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Dear Cyber Poets,Last month, we discovered something awful about the monthly newsletter...we're reporting too much stuff. At eight pages, the newsletter is just too big. So we outlined what was becoming standard on every newsletter, and we came up with the notion that these represent legitimate features or departments of information like in a newspaper.
What will we be reporting on as a regular feature? This letter from the editor of the month is an important feature. We're going to keep that although we are going to make it fresh and topical every month. I mean, you would rather like to know some things going on in the outside world than to hear the same old greeting every week, right? For instance, last weekend, RomusthePoet and I got first-hand experience at being a James Bond martini... "we were shaken not stirred" by a 7.0 earthquake (okay, so they upgraded it to 7.1, but it fits the metaphor better at the originally reported magnitude). That's much more interesting than "hello, how are you," wouldn't you say?
Talking about shortening the newsletter and here I go taking nearly an entire page to describe the debate on what we're keeping and why and what we're not keeping. The main thing is to tell you about something you already saw at the top of the newsletter. We have added a table of contents and taken a bunch of stuff out. What it lists should be more than enough for any newsletter. Don't you think?
If you don't like the new newsletter, blame me and then write me and tell me what you want us to put back ([email protected]). You can also suggest where we can cut some more.
-- AngelPie_Mouse
The website is authored and maintained by AngelPie_Mouse and is located at the following address: http://www.geocities.com/cyberpoetsniche.Of the forty-four members of CPN, sixteen are members with showcase pages on the club homepage. In alphabetic order, showcase members are: AngelPie_Mouse, ArrylT, Crowstouch, Elfenone, Faerimuse, Isitis, Lane_Ware, Mgonzalez01, MooseLodge1999, NALewis, Oldcusser, Poetry_Gal, Romusthepoet, Telescope07, TheCyberwitch, and vannah_b (yah, we lost somebody). If you want to be added, see the homepage Showcase Questionnaire.
This month (between September 21 and October 20) contributions were added to the showcase pages for the following members: AngelPie_Mouse, Isitis, MGonzalez01, MooseLodge1999 (new page), NALewis, RomusthePoet, Telescope07, and vannah_b (new page). -- or for eight of our sixteen showcase members. You may view these additions by clicking the name (on the website repost of this newsletter only).
We cannot report the number of visitors this month due to difficulties with Geocities. The problem is that their main server is located in Santa Monica, California. After this past weekend's 7.1 earthquake in the Los Angeles area, they seem to be having some serious problems, which mainly affect the load of their new pop-up. The Java pop-up seems to enter a load loop and because it loads before the page, the page is not accessible. We will try to post numbers on visitors when they become available.
On-Line Workshop by Writers on the NetA series of on-line workshops is being offered by Writers on the Net, an organization of cyber writers. Classes will be offered in as an eight-week series (cost: $190) or ten-week (cost: $240). Many of the instructors as well as other writers affiliated with us are available for one-to-one tutoring and mentoring. For more information on classes and teachers, or for an outline of a class that interests you, please visit our web site at http://www.writers.com or write for more information. Our address is [email protected].
Publishing Opportunity by FingerprintPressSeeking submissions from Internet poets (that's us) for four series of poetry collections, one on social and political issues, to be released before February 2001. "We are really looking to capture all perspectives in our political collection. ... We intend to use our first three project as a means to screen for the relationships we hope to establish with individual poets for their own individual collections. All of our books are set up with distributors to get the books into bookstores. We may also sell a few online."
Here is the site: http://www.FingerprintPress.com - visit our projects page for more information about our up and coming releases. If you have any questions, e-mail me directly at: [email protected]
Nathan Lewis,
Founder of FingerprintPress - www.FingerprintPress.com &
Electronic Data Certification Company - www.EDCC.com(yah, our own NALewis; MB Entry:1764, 10/17/1999)
We presently have 44 members at the CyberPoet�s Niche. We have Chat Night every Wednesday at 10 PM Eastern.Club Ranking. The sad news is that this month our club slipped to 17th position among the standings of Yahoo! Chat Clubs of its category from 15th position last month. This ranking is based on the number of members of our club and since that number has not changed substantially, it means other clubs are gaining ground while we are not.
Well, you win some; you lose some. Personally, I prefer quality over quantity. I mean in terms of participation because we aren't stinting at all on the quality of the work done by our members. It's just there are a few of us who have been a little too silent of late. In an on-line workshop such as ours, participation is extremely important. Good feedback requires a balance of comment, not a single opinion.
But some people do count numbers as sort of a means of keeping score. While I don't see us acquiring the thousand members necessary (or even wanting that many) to be number one, a few more talented minds willing to share would be most welcome. We could be in the top ten, right! So, if you know a few people out there to recruit, by all means get them to join now.
New Members. We have two new members this month: dajanim and Sis_Sarana19. We really hope they'll be posting some of their own verse to the message board soon so we can see what sort of verse they write (comments on the work of your fellow poets is important too). Anyway�Welcome dajanim and Sis_Sarana19!
