Enter the discussion for this month's news feature:

Let us know what you think of the way that investigative reporters expose the authorities? What did you think of Mark Daly's police racism film? Where do you put your faith - in the media or in the authorities?

Faith is an issue best directed to the self, not the media or the authorities. Presenting a closed loop question of this nature kills original thinking. Who do you want to trust?

I agree - I wouldn't put my faith in the hands of either. The authorities are nannying and the media is increasingly self-righteous. I would prefer to trust my own instincts.
By the way, congrats on the new bloc - it looks great!

What is terrifying is that so many people appear to believe the media implicitly. The general public's opinions are (or appear to be) so often media manipulated. I agree entirely that the media is becoming more and more self-righteous.

Like many investigative documentaries, I don't believe that the central premise of Mark Daly's film suprised a single person - ie. any large employers will, by default, contain a racist element. The police, like the NHS, or education, or local government or any other example that a journalist would care to choose will contain a proportion of unpleasant personalities.

What continually surprises me, is the way that other media are prepared to embrace the single 'element' of this film as a news item - that some police officers have racist tendencies - while simultanously ignore that the majority of staff neither hold these beliefs, or if they do, do not display these prejudices in their professional capacity.

This, to me, is more disturbing.

A balanced investigation of institutional within an institution is good. Uninformed and unbalance ranting of a 'racist police force' is of little value to anyone.

Lit Idol: Could a contest of this kind provide the book industry with the fresh talent and interest it needs? Or is it a misguided and demeaning way of popularising talented people?

Or maybe Hack Idol? I love the idea, being addicted to misguided and demeaning reality TV shows. But who would be the Simon Cowell equiv? Would it be someone really literary snooty like A.S. Byatt, or sneery urban cool Will Self? (please don't sue me for slander).. I reckon it would attract the interest, but not necessarily the talent..

HI all My name is David and I have a brain with lots of thoughts. I need to write them somewhere and like a train it was here.

I want to learn about sript writting I want to empty my head etc etc.. Anyone want to share with me maybe we could be a good writting team.

So if you want to get in touch please do and lets start from the second level.

David

dw.christie@ntlworld.com

HI I LOVE MARGARET ATWOOD BOOKS. I LOVE ALIAS GRACE CATS EYE AND EDIBLE WOMAN. IM CURRENTLY READING ORYX AND CRAKE I FIND IT A BIT DISTURBING. DOES ANY ONE LIKE HER BOOKS AND WOULD LIKE TO CHAT?

Edited by author 12-31-2003 11:36 AM
I like Margaret Atwoods books too. I have heard that her researchers think they write the books. Would you recommend Oryx and Crake?

i think its a bit scary as it deals with civilisation
as we know it nolonger existing and i find it
disturbing.

cats eye is the best as i like elaines relationship
with her brother i was worried also as i have nieces
and i dont want them behaving like the kids did to
elaine. oryx and crake taking me long to read as i do
it when in a certain mood. lets chat more which of her
booiks do u like --- QT - Marianne
<qtopic+25-EsYCE9RHWH2RT@quicktopic.com> wrote: >

________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping"
your friends today! Download Messenger Now
http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html
< replied-to message removed by QT >

Re: Lit Idol. I think it's a good idea in some ways. Can't see it working but it may help those people who thrive on a deadline. How many people do you know who always say they have a novel in their head but never get around to writing it? I know tons, all of whom get really narked when people land book deals yet can't seem to motivate themselves to get on with it.

Confession: the book deals don't bother me but that novel is still languishing in the back of mind. Don't watch out for me on Lit Idol just yet tho...

Surely Lit Idol is going to put more emphasis on performing ability than actual writing talent. I think the fact that the writers will have to read in front of an audience will perhaps move the focus from the words to the person which is not really what it should be about. And surely any self-respecting author would see this as a bad idea having watched Pop Idol, Fame Academy and all the other reality TV shows that just give contestants little more than their fifteen minutes of fame. Perhaps the producers are not really looking for a 'literary' idol, but a new chick/lad lit star, which may well be what they'll get - I can't see this attracting any real talent.

I'd agree with you there Helena, but I have to admit, as I'm someone who can only get themselves into gear when given a deadline or something specific to do, I'd be tempted to give it a whirl... though obviously to give myself a better chance I'd wear my sexiest glasses to have them slipping provocatively down my nose when I read out my piece, wear something revealing, smoke a lot to perfect a Mariella Frostrup husky voice, and toss my hair a lot. That should win it, surely? Is this contest really going to take place then?

