[Newspoetry] Re: anticipatory plagiary

[William Gillespie]

Adam,

Wow, okay,

The reason I lost your email is that it's dated 1904. I guess it kind of got
hung up after you sent it, because computers had yet to be invented.

I'm going to forward your message to the Newspoetry list,. In general, it's
unethical to forward a personal email to a list, but in this case I felt it was
absolutely necessary. My role in Newspoetry at this point, as founder and
designer, is kind of like Dottering Figurehead and occasional content provider.
The editor and publisher and programmer, Joe Futrelle, who may choose to
publish your poem, does the work. I dig your newspoem. Timeliness is a factor,
but the rigorous rate of a poem a day is the overriding factor, so it's not
like sending shit to the Paris Review, where, in the unlikely event that they
publish you, they do it eight months later. By which I mean to say: keep us in
mind if you ever see anything interesting or infuriating in the news, almost
all newspoems get published. I'm not dissing the Review, I'm just sort of
referring to the unpopularity of anachronistic news poetry in American (New
York) publishing, and the advantages of a website over a print journal with
regard to immediacy and distribution, not to mention cost.

(No flies on George Plimpton.)

What is "ProJo"? Are there hidden constraints at work? How did you write it?
The stanza that is X-heavy makes me wonder whether you were playing with the
alphabet somehow... Where do you live?

There is an abundance of cool writing games on the links you sent. I am a rabid
Bernadette Mayer fan, though I've never met her.  Her online list of poetry
assignments has been an inspiration to us, as will yours.

Keep in touch,
W#ll#am


adam tobin wrote:

> Dear William G.,
>
> Hello.  I stumbled into your website and I think it's marvy.
>
> I especially like today's poem (NAS: DAQ, CAR crash; A lands / Add'l:
> Baghdad attack appals).
>
> I'd like to offer you the poem signified by the URL below, but it is dated
> 8/26/99.  You have my permission to lie about the date if you want to put it
> on your site, and if your ethics permit.
>
> http://www.netspace.org/users/jguitart/tobin/315/26noon.html
>
> ***
>
> In any case, I offer you the following URLs for your reading pleasure.
> They both represent collaborative writing projects in which i have been
> involved, and in which I have reason to believe you might take some delight.
>
> 1.
> http://www.oxhouse.org/~verbatim/
>
> 2.
> http://www.pscs.org/~danika/1999/index.html
>
> With best wishes,
> I am yours truly,
> Adam Munsey Tobin