CIRCULARS

statements and responses by poets and literary critics
concerning u.s. foreign policy

www.arras.net/circulars/
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I'd like to announce the "soft launch" of a new multi-authored blog, CIRCULARS. I'll refrain from laying out the specific intentions of the site except to point to my original "mission statement" later in this email, and to list the three purposes that I see the site serving:

1. To be a central message board for poets concerning significant actions or events that pertain to progressive politics -- an "action center."

2. A storehouse of statements by poets, artists, etc., concerning US war policy, etc., including updates on activities ("Debunker" mentality, reading groups, etc.) -- the "conscience of the community."

3. A place to practice and investigate a form of writing I call the "circular," which is that type of brief, quasi-manifesto (or humorous, or polemic) statement that can be zinged around the internet (and also be printed out) that contributes to the general pool of rhetorical strategies (tones, tropes, emphases) that can be employed in making passionate, relevant critiques of war policy, etc. -- a "workshop"

At this point I am the only editor for the site but I'm putting together materials and will invite people to have author privileges to the site as time goes by. I don't want to just open the site up to everybody since my fear is that it will quickly lose focus and become a glorified links site rather than the workshop/activist site I envision. I'm still working out this structure; also, the design of the site, including sidebar, graphics, etc., is rudimentary at the moment. Other features will include guest edited "sub-sites" that target more activist, or theoretical, issues.

PLEASE NOTE: because I'm presently the only editor, please don't send me a flood of emails making special requests -- a nice note is always welcome, a little feedback, yes, but for now I'd rather not spend too much time answering emails as I'm quite busy putting together training materials, designing the site, etc.

My hope is not to receive too many submissions until I have the editorial structure in place. If you do come across, or write, something you think belongs here then, yes, send it on, but I have no intention of collecting everything written by a poet that expresses anti-war sentiment -- there's just too much. Please read the statement below and look the site over first before submitting -- this is not a literary journal.

THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO is to put your email address in the notification list box on the upper righthand corner of the screen. If you are receiving this email it is either because you are in my private address book or on some listserv that I'm a member of. But I don't want to use my address book to send out CIRCULARS announcements -- SO PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THE CUTE LITTLE BOX. (pwetty pwease?)

Take care,
Brian Kim Stefans

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Contents so far:

mnftiu.cc: Get Your War On

Paul Chan: Statement for a Certain National Press Club in Washington DC (Draft V.2)

Alan Gilbert: The Present Versus (the) Now

Situationist International: Détournement as Negation and Prelude

Eliot Weinberger: Statement for "Poetry is News" conference

Alan Gilbert: "Startling and Effective": Writing Art and Politics after 9/11

AP: White House Cancels Poetry Symposium

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[Below is the original set of ideas I put together the insomniac night when this website took shape in my mind. I hope to revise it and include it in a sidebar to give the site some specific identity distinct from other art/politics website -- a sense that this site investigates a form as much as operates in the chain of activist sites -- but for now, I'll let it be provisional.]

CIRCULARS: MISSION STATEMENT (v. 1)

CIRCULARS intends to focus some of the disparate energy by poets and literary critics to enunciate a response to U.S. foreign policy, most significantly the move to war with Iraq.

CIRCULARS intends to critique and/or augment some conventional modes of expressing political views that are either entirely analytical, ironic or humanistic. These are all valuable approaches, of course, and not unwelcome on CIRCULARS, but our hope is to create a dynamic, persuasive idiom that can work in a public sphere, mingling elements of rhetoric and stylistics associated with the aforementioned modes -- analytical, ironic or humanistic.

CIRCULARS is, in this sense, a workshop -- a place to explore strategies.

CIRCULARS was not created in the spirit of believing that all poets should be "political" or even "social" in nature. While such arguments are free to be made on the website, and poems related to the themes of the site are (selectively) welcome, the focus is on articulating statements that are unique to the poetry community while not speaking for "poetry."

CIRCULARS holds no party line, nor is it particularly adherent to notions of the "avant-garde." All perspectives are welcome provided they are articulated intelligently or (in some cases) amusingly, and that they do not articulate perspectives or advocate actions that are, in the editors' judgment, of an entirely unethical nature.

CIRCULARS understands that, in the world of the internet, the link can be as powerful as word of mouth, and is itself the prize of an effective rhetorical strategy. These are "circulars" because they are circulated.

What we want:

Original writing -- book reviews, manifestos, modest proposals, etc. -- is, of course, most welcome, but also writing from listservs that are otherwise not public, as well as statements originally appearing on other websites, blogs or in print. (The content of CIRCULARS can appear elsewhere, but if you do reproduce the text please include a link to the original page.)

Multimedia submissions are welcome. This would include pages that work within the design structure of CIRCULARS involving visual, sound, animated and interactive components. However, we don't plan on doing more than installing a piece that the contributor has already completed, since we don't anticipate having much time to collaborate on pieces.

Though the site's primary focus will be on opinion, announcements and reports about activities related to the themes of this site -- performances, readings, actions -- are welcome. Links to other sites, articles, scandals, and events are also encouraged. Some poetry will appear here, but at the discretion of the editors.

Structure:

Entries will be categorized and archives according to themes or, in some cases, according to author. This system, however imperfect, will allow visitors to the site to catch up on threads of dialogue with some ease. Entries will also be archived according to month, as is standard with weblogs.

There will be an unmoderated comments section, but the editors reserve the right to cancel entries that are deemed offensive. This would include personal attacks on individuals associated with the site, and comments of a racist, sexist or otherwise demeaning nature.

Contributors are invited to utilize this space for open forums, with the understanding that other material will intermingle with their own as it arrives, and that this material might contradict the main focus of such forums. In this case, a special archive category can be created linking entries related to the forum.

Note on design:

The present design is just one of the standard templates of movabletype.org -- we hope to make it a little more distinctive soon! Other elements, such as a blogroll, links, etc., will be added over time. Any feedback concerning the design of this site -- readability, functionality -- is welcome.

Posted by Brian Stefans at February 6, 2003 05:54 AM