31/5/20 weeknotes
by Rory Green
I have a terrible memory. At work, I am careful to document the meetings I have and what is said in them, but I can't say the same for my personal or creative life. And that's a shame! I would like to better recall what I've been doing and what I've been feeling.
So this is what I've been up to this week:
- Preparing a syllabus for Toolkits: Digital Storytelling. It's a total dream to be preparing materials for young writers interested in experimental digital writing, and I am savouring this process as much as possible. I wrote about my relationship with Toolkits and with electronic literature for Voiceworks last year, and am just beyond stoked to get to learn, share and listen with others in a couple months. If you live in Australia and are under 30, you should apply! I promise it will be great.
- Working on a commission I'm not sure I can share yet, but has been really fulfilling to write so far. At this stage, it will build off of the same structures of generative poems I've published before ('futurity blues', 'sentiment anomaly') but still be its own weird thing. Earlier this week I finished Scott Rettberg's Electronic Literature, which contains a chapter on combinatory poetry. It's a fascinating historical overview of generative text, and has amplified the rich possibilities of the form.
- Walking! This week has been wet and wintry, and I spent most of the week indoors. Yesterday I met up with a friend and walked around unfamiliar streets in the city, lapping up the return of sunshine to my life. It's been the first time I've been out with a friend since COVID-19 lockdown began, and it felt fucking good.
Here is a selection of what I've been (re)reading:
- Things We Inscribed in the Voyager Golden Record by Shastra Deo for Running Dog
- What football will look like in the future by Jon Bois for SB Nation
- The Typescript Stops Here, Or: Who does the Consultant Consult? by Gerald Murnane for Meanjin
Talk soon~!