You'd be in with a chance too I reckon Reb - and not just cos of the Mariella huskiness. I'm up for a cheltenham reunion by the way = )

Basically, it all sounds like a farce to me. Is it going to be televised? I just don't really see who'd be that interested in it myself. And the more I think about it the more cruel I think it is. With singing at least you're not putting so much of your own creativity on the line.

The Big Read: is 'Lord of the Rings' as good as it gets, or just another object of à la mode interest, soon to be relegated by some other new focus for Hollywood fascination?

Are such polls a meaningful contribution to the literary tradition?

Have your say....

Hi all
New to this site so thought the sitcom trials might be of interest to comedy (sitcom) writers, they have weekly shows in London & Bristol.
The website is http://www.sitcomtrials.co.uk
to get a feel of what they do.
Details of next london show below:
cheers
Heather
EVENTS AND SCREENINGS:

Best Of THE SITCOM TRIALS
Industry Showcase

Soho Theatre, 21 Dean St, W1
2pm matinee (ends 3.30)
Friday Feb 6 2004

Since our last TV series in spring 2003, Kev F Sutherland's Sitcom
Trials have run regularly weekly shows showcasing and testing over 50
new sitcoms, to be developed for TV and radio (supported greatly by the
presence of members of the Shooting People lists, for which many
thanks).

In this unique BEST OF... show at the Soho Theatre we are presenting
full 25 minute episodes of three of the best sitcoms to emerge through
our development process. None is yet under option, and scripts and
treatment will be available to you on the day, if you request it in
advance (email kevf@sitsvac.org to do so)

The three sitcoms being presented are:
CAN WE GET LES DENNIS (Roland Moore & Jonathan Kirby) - New episode:
O'Ceillaigh's Heroes
BAND ON THE RUN (Frances Sinclair & Jonathan Kirby) - Developed by and
starring the Sitcom Trials Bristol team
THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER (Peter Stone & Jonathan Kirby)

Tickets are 8 pounds/ 6 pounds concs from 020 7478 0100
The show is a 2pm afternoon matinee.

VIP complimentary tickets (strictly TV and radio comedy industry only)
ring 01275 872111

Kev F Sutherland
Producer & presenter
THE SITCOM TRIALS
http://sitcomtrials.co.uk

Hi,
Have any readers listened to the audio file for In The High Tatras? We were really keen to provide an alternative for people who don't like reading from a monitor, and we'd love to know whether you think it works. Should we expand on audio content in future issues?
Regards,
the people at bloc

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for June 2004 -
 
"PODs, Micropayments and Adverts" - a discussion of Lulu.com, BitPass and AdSense by Edward Picot. Go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewlulubit.php .
 
The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory of hyperliterature for sale on the Web, with links to the places where it can be bought. It also publishes reviews and articles. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .

My personal website has also been updated, with links to recently-published articles and poetry. Please visit and browse at http://edwardpicot.com .
 
Apologies for any cross-postings.
 
- Edward Picot

Any tips for coping with writing and the menopause at the same time? I'm fed up with reading about male writers with converted summer houses, wireless connections and coffee makers, spending six hours a day with their muse.

I'm writing in my bra and knickers having hot flushes, or with one of my grandchildren on my knee poking the keyboard. Do women writers have it harder than men, or is it just that men are more disciplined and don't have to cope with hormones?

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for July 2004 -
 
"Rag Bag/Kitsch Mag" - a review of Razor Smile 1-2 and papertiger 3. Go to http://hyperex.co.uk/razorpaper.php .
 
The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory of hyperliterature (literature designed for computers) for sale on the Web, with links to the places where it can be bought. It also publishes reviews and articles. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .

Apologies for any cross-postings.
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

Hello All

I am new to this and was after some advice:)

Is it worth ever sending in work to agents on spec? ie heres some of my stuff- do you like it??

On another note- I wanted to share that have discovered this fab little theatre co called Cheeky Maggot Theatre- they workshopped one of my one act plays and were really helpful in getting me to re-work somne stuff that needed doing. Anyway they are now running writing classes at lots of levels- which I might pop along to. Their contact is www.cheekymaggot.allhere.com and I found their attitude a bit more refreshing from the stalwarts of new writing.

