In honor of National Poetry Month, the Found Poetry Review, a literary journal dedicated exclusively to publishing found poetry, presents Pulitzer Remix, a project of eighty-five poets from around the world creating found poetry from the 85 fiction winners of the Pulitzer Prize. “We recognize that there are many prestigious awards recognizing the work of writers from around the world,” explained Jenni B. Baker, project creator and editor-in-chief at the Found Poetry Review. “Understanding that all lists have their shortcomings, we chose the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction list for both its length and its potential to spur new works of found poetry by our poets.” Each poet is assigned one book and will post one poem a day to the Pulitzer Remix website. By month’s end, more than 2500 new poems will be created.
The poems are not just rehashings of the novels in verse, but new poems that vary in topic and theme from the original works. Found poems involve choosing words and phrases from existing texts, and creating the equivalent of literary collages. The genre includes centos, erasure poetry, cut-up poetry and other textual combinations. For example, from Gone With the Wind, Canadian poet Roxanna Bennett has created beautiful verse, but of a darker tone. The site also features interviews by the contributing poets.
After the conclusion of Pulitzer Remix, Baker intends to seek a publisher for an edited collection of poems from the project.
“Compared to traditional poetry, very few works of found poetry ever see publication. We look forward to putting together a manuscript of the best pieces from the project in hopes that these poems will live on beyond National Poetry Month,” she concluded.
You can follow the daily updates on the Pulitzer Remix website, or Found Poetry Review’s Facebook and Twitter profiles. Check for update on Twitter using #pulitzerremix. For information about participating in next year’s project, email Jenni Baker at editor@foundpoetryreview.com. If you wish to submit to the journal, more information can be found here – //www.foundpoetryreview.com/submission-guidelines.
