I was actually not auditioning for my son, though, i was trying my hand at book spine poetry, a concept introduced to me recently by susan bearman via brain pickings in honor of national poetry month. Local libraries create spine poetry poems made out of. Book spine poetry via brain pickings individuals stack their favorite books to create elegant, short poems and a portrait from their titles. I saw this book in maria popovas brain pickings newsletter last weekend and immediately reserved a copy from the library. One of our favorite sites, brain pickings, brought this fun exercise to our attention. An irreverent celebration of national poetry month. Brain pickings a bustling paean to the stationary life. The charismatic chaos of the city, captured in book spines.
As i examined these images, i started thinking about the possibilities for ap lit. Life whileyouwait, read by amanda palmer and passed along by maria popova and brain pickings. Maria popova of brain pickings adapted the spine sentences into poetry and the idea quickly spread around. The future, get smarter, this is new york, music, and the meaning of life. While i just missed national poetry month, i wanted to play with an idea i encountered from maria popova on her always creative, interesting, and wellworthreading site brain pickings during april actual national poetry month, she shared a series of posts that showcased her talents in the field of book spine poetry aka using the. That circuit evolved from a very simple mechanism for decoding basic information, like the number of goats in ones herd, to the present, highly elaborated reading brain. Amid its dispiriting initial reception, he received a soulsaving letter of encouragement from emerson, who by that point had become americas most influential literary tastemaker. This message might be cut short by your email program. It seems one is lucky if they have only one tree in their yard.
Whitman carried it in his pocket for a long time, proudly showing to friends and. Its been a while since the last installment of book spine poetry, so heres another snippet of life. To win, comment with a link to a photo of your book spine poetry. A book of this grade is generally well kept and is in good shape to read and store. The idea is to take the books on your shelf at home and arrange the spines until the book titles create a poem. If you have book spine poetry to share, please leave it in the comments. It takes me hundreds of hours a month to research and compose, and thousands of dollars to sustain. The poem is titled the first checkup after my mother died. While i just missed national poetry month, i wanted to play with an idea i encountered from maria popova on her always creative, interesting, and wellworthreading site brain pickings. For the uninitiated, book spine poetry is a form of found poetry that first appeared in 1993, courtesy of nina katchadourian, and then became popular when maria popova began posting her own book spine poems to brain pickings in 2012. Heres an example of book spine poetry from nina katchadourians original sorted books project.
Bukowskis poetry broke many boundaries in terms of style and subject. As a longtime fan of artist nina katchadourians longrunning sorted books project, which even inspired some playful book spine poetry experiments of my own, im thrilled for the release of sorted books public library a collection spanning nearly two decades of her witty and wise minimalist mediations on life by. The charismatic chaos of museums, captured in book spines. As work in neurosciences indicates, the acquisition of literacy necessitated a new circuit in our species brain more than 6,000 years ago.
Trethewey became the national poet laureate in june of. During april actual national poetry month, she shared a series of posts that showcased her talents in. The concept of book spine poetry appeared in 1993 with nina katchadourians sorted books project. Poppy seeds is a great title and i loved the title poem in the book.
You are not so smart thinking, fast and slow this will make you smarter. Meme status submission year 1993 origin unknown tags poetry, poetry month, literature about. Book spine poem by book spine poetry has taken over the literary world. The vast majority of my books are in storage right now, so i dont quiet have enough to create an example, but heres a great one, thanks to brain pickings. Weve recently discovered something that makes looking at our bookshelves even more exciting. Altered books altered art book crafts paper crafts book spine book markers book journal book making book pages. Bringing you adfree brain pickings takes me hundreds of hours each month. As far as i can tell, the idea comes from nina katchadourian who was sorting library books in the early 90s and made some fantastic little compositions. I just picked it up yesterday, and i wasnt at all prepared for the size and heft of the book. The topic should be related to a work we have studied in class novel, play, poem or their own feelingsreflections on ending high school and beginning college. If you have a hankering for the poetry of the universe, the folks over at brain pickings have a great assortment for you, including the first poem to be published in a scientific journal, 30 days of quantum poetry, diane ackermans poems of the planets, and more. But, over at the delightful brain pickings blog they have provided another.
