Voltage Poetry…is…alive!! And you should check it out. If you like the Structure & Surprise blog, you’re going to love Voltage Poetry.
As noted on Voltage Poetry’s “About” page, in “Lyricism of the Swerve,” Hank Lazer asks, “Is there a describable lyricism of swerving? For those poems for which the swerve, the turn, the sudden change in direction are integral, can we begin to articulate a precise appreciation?” Voltage Poetry strives to undertake this important articulation and appreciation.
Co-edited by Kim Addonizio and yours truly, Voltage Poetry is an online anthology that collects essays written by some today’s most exciting poets and critics about poems with great turns them. Right now, the site features six essays by such luminaries as Kim, Glenis Redmond, Michelle Boisseau, Christina Pugh, Charles Harper Webb, and Annie Finch on some amazing poems by Jean Valentine, Jackie Earley, Mark Jarman, Michael Ryan, Thomas Lux, and Claude McKay. And each week approximately three new essays will be posted. As we currently have over 80 contributors, the site’s conversation about the turn will continue to evolve at least for the next six months or so. However, submissions also are accepted (interested? click here for information)–so the conversation may continue. In the months to come, I look forward to further reflecting on the turn here at the Structure & Surprise blog by examining ideas and questions raised in and by the essays on Voltage Poetry. I hope others also may be inspired by Voltage Poetry and begin to think and write more about the poetic turn.
Voltage Poetry has been a collaborative effort from the start. It has been a deep pleasure to get to work with the site’s contributors–a group of truly amazing poets and critics. Additionally, many poets whose poems are featured on the site offered gracious assistance when it came to attaining permission to reprint their poems. And numerous permissions and publishing professionals have been generous and supportive of this project.
It’s been a treat working on this project with Kim–whose energy is unflagging and whose insights and ideas always are revelatory. Voltage Poetry has benefited greatly from the work–the organization, attentiveness, and care–of our editorial assistant, Amy Fairgrieve, who has done the bulk of the work (from permissions to proofreading) to make the ideas of a poet and a professor take shape and be realized. Others have assisted, as well. Student assistants Emily Susina, Al Maiocco, and Erica Kucharski have helped with proofreading. Consultants Rick Lindquist and Karen Schmidt have helped with technology and copyright issues, respectively. And Christopher Bray’s photographs have helped to make the site visually striking. My heartfelt thanks to all involved with this project…
Including you! Thank you for reading–explore, and enjoy!
Structure & Surprise 