar with the work of Lemn Sissay, a poet and Southbank Centre artist in residence whose initial idea of finding poetry around the site was developed into Global Poetry System. I could see how Lemn’s poetry, often taking the form of striking public art works, must have driven the direction of the project and informed its ethos. With such a simple and open concept to work with, there is much to appeal in GPS.


Is it really poetry?


Lucy: The Poetry Library at Southbank Centre defines what they collect as anything that is published as poetry. If something is presented as a poem by its creator, or a publisher, they accept that something as a poem. Which resonates with us. We’re open to redefinitions. There’s a lot of interest in what GPS might end up saying about poetry and its relationship to place, and also in the idea of playful approaches to encouraging reading, wherever it is.

Ryan: I agree that the question is open. I would add the questions ‘Is the site the place where you begin to think about poetry?’ and ‘Is the site the place where you begin to think outside of poetry?’


What about copyright?

Lucy: This is something we really wrestled with, and then we realized that the reason we were doing the project was to encourage people to discover poetry, to read more and that by being too restrictive or prescriptive about the sharing process, we wouldn’t be able to achieve this. So our policy is that if an author objects to their work being up there we take down the offending post immediately, and also that we actively find ways to signpost people to where they can deepen or broaden or start their relationship with poetry.

Why can’t you comment on people’s posts?

Lucy: This isn’t something we’ve ruled out developing, but for now, we are enjoying that GPS is perhaps the shyest form of social media. To be able to put your content online without instant comment is different from most sharing sites, maybe even refreshing or attractive to first timers.

And the question posed by ifsoflo that frames this series of features…is it digitally brilliant?

Lucy: I think it’s becoming brilliant through the content that people are uploading – the poetic that they discover in every kind of place, from a hip hop chip shop near Swansea to a survival cache in Antarctica. An open and creative invitation to participate works every time, and especially online.

Ryan: The main rewards from the project have come at the points when people have connected with its aims, be it senior citizens in Lancashire remembering poems that were drilled into them at school, school kids jumping at the chance to write their favourite lines for a ‘poetic photobooth’ on National Poetry Day, or a photograph of some insistent, funny or mysterious graffiti uploaded by one of the site’s users. I think this question about the site being digitally brilliant brings in two more open questions that are kind of two sides of the same coin: ‘Is the site the shyest form of social media? and ‘Is the site the most social web presence for poetry?’

Lucy: If you have questions or comments we’d love to hear from you, as the project is still developing, and will continue to. Please get in touch at gps@southbankcentre.co.uk, and we’d love you to join in, and post some poetry to the map at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

IF:SO LAUREATES: ONE

THE CLOUD CHAMBER

ANGEL DAHOUK of THE POETRY SOCIETY writes about...
THE CLOUD CHAMBER
Considering poetry across the curriculum
and across disciplines

The Cloud Chamber began as a solution to assembling a large number of poets without encountering barriers of distance or timing. The vision was a virtual symposium of inspired brainstorming and pixellating poetry.

In 2000, the Poetry Society conceived the Poetryclass scheme which involved a team of poet-educators across the country working closely with teachers, allowing them an insight into poets’ minds and igniting their confidence and enthusiasm for teaching poetry. In 2009, the Poetry Society received three year funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to focus on a number of areas, one of which will introduce poetry modules into initial teacher training at primary level. We are particularly keen to promote the use of cross-curricular poetry so that it becomes a natural art form to encounter in all subject areas rather than being confined to the literacy hour. Teaching poetry across the curriculum and encouraging writing across disciplines is not a new development by any means. However, as poetry is covered as a component of English, it is often neglected as an art form.

The Cloud Chamber serves as the first research stage into how poetry has featured in different areas of study, and how we can build on this. An experimental online meeting space, the Cloud Chamber encourages broader discussions around the trans-disciplinary use of poetry. It aims to connect poets, writers, academics, researchers and specialists in other fields to enable a dialogue exploring issues and practical approaches to the widening of poetry into other subject areas. Poet and educator Cliff Yates initiated discussions in three categories centred around philosophy, poems and practice.

Since it opened, the Cloud Chamber has raised awareness of poetry developments around the country, as well as allowing participants to access a creative network which may yield further collaborative work. For the practitioners, it is an opportunity for skills sharing and utilising other areas of expertise to create links with poetry.

The decision was taken to make the forum private (view and post by invitation only) to create a protected space in which contributors could share their work with no threat of copyright infringement. This also encouraged contributors to be more open with their reflections and ideas.

Wordpress was selected as a platform for discussions. A free online blogging facility, Wordpress is simple to navigate around and uses a content management system to upload information. When additional features are used, however, there is a small charge. Although the blog was designed inhouse, a software company was hired in to translate the design into CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). So, the first problem we were confronted with was the cost. Web expertise demands a high price.

The second dilemma we faced was persuading those who were interested in the Cloud Chamber to undertake the process of signing up with Wordpress. To overcome this, it is vital to develop further online literature projects so that people become more accustomed to the digital world.

In its first three months, the Cloud Chamber has attracted 61 registered readers and contributors across a range of regions and disciplines. Anyone who wishes to read or join in the debate, please send an email to Angel Dahouk at adahouk@poetrysociety.org.uk