Any advice on what I can do to get an agent would be good. I mean do I even need one??

Thanks

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for September 2004 -

"Troubling Utopia": Edward Picot reviews Avatara, a mindblowing DVD-documentary from Canada, filmed entirely inside an online virtual-reality community. Go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewavatara.php .
 
The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory of hyperliterature (literature designed for computers) for sale on the Web, with links to the places where it can be bought. It also publishes reviews and articles. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .

- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for October 2004 -

"John Peel: The Man who Span the Platters that Mattered" - Edward Picot pays tribute to the UK's most influential champion of alternative music. Go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewjohnpeel.php .
 
The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory of hyperliterature (literature designed for computers) for sale on the Web, with links to the places where it can be bought. It also publishes reviews and articles. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .

- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for November 2004 -

"Hyperventiliterature" - Edward Picot reviews "The Breathing Wall", an experimental ghost story/murder myster on CD-Rom, which interacts with the breathing of the viewer or reader. Go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewbreathingwall.php .
 
The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory of hyperliterature (literature designed for computers) for sale on the Web, with links to the places where it can be bought. It also publishes reviews and articles. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .

- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

Where are the promised details of the winner of this year's Bloc Online writing competition?

Hi I am new here although I see that there is another Fiona around. It used to be an unusual name when I was small and some people had trouble pronouncing it Never mind. I hope to make friends with you all and perhaps who knows,provide useful advice and tips. After all we are all learning aren't we and we all need a little help from our friends don't we. So keep in touch and metaphorically shake hands,au revoir for now

Does anyone here subscribe to BBC Get writing - bbc.co.uk/getwriting, only, the bureaucrats are closing it!

Join the site and get involved in the campaign to save it - before it's too late!!!!

Edited by author 12-11-2004 10:46 AM
I hope you didn't mind me e-mailing you, I’m a student at Salisbury College and I do creative writing. I would like to write for film and TV, please can you tell me what qualifications I would need to do this, and if you have any advice please? Thank you very much. Please e-mail me at toppuk@yahoo.co.uk

I also hope they don't close BBC get writing as it's a wonderful resource centre, it would be awful if we lost it.

Louise - e-mail/fax or write to your MP about BBC Get Writing and sign the online petition at the Get Writing site (there's also a outline letter that you can use for campaigning to save Get Writing!)

Howard Change

"The Recycling Bins" is a new nonlinear story from Edward Picot, exploring the theme of small-town attitudes towards the environment, and including one song. It's now available at http://edwardpicot.com/binsindex.html for 25c via the BitPass micropayments system. (If you've never used BitPass, it only takes a few clicks, and they offer a wealth of interesting material such as online comics and music: see http://www.bitpass.com/ .)

Also new from Edward Picot: "The Bonfire", a prose poem with pictures; "Penguin Memories", a short piece for children with pictures and audio; "Sweetheart's Expedition", a short story with pictures, also for children; and a completely reorganised and updated links section, with links to many other exciting works of digital literature or new media. Please visit and browse at http://edwardpicot.com .

Please also visit and browse my other site, The Hyperliterature Exchange, which reviews and lists digital literature for sale: it's at http://hyperex.co.uk .

Happy New Year!

Edited by author 01-26-2005 07:50 AM
New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for January 2005 -

"Picture This..." - Edward Picot reviews "Postcards from Writing" by Sally Pryor, a new media work about picture writing and the linguistic theory of Integrationism. Go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewpostcards.php .
 
The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory of hyperliterature (literature designed for computers) for sale on the Web, with links to the places where it can be bought. It also publishes reviews and articles. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .

- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

Payments for Web Art

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange/trAce for February 2005 -

Should web art be free or should it be paid for? Many new media writers and artists regard asking for payment as philosophically objectionable and a good way to lose audience numbers. Others believe that it's just as reasonable to ask payment for web art as to ask it for a book or a painting. To read the views of a number of web artists on this subject, visit http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewpayments.php; or to read an article about it, written by Edward Picot for the trAce organistion, visit http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/Opinion/index.cfm?article=129.

- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

Wrestling with Angels

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for March 2005 - Edward Picot reviews "Sampler", a DVD+ from Alan Sondheim, which contains close to five gigabytes of text, images and video.
Sondheim is one of the best-known and longest-established new media artists. Since 1994 he has been developing a huge project which he calls the "Internet Text", an "extended meditation on cyberspace"; and the "Sampler" DVD+ provides a representative cross-section of this work.

