The Arts Beat

By Jan Daniels

In honor of April being National Poetry Month, I was browsing through the Web to find out what will be going on in the local scene. Starting with The Academy of American Poets Web site (www.poets.org) and the League of Canadian Poets (www.swifty.com/lc/index.html) these sites linked me to online magazines, which led to electronic zines. Zines are wild and crazy distortions of art that jump, flip and plop all over the place.

Where Shakespeare once lived, fleeting “artists” on a whim to be poetic now exist. Long, dramatic prose with emphasis on classical style is out. Short sound bytes and rebellious growls are in.

Poetry and fiction abound in electronic zines where everyone has a word to offer other writers and readers. Since the Internet is pretty much open access to all, that means more people are seeing their work out in the public sphere. Meanwhile, the words “professional” and “meaningful” no longer play a part in the writing process.

In looking at a self-proclaimed “on-line experimental lit zine,” the CybpherAnthology of Discontiguous Literature says, “Electronic and otherwise, (it) seems to me that zines, as active instruments of community(s), simultaneously structure and reflect socially constructed groups.”

What type of social constructs are we reflecting though? Most zines I’ve seen are so “alternative” and abstract that they don’t even present any concrete ideas or inspiring images of art. What good is a piece of writing if no one understands it? It has to be convincing enough without the writer guiding the reader by the hand.

Most zines are more interested in rebellion and bucking the system than good, quality writing. I fear that like television, the Internet will begin to monopolize our lives as more people begin to thrive on instant gratification. Our society does not need more chaos and violence than already exists.

As a transmitter of ideas, the Web certainly is full of passing ideas and visions for writers. The Electronic Poetry Center at SUNY Buffalo (http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc) states its claim to be, “Our aim is simple: to make a wide range of resources centered on contemporary experimental and formally innovative poetries an immediate actuality.”

Well, what good are innovative experiments if the outcome is unclear? Using an outlet to hear your own voice is not the point. Writing is about making a positive impact for people and society, not wasting air space.