Here are just a few of the book spine poems friends and readers have sent in since. The poem must be accompanied by a onepage writeup explaining their own process of findingarranging titles and the meaning behind their book spine poem. I chose this poem today because i am in love with trees. Poem in my post the camperdown elm by marianne moore. Theres a good chance no one would ever notice, but i would know. I did, however, struggle to connect this idea and theme to the book as a whole. Inspired by brain pickings s book spine poetry i decided to create my own. Just because of how important it is that we give each other permission to feel. I was introduced to book spine poetry when a friend, knowing all of the above about me, sent me the following link for maria popovas blog, brain pickings, with several samples of this unique and fun way to create short poems. Artist nina katchadourians playfully arranged book spine sentences brain pickings book spine poetry is a photo meme that involves lining up or stacking books in a particular order so the titles on the book spines create a poem. Today, im happy and proud to present a few book spine poems by my dear friend, annette simon, an author. National poetry month might be over, but the celebration of book spine.
Because its national poetry month, i gave myself special dispensation to reread and handle and photograph this one poem book. Books project, which even inspired some playful book spine poetry experiments of. Brain pickings how iconic psychiatrist carl jung and nobelwinning physicist wolfgang pauli invented synchronicity, maurice sendak and robert gravess littleknown vintage childrens book about the joy of reading, and more. Every week for more than years, i have been pouring tremendous time, thought, love, and resources into brain pickings, which remains free and adfree and is made possible by patronage. A poem is a door anyone can walk through, lopez said. I could have kept going but i was in danger of completely dismantling my bookshelves. Book spine poetry other forms of digital poetry students can host on a twitter stream include book spine poetry.
It is rare to find an urban area where there are a lot of trees anymore. In preparation for national poetry month, i made a new book spine poem. A few months ago, i undertook a little experiment in book spine poetry, inspired by artist nina katchadourian and her sorted books project from a while back and it seemed to strike a chord. The meme was covered by more popular sites in 2012, beginning with maria popovas book spine poetry series on her blog brain pickings, which published its first installment on april 16th, 2012. Book spine poetry is a photo meme that involves lining up or stacking books in a particular order so the titles on the book spines create a poem. Maria popova of brain pickings adapted the spine sentences into poetry, and the idea quickly spread around the interwebs. The book has an accordion spine with the loose edges of a. See more ideas about book spine, poetry and poetry inspiration.
Tuesday poem elegy for the giant tortoises elegy for the giant tortoises. Brain pickings has a free sunday digest of the weeks most interesting and inspiring articles across art, science, philosophy, creativity, childrens books, and other strands of our search for truth, beauty, and meaning. I anticipate that we will spend 12 class periods finding books in the library, documenting the poems, and working on the onepagers. Katchadourian began collecting interesting titles and arranging them in clusters so the spines could be read like a sentence. Book spine poetry people are probably aware of my own exploration of poetry in lego form. Iyers argument is an engaging amalgam of memoir, reportage. Every week for more than years, i have been pouring tremendous time, thought, love, and resources into brain pickings. Ive seen poems composed of book titles and wanted to create one today.
This is a photo meme that involves lining up or stacking books in a particular order so the titles on the book spines create a poem, sentence, joke or meditation. Book spine poetry a museum book spine poem, by me and my bookshelves i love nina katchadourians sorted books project, and so do the folks at the association for library service to children, who recommend this as a great way to get kids to explore a library during national poetry month. By far my favorite book spine poem from brain pickings. Walt whitmans advice on living a vibrant and rewarding life. Brain pickings an inventory of the meaningful life. Given that it is national poetry month and national librarian week, we asked local libraries to submit their own versions of spine poetry.
Mary oliver on how books saved her and why passion for work is the antidote to sorrow the worlds otherness is antidote to confusion and standing within this otherness the beauty and the mystery of the world, out in the fields or deep inside books can redignify the worststung heart. Walt whitman may 31, 1819march 26, 1892 was thirtysix when he selfpublished leaves of grass public library public domain. Vintage book covers vintage books vintage posters great expectations book tennyson poems framed wall art framed prints alice in wonderland book extensions. Natasha trethewey, the united states 19th poet laureate, will give her first reading at the library of congress in washington d. The idea originated from a photo project created by artist nina katchadourian. All you have to do is arrange a pile of books so that the titles say something poetic, profound, or perhaps preposterous. Grace of beginning, lines from a john odonohue poem shared by erica staab though your destination is not yet clear you can trust the promise of this opening. Inspired by brain pickingss book spine poetry i decided to create my own. Inscriptions on sundials found poem found poem better book titles. If you find any joy and stimulation here, please consider becoming a supporting member with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of tea and a good dinner. On april 20th, the tumblr blog bookspinepoetry was created. I tried to stick to nature writing books and theyre very short poems. On sunday 19th march, 2017 i found an article in my inbox from maria popova at brain pickings that led me to the concept of book spine poetry, originally created by the artist nina katchdourian. Brain pickings page 872 an inventory of the meaningful.