32 Poems Magazine » Poetry Promotion

Atlanta Bandit Haiku Angers Some

32poems — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:33:00 +0000

As a Brit brought up on a diet of the BBC and the National Health Service, the experience of American advertising came as quite a shock. A big, in your face, buy-this-drug-to-make-you-happy, shock. So the recent spate of subversive road signs around Atlanta has had me thoroughly amused. The usual ‘get rich quick’ and ‘get thin quick’ and ‘sell your ugly house quick’ messages have been lampooned by artist John Morse, who has created imitation signs of bandit advertisements.

Morse has penned ten haikus in total, and placed them all over the Metro Atlanta area. You can find a map of all the locations here. Saying that these signs, read by almost everyone in a quick glance in traffic or on the bus, offers ‘an ideal place for poetry’, Morse aims to make ‘compact observations and commentary on modern life’. My personal favorite packs a ton of poignancy into just seventeen syllables:

CASH 4 YOUR OLD GOLD

The Value of Memories

Measured by+ the Ounce

Still, it seems that not everyone is a fan of the public poetry. Speaking to Atlanta’s wsbtv.com Peggy Denby from Keep Atlanta Beautiful said, “We call signs like this, ‘litter on a stick’”.+ This is not empty griping, either. Flux Projects, the arts program sponsoring Morse’s poetry signs, has been notified of the illegality of the signs and advised to take them down. Fines for the offense range from $50 to $1,000.

Such controversy can only lead to more attention for the project—and maybe even inspire some copycat signs!

What do you think? Are unauthorized signs always litter? Or does art have a higher law?

You can find out more about the roadside haiku project with a video from John Morse here.

DC Poetry Events Courtesy of Kim Roberts

32poems — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:43:18 +0000

In case you are a DC-area poet and don’t know Kim Roberts — and how could you not? — she’s put together a handy list of May poetry highlights. We’re fortunate to have someone this organized living and promoting art in our community.

The Big Read DC runs through May, celebrating The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. The Humanities Council of Washington, DC and a range of community partners plan a wide range of events, including book discussions, films, dance, storytelling, and guided tours of “New Deal Washington” led by Kim Roberts. Most events free. Full schedule.

May 9 and 10: “Mommie Dearest”: Stories about Mothers, featuring Meera Brown, Regie Cabico, Gayle Danley, Delia Goncalves, Suzanne Hecker, Vijai Nathan, Ellouise Schoettler, and Jonathan Stroud. Sponsored by Speakeasy DC. Chief Ike’s Mambo Room, Adams Morgan in Washington, DC.

May 12: Book release reading by C.M. Mayo, author of the novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, DC.

May 17: Sunday Kind of Love reading by Richard McCann and Jane Shore at Busboys and Poets at 14th & V Streets, NW, Washington, DC.

May 21: Nonfiction reading by the co-winners of the National Award for Arts Writing, Michael Sragow, author of Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master, introduced by David Kipen, and Brenda Wineapple, author of White Heat: The Friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, introduced by Linda Pastan at the Arts Club of Washington.

Full details on these events at Beltway.

If you have more events to share, please add them in the comments. We want to hear your news.

How to Become a Successful Poet

32poems — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:22:31 +0000

Many writers harbor the desire to become successful poets and rise to the top of their profession. To see one’s name on the cover of a slender paperback, to have tens and perhaps even hundreds of readers, to ascend to a lecture podium in a modest-sized auditorium after being introduced by the less successful poet who has been introduced in turn by an earnest graduate student unsure of the pronunciation of your name—these are heady rewards. Beyond these lie the true grail: generous grants, an endowed chair at a university, the big money that will allow you to write and remodel your kitchen, while freeing you from reading the incoherent ramblings of inferior wannabes. How can you realize your dreams? Follow this step-by-step advice.

Thanks to Eduardo C. Corral for letting me know, through his blog, about this essay.

Organizing a Reading Tour

32poems — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:50:45 +0000

Organizing a reading tour is a lot of fun. I like getting back in touch with people and meeting new people.

I often wonder how my friends with bands booked tours and managed to connect the dots between locations. It’s really a talent. I’m not sure I have that talent, but I supposed I’ll be developing it as time goes along.

Have you created a tour to promote your book? If so, would you share advice in the comments below?

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On another note, for you parents with toddlers. Check out this site with activities for toddlers.

Social Networking Site for Artists

32poems — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:18:33 +0000

If you’ve been keeping up with the internet, then you already know about social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Del.ici.ous, Magnolia and Reddit. Those sites allow you to share your bookmarks with friends and to keep your bookmarks online (no more worries about computer crashes.)

Gradually, niche social bookmarking websites hit the scene. One example you may have read about here is Good Reads and marketing your poetry book. Good Reads is a site where you can share and rate your recently read books with others.

Now, for artists, MyArtInfo allows artists to showcase their work, chat with each other and blog.

Why on earth would you need more, or any, blogging tools?

One of the goals of MyArtInfo is to provide a global way to showcase your art. At first, I figured they meant only visual artists and was pleased to be wrong. The site will allow such disciplines as performing arts, film, poetry, sculpture, fashion, architecture, and design

Interview on Women of the Web

32poems — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:46:56 +0000

Didi Menendez posted an interview with me on her Women of the Web blog.

So, Do You Think You Could Pull a Radiohead?

32poems — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:53:28 +0000

Radiohead’s music is a favorite of mine, so I watched with interest as they offered their latest album on a “pay what you can” basis. We paid. We listened. We liked. Of course, I pined for the sounds of their first album, yet I was happy to hear them creating a new sound instead of relying on the relative safety and security of their past success.

When they offered their album for $1, for $0, for $50 — for whatever you want to pay, dear reader — they forged ahead with a risky, never-before-seen, unique marketing endeavor.

John Jantsch, a small business marketing coach, writes:

“Could you make a product or service so satisfying that people would pay enough, voluntarily, to make it a profitable venture? Perhaps, but maybe that’s not the entire point. What Radiohead has done has created so much buzz that the influx of new listeners to the band may make any potential loss pale in comparison…

“Could you create a marketing strategy that would define your industry? Could you do something so big that your peers (not your prospects) would call you crazy?”

Would you, dear reader, be willing to offer your art for what someone wanted to pay?

UPDATE: Radiohead reports an average $10 per download.