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From Lana Ayers:
Welcome to the August 2010 Postcard Poetry List!
Here's what's involved:
Get yourself at least 31 postcards. These can be found at book stores, thrift shops, online, drug stores, antique shops, museums, gift shops. (You'll be amazed at how quickly you become a postcard addict.)
On or about July 27th, write an original poem right on a postcard and mail it to the person on the list below your name. (If you are at the very bottom, send a card to the name at the top.) And please WRITE LEGIBLY!
Starting on August 1st, ideally in response to a card YOU receive, keep writing a poem a day on a postcard and mailing it to successive folks on the list until you've sent out 31 postcards. Of course you can keep going and send as many as you like but we ask you to commit to at least 31 (a month's worth).
What to write? Something that relates to your sense of "place" however you interpret that, something about how you relate to the postcard image, what you see out the window, what you're reading, using a phrase/topic/or image from a card that you got, a dream you had that morning, or an image from it, etc. Like "real" postcards, get to something of the "here and now" when you write.
Do write original poems for the project. Taking old poems and using them is not what we have in mind. These cards are going to an eager audience of one, so there's no need to agonize. That's what's unique about this experience. Rather than submitting poems for possible rejection, you are sending your words to a ready-made and excited audience awaiting your poems in their mailboxes. Everyone loves getting postcards. And postcards with poems, all the better.
Once you start receiving postcard poems in the mail, you'll be able to respond to the poems and imagery with postcard poems or your own. That will keep your poems fresh and flowing. Be sure to check postage for cards going abroad. The Postcard Graveyard is a very sad place.
That's all there it to it. It's that fun and that easy.
To check out what we've done before, visit the blog [where you'll also see we also have Perennial Poetry Postcard List of folks who try to write a postcard poem at least once a week regardless of receiving in order to keep connections flowing.], Paul Nelson's website or our Facebook group.
To get started, click to register. Once you've registered, you just need to login to see the list of participants.
Email postcardpoetry@yahoo.com if you have any questions.
5 comments:
Quick question--I just signed on and the list is really short. Will there be more added?
I'm so glad to be able to do this again. I was out of the country and pretty inaccessible most of last August, so couldn't participate. Glad to be back. I really enjoyed the daily discipline 2 summers ago.
This is such a great activity. No time to fret about writer's block - just let it flow and go! I always take a photo, front and back, before sending them off and I've had several submissions elsewhere published. I find I really don't need to do much "polishing" since they are what they are!
couldn't find where to register?
Thank you for hosting the Poetry Postcard group..... it was fun! It gave a purpose to all the photos I take on my travels. I'll keep coming back thanks again.
I enjoyed it as well, even though the new format limited me to only 31 other names. In previous years I would get cards from people at various places beyond the 31 names after mine and I would send return cards as well as mush along beyond the end of August.
This year I signed up a second time using my pseudonym with another group of 31. It was exciting to get a couple cards out each day while teaching four comp classes during summer quarter. Returns were better this year - I sent out over 60 cards both years, but this year I got about 18 back from each group [36] - about double from last year's total. As my kids say, "Kewl!"
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