To these two new members we offer this very special URL:
Welcome!
Group (Interactive) Poem. This month the group poem was vaguely on the topic of October/Halloween. As is the nature of this interactive form, it kind of went all over the place with theme and style. You can read the final version of "Phantasm" at: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Bistro/2298/ourwrite/interactive3.html. If you don't know what the Interactive is supposed to be about, be sure to read the Introduction.
Poet of the Month/Edgar Allan Poe. Obviously, one of our favorite writers, we are on page two and counting as we explore his poetry and his impact on writing. We will continue this exploration until Halloween night (just a coincidence, really). So, if you have a favorite poem by him you would like to talk about or something to add to the discussion concerning who he was, you still have about two weeks to post to the message board. Let's see it!The section on Edgar Allan Poe is under "Favorite/Familiar Poets" on the homepage, subsection "Poet of the Month: October" You can read the entire of the posting at: poe1.html
Challenge Poem. There is no current challenge poem for the month although the one mgonzalez01 opened last month is still running. If you've a dream of your own you would like to write about, just check out the actual challenge on the club homepage. It is in the section "Our Writings" subsection "Writing Exercises/Challenge Poem: Dreams" or at the address: http://www.geocities.com/cyber_poets/ourwrite/challengepoem3.html
In a recent conversation with one of members who shall remain nameless, I was informed that this person frequently finds inspiration to write in the poetry of our other members. It wasn't so much the ol' "I-can-top-that" manner of thinking as much as "but if I were writing a poem on this subject, I would say--."
- Bob's Byway
Featuring a Glossary of Poetic Terms, Examples of Poetic Terms -- from the works of great poets, Tips for the Enjoyment of Poetry, A Selection of Bob's Poems, and enough links on poetry to keep me busy until the millenium after this one, this is one terrific website. [http://cluster.wwa.com/~rgs/contents.html]
- Fooling With Words with Bill Moyers
This PBS site features the works of and interviews with many contemporary poets. [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/foolingwithwords]
- Poetry Writing Links
You know About.Com (AngelPie looks down at the t-shirt she's wearing to make sure she spelled it right); they're the folks that used to be called The Mining Company. They are apparently the hosts and sponsors of this website, which features links to specially pre-screened sites (only the best) on poetry. It includes: Glossary of Poetic Terms (Bob's Byway); Poetic Terms, Figures of Speech, and Sound Devices (Ryan Deschaps); Semantic Rhyming Dictionary; Fear of Poetry (table of forms); Poetry Writing Tips (John Hewitt's Writer's Resource Center); Things to Remember When Writing Poems (a seven-step self-improvement plan for aspiring poets; and WSB: The Cut-up Technique (techniques from the late William S. Burroughs). [http://www.writing.org/html/w_poetry_writing.htm]
- Virtual Slam
A group of contemporary undiscovered poets just like us. In fact, our own Mindy Lawrence is one of them. They offer on-line BBS discussions, contests, audio transcripts, and more. [http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/4675]
- POETICA - Self-Study Route
Hosted by Monterey Institute of International Studies of California, one of the most prestigous schools on linguistic studies in the US, this site offers an on-line self-directed study on the subject of stress and metre in English verse. You simply study each lesson in turn and attempt the quick question at the end of each one. [http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/~us0cma/poetica.html]
- Ken Hope�s Home on a Page
A personal website which offers insights and exerpts from the well-known handbook, Selected Prose on Poetry, frequently used in the study of poetry in colleges as a must read. [http://www.northshore.net/homepages/hope/critPoetryPassages.html]
Being a librarian, Mary naturally has an affinity for books. Combining that with her Internet interests and her interest in verse, she scours the on-line booksellers for new offerings. This month, she makes the following recommendations, which you can purchase from http://www.amazon.com.
100 Best-Loved Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)
Dover Publications
ISBN # 0486285537100 Best-Loved Poems is filled with an incredible variety of
poems, many of which I find very inspirational. Incorporated
into this "poet's paradise" is the magic of Keats,
the adventure of Byron, and lyrical genius of Poe.In the Palm of Your Hand: A Poet's Portable Workshop
(A Lively and Illuminating Guide for the Practicing Poet)
Kowit, Steve
Tilbury House Publishers
ISBN # 0884481492In this great book, there are so many good ideas that more
experienced poets won't want to miss out; Kowit has lots of
exciting ways to invigorate one's writing. (Here's a favorite
quick tip: "A good rule of thumb is never to use a word that
you're proud of.")
Credits:
Link information by Poetry_Gal (Mindy Lawrence) and mgonzalez01 (Mary)
Workshop article by Poetry_Gal (Mindy Lawrence)
Book information by mgonzalez01 (Mary)
Article information on publishing opportunity by NALewis
Editorial and page layout by AngelPie_MouseFor those who check the Readability of this newsletter: Flesch Reading Ease: 61.3 (within average) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 8.5 (slightly higher than average). Wow, I didn't know that was in Word97.
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