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Photo of the Lime Walk at The Mount, Edith Wharton's Home

Very Large Poems

The Mount & WordXWord Collaboration

Help us create and perform a Very Large Poem - Poets of any age 12 - 80+, speaking any language, working in any style are invited!, YOU ARE INVITED, no experience necessary. You will only need to write and perform a short poem to be part of something BIG!

Let us know you are interested! Question? Read the FAQ.

How it Works / Commitment

Using a variation of a surrealist* technique from the early 20th century, WordXWord is looking to create several large collaborative multilingual poems to be performed at The Mount in Lenox, MA during the summer of 2023. Note that we said large, not long. In fact these poems will actually be made by connecting dozens of very short poems, created by dozens of poets, and stitched together in a performance that ripples through the poets spread out on the beautiful grounds of The Mount.

Poets of any style and experience level are invited to be part of this project which is part poetry and part community celebration. Poets will be encouraged to work in their native language (or any language they prefer) resulting in a performance that becomes a virtual symphony of tongues.

Each poet will be asked to create a short (30 seconds or less) poem using the last word of the previous poet/poem in the sequence as the first word of their poem. Poets will NOT have knowledge of the poem ahead of them - or any poem in the sequence - they will only have a single word as their starting point.

Poets will be welcome to work in their native or chosen language. The beauty of this project is in the way - when assembled at The Mount - the large poem will wander through content, styles, and languages!

Example / how the poem gets built

In the example below poet #1 writes a short poem and shares only the last word with the next poet in line. Poet #2 writes a short poem using the word (or a variation on it) as their first word. The poet #2 passes along only the last word to the next poet. And so on . . .

The horizon reminds me of choices made
In the rush of my youth,
With no time for second opinions
And no regrets

regrets / arrepentimientos que rondan los pantanos donde
Manchas de sangre y huesos antiguos
El paisaje al borde de
Otro día se fue

se fue / gone
he is always going somewhere
no time for rest
or reflection
stumbling into the future

Each poet in the sequence will have 24 hours (in spring/early summer) to create their short poem and submit it to the project manager (aka Poet Wrangler!) so that only the last word can be forwarded to the next person in the sequence.

Let us know you are interested!

FAQ


Schedule / time commitment

Creating the Poem (1 hour at home or any location of your choice)

Each poet will have one day in the time period between late April and middle of June. For most poets this will require only an hour and may be done from the comfort of your home.

Performing the Poem (4 hours on July 16 at The Mount)

We will gather to perform the poem on July 16 at The Mount. Because we will be “rehearsing, then performing the poem several times, this will require approximately 3-4 hours in the late afternoon. This will be as much a community celebration as a performance and accordingly we will provide food, beverage, and music.

Performance / how it gets stitched together

The finished, 30 stanza poem will be performed by the poets at The Mount, July 16 (rain date, tbd).

For the performance, poets will line up in assigned sequence along the pathways of The Mount.

The audience, in groups of 20, will walk along the course of the poem as the performance moves from poet to poet.

The piece will be performed four times on half hour intervals over the course of 2 hours - i.e., each poet will perform their short poem four times with short breaks that allow for appropriate distance between audience groups.

Sign me up!

You've got questions, we've got answers

Who can play/participate?

Any age, teens through infinity, no experience necessary. Only requirement is to honor the commitment to create a short poem, submit it in the time allotted, and to perform it as part of the world's largest poem at the scheduled date and time.

When will I need to write my short poem?

You will receive your "prompt" (the last word from the preceding poem) sometime between May 15 and July 15. You will receive an update approximately a week ahead of time to remind you that it's coming. You will have 24 hours to write and submit your very short poem (you can do it!).

Does my poem have to be about anything in particular? Follow any particular style? Any restrictions?

The short answer is no. Be serious or funny, flowery or pedestrian, full of meaning or simply about the sound of words. Your poem may be in the language of your choice. Whatever makes you comfortable and happy. However, we do ask that you keep in mind that the audience will be comprised of all ages - children through great, great grandmothers . . .

How will I receive my prompt, submit my poem, etc?

Good question. In order to participate, you will need a valid email address that you check on a regular basis.

When and where will the Very Large Poem be performed?

Outdoors at The Mount! in Lenox, MA on the afternoon of July 16.

What if my schedule changes between now and the performance event and I can no longer attend the performance?

We only ask that if you are unable to perform your piece as scheduled that you find a surrogate to stand in for you.

Is there a deadline for signing up to participate?

The registration deadline is when the list is full (30 poets).

Sign me up!

* If you’re curious, you can google Exquisite Corpse for information about the origin, history, and variations of this technique.

Housatonic Heritage
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
Adelson & Company PC