Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Poemblots



The newest feature I'm working on at Queen Mob's Teahouse is called Poemblot.


Poemblot (as in inkblot) is where a general reader (i.e. someone who does not have an educational or professional background in writing or literature) is shown a poem and asked to offer an immediate impression. The reader reads the poem no more than twice and is not given any instruction on how to read it or information about the author. One of the purposes of Poemblot is to explore the different perceptions and assumptions readers bring to a text. The readers' full names will not be shared to protect them from rampaging, ego-bruised poets on social media. Instead we'll offer some basic background information and a representational photo provided by each reader as a framework for who they are.

There's two up so far: a poem by Brent Terry, a second by G. M.  Palmer and more to come soon.

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