So What Exactly is E-Poetry?

                To understand E-Poetry, we have to first get a grasp on how to define E-poetry. One thing we have learned from any other Electronic literature is that it is very difficult to set a concrete definition for what exactly E-Poetry is. However, we can generalize a definition for E-Poetry as being works of electronic literature that approaches poetry through the usage of computers and other digital components. These electronic poems range from a more simple text generator, to more complicated interactive poems that create themselves, and tell a customized story for everyone who reads it.

 One of the more simple poems is called “Puddle and Paddle” by Neil Hennessy. This E-Poem is a kinetic poem, where the words change and are animated as the words they are displaying. One of the key aspects to this poem is the animation of the words within the poem itself, as is the case with many of the examples of E-Poetry we have viewed over the semester.

              

  Another example of E-Poetry we have analyzed this year is a piece called “Sydney’s Siberia” by Jason Nelson. I found this piece particularly interesting because it is an infinite click and read poem. What this means is that the poem you are reading is never ending, but also is different for every single users who navigates through it. Most poems are thought of as lines on a paper with a certain rhyming scheme, but Sydney’s Siberia is different. The poem begins as an image, and zooming in on the image brings up an entire painting of new images, each with its own separate poem on it. From all the examples we have viewed so far, I definitely enjoyed and interacted with this individual piece the most, and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in electronic literature.

A Selection of the never ending, interactive poem "Sydney's Siberia"

                I see electronic literature, specifically E-Poetry, as an excellent way for human expression using traditional poetic methods, but utilizing an ever advancing technology to coincide with us as we as humans evolve with it. E-Poetry has introduced a new, digitized, and creative turn to poetry that no pen and paper will ever be able to equal.