The review is at http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewsondheim.php . The Hyperliterature Exchange is a directory/review of new media writing for sale online; please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .

- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

New work from Edward Picot, April 2005

Two silly Flash animations for children, created with the help of my daughter: "Linesland" ( http://edwardpicot.com/lineslandindex.html ) and "Chicks" ( http://edwardpicot.com/chicksindex.html ). "Linesland" was finished just before Christmas, and "Chicks" was started at Easter, so they both have a slightly seasonal feel.

There's also a prose poem/multimedia piece for springtime, "The Stream" ( http://edwardpicot.com/stream/ ).

- Edward Picot
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange

Edited by author 06-29-2005 10:32 AM
New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for July 2005 -

"Why are people being made redundant, why does redundancy still mean poverty, why are the inequities of the system being exaggerated, when if things were reorganised effectively not only the need to work, but poverty and starvation too, could be abolished for the vast majority of the world's population?"

Edward Picot reviews "The World Owes You A Living", a monolithic 6-CD audio-collage on the subject of jobs and new technology, by the Canadian new media artist Matt Fair. To read the whole review, go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewtwoyal.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

The Greyhound Murder - new from Edward Picot

"After dark, someone came knocking on the door. Seven knocks, so loud they went right through the house...
I was looking at the sky. It was a windy day. There were white clouds going across, brilliantly white, and beyond them the blue...
'By their fruits shall ye know them,' he said. 'And he that is unjust, let him be unjust still, for the hour is at hand.'...
I shone my torch: something brown to the left of the drive. A boot. Then something bulky in the weeds. A leg, two legs, a body. Twisted and red..."

A new nonlinear story, "The Greyhound Murder", is now available on my personal website, for 25c via BitPass.

Also new: "Sheep", "Triptych" and "Don Quixote's Dream", three small pieces on the theme of sheep.

Please visit and browse.

- Edward Picot
http://edwardpicot.com - Personal website
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange

I've got my articles published in three Magazines in USA & UK.

Recently, there's no response from Editors. I've written as many as 1000 emails to various editors.

I follow strictly the guidelines for writing articles. Can I know how to get my articles published regularly?

Edited by author 09-14-2005 01:51 PM
Rogue Mail - The Hyperliterature Exchange, September 2005

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for September 2005: Edward Picot reviews "Intimacies", an email novel by the USA writer Eric Brown.

"For a work of hyperliterature, Intimacies was heavily publicised and widely written-about when it first came out at the beginning of 2004. Articles about it appeared in the New York Times and (in the UK) the Guardian. According to Eric Brown it was downloaded about 5,000 times in its first four months online, and the figure is now up to about 8,000... So what, if anything, is the fuss all about?"

To read the whole review, go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewtintimacies.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

Rogue Mail - The Hyperliterature Exchange, September 2005 - correction of URL

Oops! Dropped a bollock in my last announcement, I'm afraid. If anyone tried to reach my latest review and got an error message, it's because the link should have been http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewintimacies.php, not http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewtintimacies.php .

Believe me, heads will roll in the admin department.

- Edward Picot, his handsome features aglow with embarrassment
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

Edited by author 10-24-2005 02:23 PM
I have published a novel!!! It's called 'Beyond the Dragon Sea' by Melissa Lumley and its available from www.lulu.com or from my personal webpage http://www.freewebs.com/melissalumley/ I am donating ten percent of the royalties to the charity International Animal Rescue http:/www.iar.org.uk to help their sanctuary for rescued dancing bears in India. Reading everything on bloc regularly helped give me the confidence to publish this novel, so thanks. And someone please buy a copy!!!!
Melissa

Edited by author 11-08-2005 01:22 PM
"Rilke and the Archaic Torso", by Edward Picot

"How does Rilke get from his admiration of the statue to his closing phrase - 'Du mußt dein Leben ändern' ('You must change your life')? Why should a marble torso, however magnificent, seem to be sending him (and us) such a powerful challenge?"

Taking Rilke's famous poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo" as his starting-point, Edward Picot's new work of hyperliterature provides first a commentary on the poem, then an undercommentary, and finally a poetic response of his own, animated in Flash, with hurtling fragments of Greek statuary.

