This free period workshop/discussion is open to students and community members. Presented by the Rutgers-Camden Writers House and Digital Studies Center.

Rutgers-Camden's COVID policy is that all attendees at public programs must present proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before the event. Please wear a mask in all teaching/classroom spaces.

From the cuneiform to the moleskin, writing has always lived in a symbiotic relationship with its tools. It is the drive of the artist, as new technologies of production and creation are introduced, to push these tools towards the common aim of making better sense of the human experience. In the words of Pixar co-founder John Lasseter, "Art challenges the technology and technology inspires the art." This drive is even more important (and complicated) right now, as technology becomes such a common, consistent and relentlessly capitalist part of our everyday lives. How do we find creative potential in the mechanical constriction of our day-to-day?

In this workshop, we will explore how poets and other writers have used technology to make powerful, grounded work. We will explore existing explorations of the use of 2D layout, video, interactivity and code in writing, how digital tools can change our relation with physical work and the cheap / free tools to allow us to create our own new media pieces. Further, we hope to leave you with a sense of the wide community engaged in new media writing, including interested journals, awards and places of community.

About the instructor:

The author of the poetry collection Open Source, Warren C. Longmire is a writer, educator, software engineer and human from North Philadelphia. He is a two-time Pushcart nominee and the co-founder of the Excelano Project Spoken Word Collective. He is a former contributing editor for Apiary Magazine, Director of Poetry Events for Blue Stoop and Programming Manager for the Nick Virgilio Haiku Society. Poems featured in this collection have been published in Stone Fruit, American Poetry Review, Bedfellows, Prolit, Voicemail Poems and The Best American Poetry 2021.

Programming for Poets: Integrating Digital Tools into Your Writing Practice