Virtual Poetry Project (ISSN 1947-9409)

Virtual Poetry Project

  1. The VPP is the Poetry Project at the New Media Lab. It is a journal dedicated to showcase the use of new media for poetry creation. It is virtual because a hard-copy of this journal cannot be obtained, since it runs in the virtual space provided by an Apache server, and its content is made of bits and pieces of code. Digital formats are the targeted media of these creations.

  2. The VPP is also a demonstration of what can be accomplished using open source tools. The multimedia framework used for the development of this project is provided by the UbuntuStudio Linux distro. The journal uses the Open Journal System, and is hosted in a Linux server located at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York.

  3. This journal will present a series of dossiers dedicated to particular works, including critical approaches that will offer tools to understand the relationship established between poetic creation and new media. Marshall McLuhan’s proposal stating that “the medium is the message” has been push forward by poets who researched the different media that could serve as material support for poetic expression. Changes in technology and media have affected poetic expression throughout history. The experiments undertaken by Brazilian Concretistas (such as Haroldo and Augusto de Campos) are good examples of how this idea developed: they emphasized the visual, plastic aspect of the written word. Today, with the diversification and availability of digital technologies, poets are making use of the possibilities they offer.

  4. The VPP is a space available to connect artists and scholars around the world through web 2.0 technologies, building a web of resources and a network of people interested in these new forms of experimental poetry. The Open Journal System (the software used for this publication) provides tools for the building of an online community of people committed to research the field of poetic expression.

Members of the Poetics Group are invited to register and submit materials for publication.  You can register here:
http://nml.cuny.edu/poetryproject/vpp/index.php/vpp/user/register
The first issue is already online, it can be seen at the following address:
http://nml.cuny.edu/poetryproject/vpp/index.php/vpp/issue/current