The New Media artist and writer Millie Niss has just opened up her website (http://sporkworld.org) to work from guest artists, and Edward Picot is the first to appear there. "Rilke and the Archaic Torso" can be seen at http://sporkworld.org/guestartists/picot/index.html .

- Edward Picot
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange

Edited by author 11-16-2005 01:03 PM
Unanswered Questions - The Hyperliterature Exchange, November 2005

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for November 2005: Edward Picot reviews "Inanimate Alice", a new media fiction from Kate Pullinger and Babel, and "Aftershocks", a new media murder documentary from Martha Deed.

"Both 'Inanimate Alice' and 'Aftershocks' use unanswered questions as a technique for capturing our attention. They exploit the fact that when things are left unresolved, we feel more obliged to read on, in search of a resolution. But both stories go further than simply arousing our curiosity..."

To read the whole review, go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewafteralice.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

"Banana Story", by Edward Picot

A banana sets out to discover the truth about monkeys... with predictable results. A short Flash animation, based on a story made up by my seven-year-old daughter Rachel, available for 25c via BitPass (or free for the poor and stingy) at www.edwardpicot.com .

"Highly recommended!" - Millie Niss (http://www.sporkworld.org//index.php)

- Edward Picot
please also visit http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange

Words of One Syllable - The Hyperliterature Exchange, Feb 2006
 
New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for February 2006: my review of "The Syllabary", a work-in-progress by Peter McCarey, which maps all the monosyllabic words in the English/Scottish language onto a huge grid, and will eventually include a short poem for every one of them.

"Whatever its merits or demerits as a piece of new media, The Syllabary undoubtedly succeeds as a piece of writing. The originality of its concept and the 'sound poem' of monosyllables would make it worth a visit by themselves: but what makes it worth going back to time after time is the unfailingly high quality of the little poems it contains..."

To read the whole review, go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewsyllabary.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

From zine to screen - The Hyperliterature Exchange, May 2006

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for May 2006: a discussion of the digital revolution's impact on the UK's small literary magazines, including Aesthetica, Birmingham Words, Incwriters and Route.

"What makes the digital revolution different from earlier technological advances is that it offers not just a handful of new possibilities - like the new font-faces and graphics which came in with electric typewriters and photocopying - but a bewildering array of them..."

To read the whole review, go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewezines.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

"An Unimportant Story" by Edward Picot

My latest nonlinear story is about four people early one morning.

A father and his daughter make up a story together about a dragon and a goose. The father remembers a trip he has just made to London, to see an exhibition of Chinese art. Upstairs, the mother fantasises about men finding her attractive, but simultaneously worries that she may be seriously ill. The mother and the little girl go outside to catch the bus to school. An old professor who lives by the bus stop is remembering a curious incident from between the wars, but interrupts his reminiscences long enough to look out of his window and notice the mother and daughter waiting for the bus.

Nothing important happens. The four sections of the story can be read in any order.

http://edwardpicot.com/unimportantindex.html

- Edward Picot
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange

"A Short History of Everything" by Edward Picot

A montage of text and images, remixed in Flash from Myron Turner's new media application/poem 'Timeline' ( http://www.mturner.org/Timeline/ ).

The entire history of everything, encompassed in eleven double-page spreads!

http://edwardpicot.com/shorthistoryindex.html

- Edward Picot
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange

Saints be Praised? - The Hyperliterature Exchange, August 2006

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for August 2006: a review of 'Broken Saints', an epic 24-part 12-hour-long Flash-animated comic book, which has been visited on the Web by more than five million people, and has sold almost 10,000 copies on DVD. A new DVD version, distributed by Fox, is published this month.

"Senecan tragedy is a useful point of reference for Broken Saints because it shares the same preoccupation with bloody violence, particularly violence within the family. At the end of Broken Saints a deranged father pulls out one of his daughter's eyes, wires up her brain to the Internet and hangs her on a crucifix made out of computer monitors as part of his attempt to achieve world-domination: a climax so lurid and grotesque that even Seneca might have found it hard to outdo."

To read the whole review, go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewbrokensaints.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

"Some Fragments of my Mum" by Edward Picot

My mother was eighty earlier this year, which prompted me to create an animated Flash portrait, incorporating three different pictures of her, twenty-one of her most characteristic phrases, and a clacketing noise which is a bit like a typewriter, knitting needles, or out-of-control false teeth.

http://www.edwardpicot.com/mum/

- Edward Picot
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange

A touch of the Verbals - The Hyperliterature Exchange, Nov 2006

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for November 2006: a review of 'The Chicken Coup', 'Chopper Drop Out' and 'Underground Station' - three CDs of comedy, poetry and music from Mac Dunlop.

