What I Do That's New is a new bi-weekly feature column on Write Out Loud, in which guest poets explain their style.  Our intention is to highlight innovative ways of producing poetry and to act as a forum by which creative thinkers can share their ideas, and to encourage readers and writers to analyse their work and that of others.

We launch this feature on the 8th December with an article from Attila the Stockbroker.

Get involved

You’re unique.  Your writings or performances are different from those of other poets (but, this can also be a good thing!)  We want to hear about how you achieve those clever little things that you do.  If we took the panels off from your poetry and looked at the machinery inside, what would we see?

We are looking for articles from poets all over the world explaining aspects of technique that you incorporate into either the writing or performing of your work that people might not otherwise notice.

Poetry fits into the subject area of English Literature (although we also welcome articles by people who write their poetry in other languages as long as the texts of the articles are written in English or in both languages), so we are looking for innovations in subject matter (including new treatments and the ways in which you generate your emotional content and how you evaluate what you have written in order to check that it achieves its intentions), and also technical aspects of your writing such as structuring techniques (rhythmic devices that you have come up with, how you link your imagery etc.). 

However, poetry also fits into the arts.  Most (if not all) poems benefit from at least a little bit of performance technique ??" we are yet to encounter a poem that benefits from a flat monotone delivery. so tell us about your innovative performance techniques and how they help to disseminate meanings that are present in the words (or the role that it plays in the overall live experience of your poems).  What visual things do you do to improve the visual impact of sections of your poems when you lay them out on the page?

Articles should be short and succinct (around 500 words is ideal) and preferably contain excerpts from some of your poems to illustrate aspects of the text of the article.

Please send your articles to: dermot@writeoutloud.net

And finally...

I would especially like to appeal to the ladies...

(although my odd looking face and big ears possibly preclude this endeavour)

... I'd like to ask all the ladies who write poetry to lose some of their modesty and most of their inhibitions...

(wouldn't we all?)

... Come on, girls! Send me your articles - these strutting peacocks that we call male poets aren't the only ones whose work deserves deeper consideration.  Lets get some recognition for the ladies.

For ideas on how to set out your articles go here