Tag Archives: oulipo

The Circus of Poetry: from Clowning to the Taming of the Lion

Three years ago I edited and published a collection of essays exploring new approaches to poetry. Stress Fractures is currently on sale for just five of your English pounds, so as a further temptation I am making my introduction to the book freely available right here. I envisaged the collection as a means of provokingContinue reading “The Circus of Poetry: from Clowning to the Taming of the Lion”

Go for Gold – A Poem for the Olympics

Oh, wow, look – glossy sponsors’ logos glow from forty foot gobos from Romford to Croydon to Pontoon Dock.   LOCOG! No go for dogs or cowboys.   LOCOG! So fond of sports: to trot, to shoot, hop-scotch, golf. Who to root for: GB bods or jocks from Togo, Oslo, Congo?   No odd jobsContinue reading “Go for Gold – A Poem for the Olympics”

That was Yoruba

I get the fear, a lot. I often think I will never write anything of value ever again. Sometimes, I look back at what I’ve already written and consider it all worthless. Perhaps this is the writer’s lot, or perhaps just a particularly frustrating part of my own psyche. But if there’s one poem that I’veContinue reading “That was Yoruba”

Paternoster vs Babelfish

Thanks to George Ttouli for translating some work in progress that I’d posted up here using various Oulipian techniques. I think it was Joe Dunthorne who introduced me to The Oulipo via his brilliant univocalisms. The following is a version of The Lord’s Prayer which has been put through Altavista’s Babelfish software about fifteen times.Continue reading “Paternoster vs Babelfish”