Putting Literature on the Streets--Broadside

I came across this in the latest issue of Poet's and Writer's magazine:

According to the article "Open-Air Publishing" by Alex Dimitrov, there is a renewed interest in bringing poetry into everyday lives. Broadside publishing--which was used as far back as the Civil War to post important information --is taking rise as writers are publishing poems and short prose and posting them in public areas or community bulletin boards. The purpose? Put literature in the hands of everyday people.

The article is worth a read and you can find it by going to this link:

http://www.pw.org/content/openair_publishing

My favorite was this paragraph:

"...in the United States, Broadsided has appeared in urban centers including New York City and Washington, D.C., as well as small towns such as Healy, Alaska, whose population is fewer than a thousand. "Each month I post the new Broadsided on a community bulletin board in the post office lobby, and it's up there amongst all the other signs from rural life," says Healy vector Christine Byl. "I see people stopping to read it and know it might very well be the only poem they see all month. I love that."

Wow. How cool is that?
Once again, I think this is a perfect example of showing folks that literature is 'accessible.'

I keep telling folks that Shakespeare was not some stuffed shirt---his comedies were more like the Elizabethan equivalent of Saturday Night Live.

You can get involved by submitting poems and prose via e-mail at broadsided@gmail.com OR by becoming vectors in their own communities.
More information is on broadsidedpress.org

I think I'll do that. I think it's a challenge that all writers should embrace. The cost of donating one poem into the world is so small. Maya Angelou once said that creativity wasn't like a well--the more you draw from creativity, the more you have...

Great article Alex!

Next project?

I have no idea what I'm going to work on for my next project. I'm planning on giving myself a break from the rabid writing I did trying to get the earlier manuscript ready, and pick it back up by August.

To ensure some type of accountability, I felt it would be good to place my "writing dangerously" goals on the side of this blog. Just my way of keeping track of stuff.

In the meantime, I'll finish up the short story collection and upload it to Kindle...AND I'll post a FREE read of one of the short stories here and on my website.

I AM REDESIGNING MY WEBSITE. Hopefully, that will be up by August, too. I'll send some screenshots of it as I complete it. [www.dawnwilson.net]

Next week: "Why I love the Brits."