I've been asked to forward the following message to the list, inviting
suggestions for the development of the modern Poetry project. As I've been
involved in some discussions on this already, I'd be grateful if anyone
replying could copy their reply to me for information. Thanks, RC
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 15:45:00 +0000
From: Sandra Waller <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Modern Poetry
The Modern Poetry collection was launched in October this year as part
of Literature Online. It is the beginning of an ongoing project to put
contemporary poetry on the web. We hope that this will facilitate
research, increase readership and place modern poetry within the wider
context of our English Poetry database.
We began this project in the knowledge that we were undertaking a huge
task. We wanted to have a good coverage of poetry in the twentieth
century. To begin this process we turned at first to some major poetry
publishers to negotiate rights to their lists. This we hoped would
cover a proportion of the important poets of the last few years. These
negotiations are ongoing - it was the agreements with Carcanet and
Oxford that were signed first hence they were the publishers we
launched the service with. Enitharmon Press will be added at the next
release of Literature Online.
The nature of web publishing allows us to add to our collection as
time goes on. We did not have to wait for rights to a specific number
of publishers or poets before we could launch the product. Instead, we
have been able to let our customers have access to the data as we
acquire it. And this means that with constant feedback we will be
responding to queries and sourcing more and more important works and
poets.
We are aware of the many problems of defining works that should go in
to the collection. As we look at smaller poetry presses and
anthologies many more important contemporary names and works have been
brought to our attention. With the help of academic advice we are
hoping to provide a comprehensive and useful list of poetry online.
We would be interested to hear which texts and authors are included in
courses of modern poetry or which items should ideally be made
available within the collection for it to be a useful teaching and
research tool. We want the collection to grow and evolve over time and
as we plan the content for future releases we value the input of those
involved with the field.
Please direct any comments to [log in to unmask]
Sandra Waller
Development Editor - Literature Online
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