Monthly Archives: March 2014

my writing, oulipost

Oulipost Warm-Up #2

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WARM-UP #2: BLANK VERSE AMIDST THE PROSE

And now for something slightly more difficult…compose a poem using unintentional lines of iambic pentameter found in your newspaper (or practice source).

My source:  http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-03-14/news/ct-des-plaines-oasis-closing-met-20140315_1_des-plaines-oasis-tri-state-tollway-dagan

The results:

The sea of superhero-themed plush toys
So easily attainable with just
Correct maneuvering of a claw crane
the perfect place for him to experience
with greasy fair and weary truckers
“It might seem kind of cheesy but to me…”
And lying on a picnic table bench
The oasis of her memory is not the same

oulipost

The Oulipost Interview with a First Time Pseudo-Oulipian

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Question #1:  What excites you about Oulipost?

They say that writing with constraints causes creativity to flourish.

Question #2:  What, if anything, scares you about Oulipost?

I’m not very good at doing what I’m told.

Question #3:  Have you written experimental or found poetry before?  If so, tell us about it.

For a design project, I altered cheap paperback romance novels from thrift stores, carving out niches for found objects and mimicked Tom Phillips’ A Humument, creating erasure poems from the text.  Sadly no photographic evidence exists.

Question #4:  What newspaper will serve as your source text?

The Chicago Tribune, which I already apparently mysteriously have a subscription to.  Or maybe the free, hip, Red Eye?

Question #5:  Who’s your Spirit Oulipian?

David Levin Becker.  The newest member of Oulipo as I am new to Oulipo.  From Chicago, where I currently reside, sort of.  Has a bunch of photos of animals on his website, including tortoiseshell cats, and I have a tortoiseshell cat named Lily.  Has a category on his website of his writing titled “not fiction but not very informative either”.  Knows French.