Collaborative Poems, Line by Line

Have you ever played Exquisite Corpse, the collaborative surrealist art game, with lines of poetry? I’ve done it with 3 to as many as 7 people, each writing a single phrase or line, then folding down the paper and passing it to the next person, who adds another line, etc. You can ensure linkage in the sequence of lines by writing the last word or two below your line, then folding the paper so that the end of your contribution is visible to the next writer (just as you would extend the lines of your drawing a little over the edge when playing Exquisite Corpse as a surrealist drawing game) — or you can agree in advance on a theme or kernel word to have in mind as you write your lines. When your papers are full, have one of the poets read the entire piece aloud — the resulting collage poem is an interesting window into the unconscious connections in the group.

Nils Peterson, the local poet laureate in Santa Clara County, California, has adopted a similar method to come up with a collaborative poem celebrating life in Silicon Valley:

from Silicon Valley Mercury News:
“First official Santa Clara County poem,” by Karen D’Souza
(The news story is accompanied by an audio file of Peterson reading the poem.) “...he invited the community to help write the first official county poem, a vivid snapshot of life in the valley.... About 500 county residents submitted phrases that Peterson sculpted into an epic word collage that mashes up 100 lines from 100 authors, ages 11 to 80. In the manner of a Tweet, each line had to be short and sweet (from nine to 13 syllables long). Accessibility is the key to this collective opus.”

It’s not really a cento, because the quoted lines are not from other poems, nor is it really like an exquisite corpse poem, because the connections between lines are consciously crafted by a single poet who assembled the poem. Interesting. A new form altogether?

Last week we took note of the found poem growing out of Twitter. This week there’s a report that in Detroit, several poets are using Twitter to create a deliberate collaboration.

from Detroit Free Press:
“Local poets’ collaborative effort will unfold on Twitter,” by Julie Hinds
“What do you call it when free verse meets online social networking? PoeTweet sounds about right.”

More on cento poems:
Cento defined, in our Glossary of Poetic Forms
Cento links, to read examples of cento poems online
“SemiCento,” by Bob Holman
Links to other word games & online collaborations

More on laureates:
Poets Laureate, a brief history
Poets Laureate of the U.S.A., a Net-annotated list

Our profiles of recent U.S. Poet Laureates
Kay Ryan (2008-2009)
Charles Simic (2007-2008)
Donald Hall (2006-2007)
Ted Kooser (2004-2006)
Louise Glück (2003-2004)
Stanley Kunitz (2000-2001)
Robert Pinsky (1997-2000)