Dear Chris,
One answer is that I take full pleasure in using and shaping/reshaping
work I read in the Web so why should I baulk at extending that pleasure
to others in relation to my own work?
I read poetry published on the Web. I publish on the Web myself. I
cheerfully accept that the learned convention of the page break transfers
oddly. The poem can appear broken across the middle like a marble slab.
It looks a little funny. That's not such a bad thing. Temporarily.
On the other hand, speaking as someone who was a journalist for 8 years
and has been publishing poetry for 13, I have rarely had complete control
of the page. When I wrote plays, I was actually thrilled to find how
little control I had.
The new medium will surely suggest new solutions and new forms. O thank
God I am alive at this time!
(How did God pop into this discussion on the integrity of authorship?)
I would buy poetry delivered as an eBook (though I would prefer to get it
for free because I have less than no money).
All the best,
Mairead
On Fri, 5 Jan 2001, Chris Hamilton-Emery wrote:
> An odd technical kind of query here, but in considering publishing poets on
> eBooks, how do people feel about the control of the page, where most
> displayed material will be lost (due to small screen size, limitations of
> rendering applications etc)?
>
> And of course the means of display, font size and font choice, are made
> extensively by the reader. Are you all happy with such compromises, or do
> you feel loss of control of textual presentation may prohibit the delivery
> of your texts?
>
> And indeed would you buy poetry delivered as an eBook?
>
> Best
> C
>
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