"One respect in which Dunlop differs from earlier performance poets, of course, is his use of new media... His interest in experimentation is apparent on these CDs, where he is constantly playing with sound-effects rather than just presenting us with straightforward recordings of his readings..."

To read the whole review, go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewmacdunlop.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

"Frog-o-Mighty" by Edward Picot

"You understand nothing of my schemes, Penguin..."

A mighty tale in three chapters, featuring a megalomaniac frog, a hypnotist penguin, two quarrelling chicks, a

bemused goose, a plan so fiendish that it's completely incomprehensible, a pot full of shutting-up phrases and an

insatiable lust for mints!

The perfect antidote to that just-after-Christmas feeling.

http://www.edwardpicot.com/frog-o-mighty/

- Edward Picot
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange

"Three Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Edward Picot

"O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?"

Three short animations, based on three sections of Wallace Stevens' famous poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird". Part of a work in progress.

http://www.edwardpicot.com/blackbird/

- Edward Picot
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

The Curator's Egg - The Hyperliterature Exchange, March 2007

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for March 2007: a review of 'The Electronic Literature Collection, Volume One', edited by N Katherine Hayles, Nick Montfort, Scott Rettberg and Stephanie Strickland.

"The Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 1 (ELC1 for short) contains some extremely powerful, beautiful, clever, amusing and moving pieces of work, but it isn't entirely without flaws..."

To read the whole review, go to http://hyperex.co.uk/reviewelc1.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

"I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds."

From a work in progress: three more short animations, based on sections of Wallace Stevens' famous poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird", are now online. The first three were completed in February, and there should be more to come a bit later in the year.

http://www.edwardpicot.com/blackbird/

- Edward Picot
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

Twice-told Tales - The Hyperliterature Exchange, May 2007
 
New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for May 2007: a review of 'Croatian Tales of Long Ago, Part Two', edited by Helena Bulaja; written by Ivana Brlie Mazuranic; and animated by Edgar Beals, Mirek Nisenbaum, Laurence Arcadia and Helena Bulaja.

"Every animation on this CD is worth seeing for its own sake; but when they are viewed in conjunction with the original Tales, and the background information about Mazuranic herself, then a much more rich and complex picture emerges..."

To read the whole review, go to http://www.hyperex.co.uk/reviewcrotales2.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

Yet another 3 ways of Looking at a Blackbird

"A man and a woman
Are one.
A man a woman and a blackbird
Are one."

From a work in progress: three more short animations, based on sections of Wallace Stevens' famous poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird", are now online. The first three were completed in February, the second batch in April, and there should be more to come a bit later in the year.

http://www.edwardpicot.com/blackbird/

Also available, if you visit my home page, is a one-off song/video entitled "Train Coming".

- Edward Picot
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

Thirteen ways of Looking at a Blackbird - complete!

"It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow."

I have now finished recreating all thirteen sections of Wallace Stevens' famous poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" as short Flash animations; and I've also built a crab-apple-tree interface for the whole thing.

For readers who have been following this project since February, when it started, the new sections are numbers 3 ("Autumn winds"), 5 ("Inflections and innuendos"), 8 ("Noble accents") and 13 ("It was evening all afternoon").

http://www.edwardpicot.com/thirteenways/

- Edward Picot
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

"Bluedolph the blue-nosed reindeer
Didn't have a shiny nose..."

A mildly anti-festive animated parable about one of the less successful reindeers. In Flash, with sound (and sprigs of holly). Happy Christmas!

http://www.edwardpicot.com/bluedolph/

- Edward Picot
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

"The Puzzle Box", a story for children, by Edward Picot

"She went up the stairs to her Dad's room, just in time to see something terrible happen. Her Dad was sitting at his desk. To his left was the wall, and there was something black on it. At first Dora thought it must be a big spider; then that her Dad must have somehow splashed ink or black paint onto the wallpaper; but then she saw that it was moving and growing bigger..."

A mysterious boy, a mysterious box, and a mysterious black beetle. The first of 12 chapters.

http://www.edwardpicot.com/puzzlebox/

- Edward Picot
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for March 2008: a review of 'The Way North' Joel Weishaus.

