I had hoped this would arrive in time for National Poetry Month, but alas, I just received it today: Volume 2, Issue 1 of the broadside Poetry for the Masses, which includes my “Poem for Display in an Abandoned Factory” along with poems by five other people: Craig Blaise, Carrie Chang, Adam Day, Karl Elder, and Jason Scnehneiderman. (Sic. I think they actually meant Jason Schneiderman. The broadside contains at least two other typos, as well. The design is also pretty rudimentary, but at least none of the poems suck.)
I have 25 contributor’s copies here and I’d like to give away 20 of them, in four batches of five each — and I’ll pay the postage, too. All you have to do is agree to post at least four of the five broadsheets in public locations. Office doors or bulletin boards are O.K. as long as it’s a large company or institution, such as a college. Telephone poles and other such non-sanctioned public locations are fine with me, too, as long as you think there’s a good chance the broadside will stay up for a few days. I won’t even be offended if you post them at eye-level on the inside of toilet stalls in high-traffic public restrooms. It might be fun if you took a snapshot of each broadside after posting. Leave a comment or email me if you’re interested. First come, first served, with one exception: I’ll give priority to anyone who promises to post one in or on an abandoned factory.
I don’t normally bother to submit my work anywhere, but I was impressed by the populist orientation of this project as described in the original call for submissions that I saw last November:
Every issue features five to six poems from new and established poets in a broadside format, and these broadsides will be place [sic] in pubic [sic] areas where poetry is not usually found in an effort to reach out to those who would normally not read or even think deeply about poetry.
We are looking for poetry that is not only high quality, but is also accessible to the public at large.
Sounds laudable. All they need is a proofreader.
UPDATE (5/9): Broadsided shows how poetry broadsides should be done. (via Karen Weyant)
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For others who may be interested in submitting to Poetry for the Masses, this will supposedly be published 12 times a year, and a blurb at the bottom of the broadside promises that content will be available on the website for the Wichita, Kansas-based arts organization Blank Page Inc. “Submissions are read year round and can be sent to poetry4themasses@gmail.com.” The editor is Chandra E.A. Dickson.
I’m in. And I will find an abandoned factory, to boot. Not that there are too few.
Great! Please email me your address.
I’ll do it, too! And I’m sure I can find an abandoned factory here in upstate NY!
O.K., terrific! Please send me your postal address, and I’ll mail them all out as soon as I get one more taker. (Someone else volunteered via email.)
Dispersoids! Cool.
Sign me up, if you are still short a vector.
The post-happy socialist nephew will advise on the best public sites, and I certainly can access an abandoned factory. Just don’t ask me to find a factory still in operation.
Excellent! Be great to get a few around Chicago. And I can see where the “masses” reference would trip a socialist’s trigger.
That makes four, then. As soon as you and Jill get your addresses to me, I’ll hike down to the P.O., buy four mailing tubes, and send them on their way.
Hey,
Those typo’s were after I had proofed it like five times and somehow my layout guy still didn’t catch them. As for the layout, well, when you don’t have any money you have to do something that will look decent and print cheaply. Sorry you didn’t get them before the end of April. All I’ll say to that is funding issues. The second issue just came out and I’d be happy to send them to anyone who will send my their adderss. And, I am still reading work for new issues. We had to scale back to 6 issues a year till I have enough work to go back to 12. Thanks for posting this!