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Digital Poetry

24 juli 2009
The 40th Poetry International Festival in Rotterdam, in June 2009, included a programme dedicated to digital poetry, an exciting art form that combines text with technology.
The digital works of the Bits of Poetry programme, as they were presented during the 40th Poetry International Festival, are now available for PIW readers to experience via our online Digital Poetry Laboratory.

More about Bits of Poetry

In the opening event of Bits of Poetry: Mapping the shifting landscape of digital poetry, poet and translator Jan Baeke gave an introduction to the origins and development of digital poetry, from Marinetti to the Ciné-poèmes, and covered topics such as “How new is digital poetry?” and “What differentiates it from other poetry?” The unprecedented possibilities of the genre were then illustrated through a selection of works discussed and presented by Yra van Dijk, professor of Dutch literature. Throughout the week of the festival, the works presented in the event with Jan Baeke and Yra van Dijk, as well as others, were experienced by visitors in the festival’s Digital Poetry Laboratory.

The programme included a digital interview with Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, as well as a showing of their work DAKOTA and their European premiere of SMASH THE GANG OF FOUR BILLION, which so far has only been shown in China (in Chinese). Other international poets featured include Olia Lialina (Russia), Brian Kim Stefans (USA), Noah Wardrip-Fruin (USA), Aya Karpinska (USA) and Mark Napier (USA).

Dutch works featured are part of the Poezie op het scherm (Poetry on the screen) project, an initiative of Fonds voor de Letteren, the Waag Society and Fonds BKVB, which gave poets and multimedia designers the opportunity to collaborate on a literary work designed for the screen. The foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature (NLPVF) also contributed to the project, enabling some of the Dutch works to be translated into English.

This programme was sponsored by Apple Premium Reseller MacHouse www.machouse.nl.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère