Micropoetry
Encyclopedia
Micropoetry is a genre of poetic verse including twaiku (also known as twihaiku or twitter poetry) and captcha poetry, which is characterized by its extreme brevity. The novelist W. G. Sebald
may have been the first to use the term "micropoem," in reference to the poems of about 20 words in length that made up his 2004 work, Unrecounted. The more recent popularity of "micropoetry" to describe poems of 140 characters in length or shorter appears to stem from a separate coinage, as a portmanteau of "microblogging" and "poetry" in a notice on Identica on January 23, 2009, announcing the formation of a group for fans of poetry on that microblogging service. A subsequent notice linked to an example of micropoetry by another user, which was clearly lyrical but didn't appear to fit any preexistent form such as haiku or tanka.
While short poems are most associated with the haiku
, the emergence of microblogging
sites in the 21st century created a modern venue for epigrammatic verse. Daily haiku journal tinywords
was one of the earliest proponents, publishing haiku via short message service
starting in 2000. Possibly the earliest identification and coinage of the term "twitter poetry" came from Michael Tippet on November 27, 2007.
Micropoetry often shares the quality of found poetry
, where poetic style is discovered in text not intended to be poetic. A famous early example of this was Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin
's Twitter feed, which comedian Conan O'Brien
and actor William Shatner
spoofed as poetry.
evrywhr:i c mmnts crl'd back like lips
frm ancnt teeth;evrywhr:i C the bones,their shapes ntwined in2 the
flowrs of gd's infnite
spirogrph
The form is also often characterized by spontaneous and rapid production and dissemination, as in the King's Place Twitter contest, judged by Yoko Ono
. The winning poem from that May 2009 contest was written by Simon Brake:
beneath the Morning Sun,
The city is painted gold,
People move like bees through honey
W. G. Sebald
W. G. Maximilian Sebald was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was being cited by many literary critics as one of the greatest living authors and had been tipped as a possible future winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature...
may have been the first to use the term "micropoem," in reference to the poems of about 20 words in length that made up his 2004 work, Unrecounted. The more recent popularity of "micropoetry" to describe poems of 140 characters in length or shorter appears to stem from a separate coinage, as a portmanteau of "microblogging" and "poetry" in a notice on Identica on January 23, 2009, announcing the formation of a group for fans of poetry on that microblogging service. A subsequent notice linked to an example of micropoetry by another user, which was clearly lyrical but didn't appear to fit any preexistent form such as haiku or tanka.
While short poems are most associated with the haiku
Haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
, the emergence of microblogging
Microblogging
Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size...
sites in the 21st century created a modern venue for epigrammatic verse. Daily haiku journal tinywords
Tinywords
tinywords, founded in October 2000 by D. F. Tweney , is an online English language haiku and micropoetry journal that publishes one haiku or very small poem every weekday on its website....
was one of the earliest proponents, publishing haiku via short message service
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
starting in 2000. Possibly the earliest identification and coinage of the term "twitter poetry" came from Michael Tippet on November 27, 2007.
Micropoetry often shares the quality of found poetry
Found poetry
Found poetry is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources and reframing them as poetry by making changes in spacing and/or lines , or by altering the text by additions and/or deletions...
, where poetic style is discovered in text not intended to be poetic. A famous early example of this was Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
's Twitter feed, which comedian Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
and actor William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
spoofed as poetry.
Examples
In order to fit the most meaning into few characters, micropoetry often breaks traditional rules of grammar and lexicon, as in this example:evrywhr:i c mmnts crl'd back like lips
frm ancnt teeth;evrywhr:i C the bones,their shapes ntwined in2 the
flowrs of gd's infnite
spirogrph
The form is also often characterized by spontaneous and rapid production and dissemination, as in the King's Place Twitter contest, judged by Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
. The winning poem from that May 2009 contest was written by Simon Brake:
beneath the Morning Sun,
The city is painted gold,
People move like bees through honey
External links
- all twitter posts tagged as micropoetry
- Poetry site publishing twitter poetry
- Mark Fullmer's twitter poetry collection
- Judy Kamilhor's micropoetry
- Czech Poetry Micro-Festival
- Cyberpoetry readings (videos)
- tinywords, a haiku and micropoetry journal publishing since 2000
- micropoet, a micropoetry heaven publishing since 2008