Ink Sweat & Tears - the poetry & prose webzine

Do poets still starve in their garrets - Part II

Charles Christian — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:53:00 +0000

Our posting over the weekend – showing the cafe sign at Aldeburgh inviting poets to share a bowl of soup (here's the photo again in case you missed it) and prompting us to ask whether poets still starve in their garrets

has prompted regular IS&T contributor Charlotte Ghost to submit this suggested menu – enjoy...

New poetry animation

Charles Christian — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:02:00 +0000

We've been searching the internet for some new poetry animations – and it's been proving hard to find any that combine imaginative graphics with good poetry (ironically there are some great animations out there of terrible poetry) – however we think this piece Paradoxes and Oxymorons by John Ashbery (see video for full list of credits) neatly fits the bill...

Salena Godden sings the praises of the good cock

Charles Christian — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:56:00 +0100

Charles Christian writes... I've been trying to get the delightful Salena Godden to submit some of her poetry to Ink Sweat & Tears for at least the last six months – but she is so busy touring the country (and Europe) performing here, there and everywhere that she never has the time to transcribe her work into a publishable manuscript. So, here is something better – a video of La Godden performing one of her more notorious poems The Good Cock at the Monday Night Alternative in Norwich earlier this year. You can find Salena hosting and performing at The Book Club Boutique most Mondays in Soho (London) – check here for details www.myspace.com/bookclubboutique or on Facebook.

Melinda Moore would like to protest

Charles Christian — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:29:00 +0100

* Born in Wales, Melinda Moore is terminally indecisive and has already been a ballet dancer, model, clothes designer and political aide. She is now a writer and artist, and has published a variety of work including poetry, photography and prose.

This picture (part of a second year project on a degree course at Norwich School of Art & Design) was taken as part of a protest at the banning of Size Zero models when obesity is actually a far greater health issue – although the image also works as a modern haiga.

Mandelbrot - and the finger print of God

Charles Christian — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:00:00 +0100

This is a multimedia contribution, featuring a poem and podcast – The Fingerprint of God – by regular IS&T contributor Helen Pletts that was inspired by a Mandelbrot set image her cousin Dave Howard created on his computer...

The fingerprint of God

I'll leave you
as a stray raindrop,
splayed cartwheel
like a naked inkblot –
stainless but dewy with life.

Waiting for the fingerprint of God,
(of Mandelbrot)
to creep the pages of you
fathom the twist of you;
delight in your helix.

Give you beetle-like eternal feet
to crawl deep into the formula.
Repeating life-steps, microscopic;
landing aliens on lunar scapes,
crowding seas with monsters.

Worrying the universe,
dog-certain,
with the painted faces
of a dialogue with numbers.

To hear these poems either click on the control buttons in the player panels or on the paperclip attachments icon.

* Helen Pletts is a regular IS&T contributor. She was born in the UK but now lives in Prague in the Czech Republic, where she teaches creative writing. You are welcome to visit www.stem-of-quietly-disarrayed-fertility.com