Good discussion, this. It has helped me think more clearly about
the issues.
Douglas Barbour says
> I got to thinking about our own 'snaps.' I would think that if one
> really liked one of them, s/he could publish it elsewhere, but maybe
> not. I'm not sure. I would certainly say that such a poem can go on to
> the anthology, or chapbook or book stage. But, really, they haven't got
> too much of a 'public' reach.
I don't consider them 'published', partly because of that, and partly
because it seems to me that they are off-the-cuff exercises,
works in progress, and not necessarily ready for publication.
So, reading my snaps is like reading my notebook.
If one day I'm a famous dead poet (as if!), they'll probably be of
interest to the public, but not now.
Improved versions of some of my snaps have been published (definitively
published, I mean!) in print and online.
What about forums? Sometimes I post poems on forums. Not poetry forums -
other forums whose denizens may enjoy a poem. Some of these forums are
readable by anyone, but they're not likely to be read by the general
(book-buying, net-trawling, poem-reading) public.
I see this as like a private reading, or like giving a copy to a
few friends - ie, not publication.
As for personal sites and blogs.
If someone reviews your site in a [print or online] journal, then
I'd say your site counts as self-publication. And if you actively
promote it in a public space, rather than just telling acquaintances
about it, then I reckon you're self-publishing. But it's a grey area.
Opinions differ. My own policy is to check with
editors before sending stuff that's on my personal site.
Edited online journals (whether or not with ISSNs) and curated
online anthologies (like Anny's on Fieralingue) are
surely publication. If there is an editor or curator,
who has a choice whether to put the poem on the site.
As to whether there is any prestige in it? well, that really
is a matter of opinion, one person's trash being another's treasure.
Janet
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Janet Jackson <[log in to unmask]>
Poems at Proximity:
http://www.arach.net.au/~huxtable/janet/proximity.html
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