"The page as a whole... is giving off all sorts of different signals about its content, and the experience of reading it is dominated by moments of transition, from one voice to another, one type of discourse to another, and one text-style to another. The overall impression is that this is not the kind of smooth, homogenous discourse we are used to reading in print, but the text equivalent of a collage."

To read the whole review, go to http://www.hyperex.co.uk/reviewthewaynorth.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

The Puzzle Box, Chapter 3

"There are lots of faces like this in old churches – faces made out of leaves. Some of them are in wood and some in stone. They're always called Green Men.”

“Why does this one look so horrible?”

“I believe they're supposed to represent the plight of an immortal soul when it's forced to live in a mortal body..."

Dora starts to find out about the first clue. She converses with a vicar. One of the cards is stolen. The black beetle reappears.

http://www.edwardpicot.com/puzzlebox/

- Edward Picot
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

The Puzzle Box, Chapter 4

"Urizen separated out a region from the rest of eternity, shrank it into solid matter, weighed it in his scales, measured it with his rods and plumblines, circumscribed it with his compasses, and wrote laws for it in his great brass-bound books. This sorry region, the region over which Urizen rules, is the universe in which we live..."

The children are kidnapped, then meet a visionary in a field of skylarks, and hear a new story about the creation of the world. They are pursued by baddies in black cars, who seem to be after the box.

http://www.edwardpicot.com/puzzlebox/

- Edward Picot
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

Reproof Reading - The Hyperliterature Exchange, May 2008

New on The Hyperliterature Exchange for May 2008: a review of 'Le Reprobateur/The Reprover' by Francois Coulon.

"Le Reprobateur... exudes selfconfidence, playfulness and humour; it attempts to do a lot of things at once, and by and large it succeeds in everything it attempts..."

To read the whole review, go to http://www.hyperex.co.uk/reviewreprobateur.php .

The Hyperliterature Exchange is an online directory and review of new media literature for sale on the Web. More than 120 works are now listed. Please visit and browse at http://hyperex.co.uk .
 
- Edward Picot
personal website - http://edwardpicot.com

The Puzzle Box, Chapter 5

"The mouse did seem to be waiting: instead of scampering into the darkness it held itself almost completely still, except for small attentive movements of its ears and the constant trembling of its whiskers."

On the run from Urizen's henchmen, the children undertake a hazardous underground journey. At the bottom of a frozen cavern, they find out more about one of the clue cards.

This chapter is dedicated to David Daniels (http://www.thegatesofparadise.com/), the great American shape-poet, who died in May. Two of his last e-mails to the WebArtery group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/webartery/) were about The Puzzle Box: "I want to buy this yellow cards. This is gripping... truly healthy and mysterious in an elegant way!" It makes me very sad that he won't be around to read the end.

http://www.edwardpicot.com/puzzlebox/

- Edward Picot
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

The Puzzle Box, Chapter 6

“Tired as they were, they almost ran up the last part of the stair, and found themselves in another cave; but it was completely different to the one with the snake in it. As far as they could see by the light of the box, it was crammed with old bric-a-brac: bits and pieces of every possible description, some of them valuable but most of them not, thrown together in a horrendous jumble, stacked up high above their heads, and covered in dust and cobwebs. There were walking-sticks, pith helmets, books, dolls, carpets, bottles, pens, games of Monopoly, stuffed animals, false teeth, family photographs, toy trucks, maps, birthday cards, pram wheels, diaries, screwdrivers, umbrellas, plugs, pianos, old coins, kettles, picture frames, odd shoes, Gladstone bags, wooden legs, rocking chairs, someone's PE kit, and so on and so on and so forth and so forth – like the contents of the biggest, dirtiest and most badly-organised second-hand shop in the world.”

The children encounter a shape-shifter called Ratatosk, who tells them about the snake they have seen, a tree called Yggdrasil, some owls, and the Queen of the Night. Dora rediscovers one of her old dolls, and Ratatosk explains how possessions get lost so easily, and why things don't always work when they ought to.

The sixth chapter of twelve.

"We are enjoying The Puzzle Box very much!" - William, www.artselector.com

http://www.edwardpicot.com/puzzlebox/

- Edward Picot
http://hyperex.co.uk - The Hyperliterature Exchange
http://edwardpicot.com - personal website

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