h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello, wormly one. Your poetry came up in a convo (F1600432?thread=471791) and I was just wondering whether your style is influenced by any poets in particular. Or does it just kind of appear at the end of your pencil and write itself?

(scratches head, includes a sheepish grin)

Well I'm not a poet. I don't read poetry... LOL... To be honest half the stuff that I wrote was for my Creative Writing class, which means it was required. The only real influence I had was trying to avoid the influence of the rest of my classmates. That and watching wayyy too much television. I don't know the first thing about poetry...

So you're a natural then. Did your teacher appreciate your work? Did you get good marks for it?

I guess I'd better start watching more TV....

Yeah, he liked State of the Union and Youth Ministry the best, but I personally think Wholly Unimagined (which is based on an exercise poem) is one of my closet favorites.

I'm still trying to work out my favourite. Now that I've read more of your poetry, I am even more in awe. Are you *really* only 18? You write like an established poet.



Have you tried publishing anything in magazines that would pay you?

Favourites, favourites.... Well, Dreaming of Fallujah brings me out in goosebumps. But then, several others make my toes curl in delight. I particularly like the ones which draw on lots of different images and places, bringing them together in interesting and contrasting ways. And then there's the ones with the clever twists at the end. And I really like your "economy of meaning", as they call it--the way you can convey so much in a one-line sound-byte that is sometimes just one word long. You are really very clever.

Makes me wonder what the others in your class write like. Are you all geniuses, or is it just you?

Most of the poetry was high school poetry, as in having no real implications beyond those of partying, hair, and break ups. There was however one or two who I did like, namely my friends, sicne they seemed to do something different. It was basically a competition for us to spot the cliches. Though I don't know if any us (including myself) is a genuius...

Which is one of the reasons why I have never tried to earn money from my work. Beside the fact I wouldn't know where to start on how to publish any of my works. I mean the closest thing to being published so far is having Grey's Matter in the Post... (Which I need to work on btw.)

Erm... "Economy of meaning"? I just kind of try and write small... Less is more... Imply stuff instead of say it... Which either happens naturally (for some) or requires lots of scribbles in my notebook (for others). What does that mean btw?

If you KNOW any place to get published and to get money? I am a starving college kid...

What do you *mean*, what does it mean? You just described it yourself: "I just kind of try and write small... Less is more... Imply stuff instead of say it...."

"If you KNOW any place to get published and to get money? I am a starving college kid..."

Sadly, it's almost unheard-of for people to make a significant amount of money from poetry, but it can give you the odd bit of pocket money. If you lived in Wales, I could advise you, but I don't know how poetry is viewed over there. Could you ask your tutor for advice? Or pick up a 'How To Publish Your Poetry' type book from the library?

Here in Wales, poetry is so big a part of our culture that several poetry magazines are heavily subsidised by the government, to encourge people to write good stuff; we also have grants available to help new writers and poets get started. But I think Wales is exceptional in that way.

I do think your work is good enough to be published as a book, though that's a bit of a risk unless you've already made a name for yourself in magazines and so on.

Some people print off booklets on their computers and sell them in local bookshops. Quite a few people did that in the shop I used to run. The agreement was that we would get about a quarter of the selling price as commission, and the poets would pop in now and again to pick up the rest of the money for any books that had sold. We'd put the books on the counter, and some people bought them as impulse buys. We didn't mind taking any number of books as long as we didn't have to pay for them until they'd sold. But, some poets never came back to collect their money! These booklets were usually about 20 pages long, A5, with card covers, and sold for up to £2.50... er, that's about $4.45, apparently. (But don't forget, they cost to print, too, if you can't get a grant.) We sold about one a week, but it was a smallish shop.

I would buy a book by you.

So are these things you just print out on your computer? Cause I really have more than enough poetry for that...

The thing about the States is that we don't exactly HAVE nifty lil projects like you guys have in Wales. (Reminds himself he needs to go to Wales for a while and write there.) I haven't heard any writing grants being given to anybody... If we did have them, I probably would have used them as financial aid... But ya never, apparently according to that wacking guy on tv, there are ton of gov't grants that ppl don't know about... Can foreigners take advantage of this kind of atmosphere? Can we get grants too?

Do a lot of Welsh poets or writers get published because of these grants? In general what happens to them and what are their lives like after said grants...

Yes, a lot of Welsh writers get published that way. If they write in Welsh, extra money goes into making the books cheaper to buy, so they'll sell more. A lot of Welsh writers become very successful in this way, and become so popular that their work gets translated into other languages and sold around the world. But that's mainly with prose. We keep most of the poets to ourselves. Sadly.

I think you have to either live in Wales or have been born here to take advantage of our grants, but I'll get back to you on that.

"there are ton of gov't grants that ppl don't know about..."

Librarians are wonderful founts of unexpected information like this. Ask your local librarian about grants for writers and poets. I bet you they'll know where to look for them.

(nods) I've actually considered volunteering at the local art enclave in town... Since I think they give members some perks when it comes to getting their works out... Just haven't gotten to applying there...

Also am, MUST join the University writing mag... Eh, if only I had more time to write though... School work severly happers my creativity, namely because I'm always thinking of it...

But I'll also try the library sometime...

Yeah, that's a real problem--getting round to it. That's why the only stuff I've ever had published was sent in on my behalf by someone else. It's a hassle, whereas writing is just fun....

Oh, I forgot to reply about self-publishing on your computer. Yes, they just get printed sideways onto A4 paper, which is then folded in half to make A5 booklets, and they are stapled through the middle, with a cardboard cover. Now I come to think about it, I've no idea how they get those staples in the middle like that. They must have really long staplers.

If you make booklets, try about six and see how they go in a couple of shops. Put something arty on the front cover.

LOL... I need to find an artist then, cause I can't draw worth a lick... Hmmm... A4 paper... Don't those things require special printers?

What, to print sideways, you mean?

Naw, to coallate the papers and staple them... Since you mentioned special staples...

Can't you just sort 'em out by hand?

Well yeah... I just thought they had special publishing printers with special staples and bindings...

Yeah, I've been thinking about it since my last reply. There must be printers like that out there. And, while most printers these days are ok with the sheets of card you can pick up in stationery shops, putting the poems in a particular order must be a real pain. You'd have pages 1, 2, 19 and 20 on the first sheet, and then 3, 4, 17 and 18, and so on. I could easily get tied up in knots with that kind of thing. I have no doubt that I'd put all the pages in the wrong order.

It seemed so simple and easy when I first mentioned it.

Something to do when you're procrastinating about something more important, perhaps?

Always procrastinating...

Change of subject, I know, but what do you think of the poetry of Alan Ginsberg? His best known and loved poem is called 'Howl':

http://alt.venus.co.uk/weed/writings/poems/agh.htm