Bad Poetry by Linda French (Two Harbors, Minnesota, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail art by IUOMA member Linda French (Two Harbors, Minnesota, USA)

May 18, 2015 - Moan Lisa has a true talent for inventing mail art calls and concepts that have widespread appeal. The Bad Poetry call is one, as is 5089.

I deeply appreciate that Linda French sent me this “bad poetry” I believe is inspired by Moan Lisa's concept. The thing about the Bad Poetry call is that, in my estimation, it is not necessarily producing bad poetry. Some of the works that can be seen online are parodies of what the authors consider bad poetry. We can make distinctions concerning bad good poetry or good bad poetry. The call gives people who might ordinarily be insecure about writing a poem a safe space to share. Some of it, too, is actually very good poetry. I put this work by Linda French in the latter category. Thus, the Bad Poetry call asks us to explore our own views about what we like and do not like in a poem. It might actually be contributing to better poetry.

And the reverse:

Many thanks to Linda French!