You're walking along and notice a straggling heap of unhewn stones. The story of those stones is known locally, and your personal encounter comes in from outside of that communal knowledge. Blurring those two perspectives together, you have a lyrical ballad. In "Michael"—the concluding poem
It was no madness, for the bodily eye Amid my strongest workings evermore Was searching out the lines of difference As they lie hid in all external forms, Near or remote, minute or vast, an eye Which from a tree, a stone, a withered leaf, To the broad ocean and
Recollections of Early Childhood That William Wordsworth would, starting in the late 18th century, begin writing an epic poem about the growth of his mind from childhood to his current state as a mature poet is interesting enough; that this lengthy, metrical task—in 13 books by 1805, eventually expanding
Bloomsday is a literary holiday set on June 16, celebrating the life and work of James Joyce. If you want to know more, I wrote an explainer [https://www.precursorpoets.com/bloomsday-scenario/] last June. That post follows a narrative thread from Finnegans Wake, though Bloomsday is technically based on the
In 2013, someone operating under the name Surveillance Camera Man posted a video filmed on a college campus. The man filming enters a library room, in which two people are sitting at a computer. Immediately they look over and one starts asking questions, though lulls in the exchange are edited
Tao Lin's latest novel, Leave Society [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/547887/leave-society-by-tao-lin/], follows a Lin-like figure named Li (who, in turn, writes novels about narrators who are very much just himself). Lin published his previous novel, Taipei, in 2013, and Leave Society picks up shortly after, as
A novel was the first example I was given, in the course of my schooling, of a large-scale project. Obviously work done in other fields – the efforts of science, the laborious research of historians, and the great achievements in history itself – is complex, but this was not strongly impressed upon
On June 16, 2021, 18 people – including myself – read James Joyce's novel Finnegans Wake, starting from the first page through to the last, in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Chapters overlapped in time, spread out through a figure-eight pattern looping from the carousel, down around the "Nethermead" and
The post below is about Bloomsday, the literary holiday set on June 16 in commemoration of the setting of James Joyce's novel, Ulysses, which is in turn the date on which Joyce had his first outing with Nora Barnacle. For those in New York City, I am organizing
PreCursor Monthly – June 2021 This is the start of Year II of me doing this monthly newsletter charting lines of continuity between literature old and new, print and electronic. Despite making those broad connections across centuries, however, this entry is focused on a big picture issue I think about a
In an addendum [https://mattpegas.substack.com/p/addendum-to-dragon-day] to his upcoming novel Dragon Day, Matt Pegas wrote, > The summer I began writing Dragon Day in earnest—the summer of 2016— was a summer during which it felt like I woke up to new notification of horror or calamity
Five years have past; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! — William Wordsworth, "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798" In William Wordsworth's "The Ruined Cottage," we saw
Literature Past
A poem title might be a brief cryptic image or phrase – some little glimpse of something that gets one thinking of evokes an emotion. It is sometimes imagined that Romantic poetry is all about emotion, yet many of William Wordsworth's titles are very precisely defined. Charlie Kaufman'
Film
Promising Young Woman just won "Best Original Screenplay" at the Academy Awards, but one of its biggest twists on the genre has largely gone without remark: Cassie's non-violent revenge spree is enabled through technological advancements that simultaneously make the story's originating moment more possible.
Literature Yet to Come
At the start of this month, I sent out "Anti-Text Revolution." April Fools' is a fun opportunity to play with expectations. Of course I support literacy, and ultimately make the case there for the need to support an exceptionally high level of reading comprehension – and yet, O!
Newsletter
PreCursor Monthly – April 2021 The following post must be read, but maybe it will be the last thing you read. I will explain more below, but you might begin by wondering how I will keep up a literary newsletter while rejecting text. I am excited to announce that following a
Newsletter
PreCursor Monthly – March 2021 Prophets of Nature, we to them will speak A lasting inspiration, sanctified By reason and by truth; what we have loved Others will love, and we may teach them how: Instruct them how the mind of man becomes A thousand times more beautiful than the earth
Newsletter
PreCursor Monthly – February 2021 We are now beyond the time of Johnny Mnemonic, which was set in January 2021, and it is worth reflecting on the distinction between material limitations and human ones. Johnny is a mnemonic courier, a cyborg who smuggles information in his head. For data too sensitive
Electronic Literature
Explaining "generative poetry" without demonstration is harder than explaining the plot of Finnegans Wake, but adapting a generative poem with one's own original text is easier than writing a haiku. The device you are reading on right now is capable of much more than writing static
Electronic Literature
Below is a brief introduction to J. R. Carpenter's ...and by islands I mean paragraphs (2014). Read ...and by islands I mean paragraphs for yourself online here [http://luckysoap.com/andbyislands]. Then, consider registering to join [https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUrcOCtqj0pG9xBrEs_3AivzFWihLC3deT-] a free, live, open group
Electronic Literature
Below is a brief introduction to J. R. Carpenter's Etheric Ocean (2014). Read Etheric Ocean for yourself online here [http://luckysoap.com/ethericocean]. Then, consider registering to join [https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUrcOCtqj0pG9xBrEs_3AivzFWihLC3deT-] a free, live, open group discussion with J. R. Carpenter – scheduled for this
Electronic Literature
Below is a brief introduction to J. R. Carpenter's The Pleasure of the Coast: A Hydrographic Novel (2019). Read The Pleasure of the Coast for yourself online here [http://luckysoap.com/pleasurecoast/]. Then, consider registering to join [https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUrcOCtqj0pG9xBrEs_3AivzFWihLC3deT-] a free, live, open
Newsletter
PreCursor Monthly – January 2021 As we enter into 2021, I am left with strong optimism for the future of literature, particularly electronic literature. Over the past week, I did a series of Twitter polls feeling out the expectations of some of my followers, leading me to make the following prediction:
Literature Yet to Come
Over the summer, I did a retrospective on some contemporary literature. In 10 posts over 10 weeks, I explored a sample of 2010s literature. The subject was "Literature and Hyperconnectivity" [https://www.precursorpoets.com/literature-and-hyperconnectivity/] and what I was tracing primarily was 1. How and why many writers