"... Her mouth won't flare into fire any more ..."

from After Banalata Sen

by Anjana Basu

will debut with Nationality or Not, guest edited
by Peter Howard.

"The theme for the premiere issue of Riding the Meridian is 'Nationality or Not' and will explore questions of how nationality and location influences poetry (and vice versa) and whether telecommunications breaks down or changes these influences. Poems, essays and discussions that relate to this theme, directly or tangentially, are particularly welcomed."

Guidelines for Poetry Submissions:

-- Send up to five poems in the body of your email message (no attachments without prior query) to Mr. Howard

-- Submissions must be unpublished (newsgroup or workshop postings are not considered publication)

-- Please include a short bio

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The Autumn Issue of Riding the Meridian will feature:

A Special Section of Soundtext Work
Guest edited by Alaric Sumner

Release date: October 1999

Deadline for initial contact for Mr. Sumner: 15th May 1999

Deadline for submission of finished RealAudio files (creative) and textimage files (both creative and critical) for all work: August 15th 1999

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Mr. Sumner's Guidelines:

CREATIVE SUBMISSIONS:
(Previously unpublished work only)

"PER[ear see eye hear]FORM"
The internet provides the opportunity to present work which has visual=textual=sonic aspects. Ms. Ley's previous publication has, for a number of issues, combined textworks with Real AudioŽ soundfiles. We are now seeking work that is more extensive: a performance piece with its score; a sound file of a performance with the image=text that generated it; multivoice texts. We are not seeking sound pieces that have no visual=textual element but work that allows viewers to explore the RELATIONSHIPS between a something seen=read and something heard (an conventional example would be the relationship between a score and its recorded performance). Submission is encouraged from any artist (visual artist/poet/composer) working in the realm of image=text into sound.

[NB: If your work utilizes more than page to page interior html linking, image maps, or javascript, you will have to do your own coding etc. Riding the Meridian can't be responsible for specialized coding to make the presentation work. Contributors should tailor their presentations to fit into our design and must supply their own RealAudio files, not to exceed 1 meg in size, recorded to work at 28.8 modem speed and play on the free versions of RealAudio Player available for both Macintosh and PC.]

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CRITICAL SUBMISSION: (Previously unpublished work only)

"wRITE"

In 1998, Writers Forum in the UK published WORD SCORE UTTERANCE CHOREOGRAPHY (ed. Cobbing and Upton, ISBN 0 86162 750 4), which offered contributors pagespace for what the editors called "visual poetry" and another page for an exploration of how that work would proceed to performance. That book implicitly and explicitly challenged the boundaries set by such terms as "poetry" and, as Spencer Selby has said, "does advocate for ideas of poetry beyond literature, for ideas of art beyond schools and reductive categories". (See also section on writing and performance edited by Alaric Sumner in PAJ 61 (Johns Hopkins UP)

Building on the concern with the relationship between image and performance (sound), for this issue of Riding the Meridian we are inviting critical discussions on the nature of Image=Text=Sound work and on practitioners. Ideally critical submissions will explore, in their structure, the nature of the medium on offer (Internet) and would not be restricted to conventional critical essay format. Theoretical/critical work from the contributors to "PER[ear see eye hear]FORM" on their own pieces is welcome, but essays from others on theoretical issues and on practitioners (historical or contemporary) who deal with Image Text Sound in any of their interweavings, are also invited.

Contributions to Riding the Meridian's 'the Means' section - about the technology behind the work and bringing it to the Internet - are also sought.

To check if your idea fits, initial submissions/proposals and enquiries to: Mr. Sumner

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Please query Jennifer Ley if you have any questions, or ideas for future issues of Riding the Meridian.