Hi Ian and all
I've been following this discussion with interest, without having the
leisure to contribute.
I have never taken an either/or attitude to the internet. I like reading
books best of all; a computer, even a hand held one, will never compete with
a book's convenience and sensuality. But as another aspect of poetry
production and distribution and exchange, it's pretty important to me. It
has lots of interesting possibilities for poetry (as it does, I must say,
for other minority interests, like ferret breeding and knitting). What I
have found most changing for me is probably its least spectacular aspect,
which is conversations like this - they permit me a feeling of community, of
stimulation and exchange, in a world where a very decided minority is
interested in poems. And this feeling of community does translate to
connectedness with real minds and bodies. Why, I've even met Lawrence.
Because I am not especially someone who can define herself by nation, being
a first generation migrant, its sense of ignoring boundaries perhaps also
appeals to me. I think rather paradoxically it makes us more local, more
aware that we are in very specific places - in my case, Williamstown, a
suburb of Melbourne - rather than in a generalised locale called
"Australia". I guess that's what Kinsella calls "international
regionalism".
I edit Masthead, as you know. I just checked its hit count. It's had
64,285 hits since January, which translates to 11,925 visits. That's
pretty modest by internet standards, but it is stellar compared with the
circulation of around 300 I managed to get when Masthead was a print
journal. Most readers are American, followed by Unknown, Network, Australia
and the UK. Then there's a smattering of readers from places like Japan,
Greece and the Cocos Islands. There's no way it would be read in such
places if it were not on the net. Readers who go there also read in depth;
the archives of previous issues are pretty popular, so that sense of it
being "for the record" also counts.
I moved MH to the internet for a couple of reasons: one compelling one was
postage, as I found a large part of its readership was overseas. What the
internet permits me is the opportunity to place things in a public space,
where they are available for anyone at any time - as long as they have an
internet connection, of course. Another reason is autonomy: because it's
cheap to run I can do what I like, without having to depend on any financial
support (in this country, State support would mean few or no overseas
contributors) except from the artists who donate their work.
All the best
A
Alison Croggon
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
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