Oct 6, 2009
the new mutating the signature
Mutating the Signature is, in a word, mutating today. With the relaunch of Read Write Poem last month, we’ve been spending more time over there and making every effort to incorporate collaborative poetry news and activities as part of Read Write Poem’s standard fare.
That has left us wondering how to use this space. Then we had an idea: What if Mutating the Signature became a place for two poets to write to, for and with one another as curators of their own issue of an online journal? What if this space could offer an alternative to some of the assumptions and pressures that define and drive the typical publishing endeavor and publisher/author relationship?
Wouldn’t that be strange and swell? And fun?
The idea is that two poets — or one poet and one artist of any type — could use the issue to strengthen or form a creative relationship and creative partnership. At the same time, both could develop their own work and collaborate with each other in whatever ways they might want to collaborate.
Further, what if those poets curated their issue in real time (daily, several times a day, weekly — whatever works for them) and anyone and everyone could see the issue unfold?
What if the curators each selected a theme to work with for the duration of their issue? What if they decided what that duration would be — anywhere from one to three months, depending on how long it takes for them to fully explore their topic and the issue they are creating?
What if the curators could use the issue to present completed work, work in progress, or a blend of the two, hence the publication was a mixture of process and product?
What if the curators could “talk” to one another not only with poetry but with prose, artwork, music, photography — and any other means they can capture in the format of an online journal?
What if each and every piece in the series was an offering to the other poet or artist curating the issue?
What if curators were selected by us, in conjunction with other curators, not for any given poem or batch of poems they submit but for the artists they are.
What if … what if we just try it and see what happens?
We’re going to kick things off by curating the first issue of Mutating the Signature ourselves so we can work the kinks out. And that issues starts now. Our theme is Untelling Stories. This is a project Nathan is especially interested in and which as been reinforced by the poet he’s currently reading: Dara Wier. Dana is pretty much along for the ride. We hope that we’ll be able to give it some undivided attention by making it the theme of our issue.
We hope you like it. We’re making it for you from a blank screen. (We’ll, we’re making it for one another, but also for you.)
– Nathan Moore and Dana Guthrie Martin
P.S. We should also note that this idea is heavily influenced not only by our work at The Poetry Collaborative and here at Mutating the Signature when the site was entirely comprised of our own individual and collaborative writing, but also by Qarrtsiluni and the online journal Box. The latter was curated by Greg Evason and Daniel f. Bradley and made a brief reappearance last month after a 20-year hiatus. (But don’t go looking for it because it’s gone now.)
This should be interesting.
Yes. I’m interested already.
Are you going first? Or what? This theme was your big idea — I don’t even know what I am doing.
I thought we’d go at the same time.
way cool, guys. not that i’d expect anything less. can’t wait to see what unfolds.
Beth, we would love to have you as a curator when you have more time — perhaps between semesters?
yes! i do get long breaks…
Yay! What time frame works for you?
This is all very exciting. I will really be looking forward to your new posts in my feed reader; Dana’s latest poem is a stunner. I’m a little surprised that you didn’t take advnatage of this re-launching to get a new name, though. It seems odd that you’d continue to tie yourselves so closely to an issue of qarrtsiluni (soon to appear in a print edition) and risk the dilution of your own, very unique identity as a new literary journal.
Dave, we don’t see the phrase “mutating the signature” as exclusively pertaining to the issue of Qarrtsiluni that we guest edited but instead as one we’re both absolutely committed to in terms of the work we are doing together and that we want to see in the world — and in this journal. In fact, from the outset — even as we were planning the collaborative issue of Qarrtsiluni — we wanted Mutating the Signature to ultimately be realized as its own space, which is why we snapped up this domain name in the first place.
Something like Dec. 5 – Jan. 18. Give me some details on this whole thing — maybe email me — I am bad at remembering to come back to places I’ve commented at to see if there are any replies.