A Collaborative Project
In the beginning of the spring semester 2006 at SUNY Oswego, Jackie Clements, an extraordinary student in the Art Department, and I began working on a collaborative project, “Writing in Motion.” For the project, I began writing a new poem that was highly image-based. After I completed the first poem, “Where is the Winter Storm That Blew the Turkey Into Our Birch?”, Jackie and I discussed the poem and possible ways it could be put on the web. We discussed music and format. I showed her a collection of photos I have taken over the years and we decided what might work, what might need digital manipulation.
“Writing in Motion” is inspired by the new trend in online literary journals—media-enriched interpretations of literary works. As web technology continues to evolve, writers and artists are collaborating on new ways of storytelling. Given this possibility for a much greater audience than most literary work, especially poetry, normally enjoys, writers have both an opportunity and a responsibility for how literature is presented on the web.In an increasingly visual and digital world, this kind of collaborative project becomes not only a way to enrich both writing and art, but also a way to reach out to new audiences. Since we began the project, we have continued to work together on other multimedia poems. To see our collaborative work, please click on a poem.
