wunderkammer

Coming Soon: Geography

THE INTERNET was so fun and exciting that we decided to extend the theme for more than one week, but it's finally time to move on to our next project. Drum roll, please....

Wunderkammer is now accepting submissions for our next theme: GEOGRAPHY.

If you'd like to contribute, send your poems, illustrations, paintings, videos, or stories about geography, landscape, maps, or directions to wunderkammer.poetry@gmail.com. Please include the word "submission" in the subject line of your email.

 

photo by aaron13251/Aaron Harmon via Flickr

Coming Soon: The Internet

Wunderkammer is now accepting submissions for our next theme week: The Internet.

Please send creative work about or inspired by the internet, LOL cats, Twitter, Facebook, smart phones, computers, and technology to wunderkammer.poetry@gmail.com.

photo by fhwrdh via Flickr

WUNDERKAMMER THEME WEEK: Gently Stalking Janice-Katie

Gently Stalking Janice-Katie
(an encore presentation of the live show at the Chicago reading series, Reconstruction Room)

curated by Kathryn Regina

 

 “I am Mrs. Beck,” said the older woman uncertainly, throat moving. She stared at Janice-Katie. “And you are…?”

Janice-Katie laughed, as if carefree. She said, “I am Janice-Depressive, you know, like ‘manic-depressive’?”

Mrs. Beck frowned.

--excerpt from The Girl with Brown Fur by Stacey Levine

Stout women with a hatred of twilight are difficult to trail. But a character as curious as Janice-Katie is worth an ardent shadowing. In her book of short stories The Girl with Brown Fur, Stacey Levine reveals a glimpse of this moonfaced outer space hater: Her face is so wide because of her stomach medicine. As a child she believed that the sun is the size of a person’s hand. Spring is the time she feels most alone, and she carries herself as if in need of coddling. Don’t you love her? Don’t you want to discretely follow her vehicle, keeping at least two cars between you? So do we. That’s why our group of gumshoe writers, artists and musicians have been gently stalking her en masse. And my god, have we got stories to tell. Tune in everyday to Wunderkammer to learn all about the previously undiscovered life of one of fiction’s most beguiling characters: Janice-Katie.

Always stalking,
Kathryn

P.S. The Girl With Brown Fur will be officially released by Starcherone/Dzanc in May 2011. Verse Chorus Press also just re-released Stacey's novel Frances Johnson. Highly recommended!

WUNDERKAMMER THEME WEEK: ******

curated by ***** ******

Wunderkammer News: It's Poem In Your Pocket Day!

Today is Poem In Your Pocket Day, so if you want to fully enjoy the rollicking good times that April 29 has to offer, follow these four easy steps: [1] make sure you're wearing an outfit with at least one pocket, [2] find a poem you like (luckily you are currently looking at a website with many, many excellent poems), [3] print out or transcribe said poem, and [4] stick it in your pocket. During the day, it will be fun to think about the secret poem you are carrying around in your pocket. Put your hand in your pocket, feel the poem--what a thrill! And if anyone asks you for a poem, you will have one, right there, in your pocket! If you get pickpocketed, the thief will unknowingly be stealing a poem, haha! The scenarios are endless and the adventure begins with a poem and a pocket. Make it happen! 

Image: Kevin Rawlings via Flickr

Wunderkammer Theme Month: THE EARTH COLLECTION

April 22, 2010 will be the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the 24 hours humans have earmarked for the appreciation the revolving orb we call home. Of course, scientists estimate the planet to be around 4.5 billion years old, so we've clearly missed a few chances to celebrate. Since we've got some catching up to do, wunderkammer is going to focus on the planet during the entire month of April. That's right, you blue and green ball of ozone-covered goodness, this is your month. 

And while we're passing around the cake and ice cream, we should mention that Earth Day isn't the only holiday this (national poetry) month: Our own wunderkammer celebrated its first birthday on April 4. 

Image: tuppus/tup wanders via Flickr

Wunderkammer News

Readers, you're in for a treat: For the next two weeks, Wunderkammer will be curated by Kathryn Regina. 

 Image: L. Marie / Lenore Edman via Flickr

Wunderkammer News

This week, Wunderkammer welcomes guest curator Ellen Wadey. Take it away, Ellen!

Image: peregrine blue / constanza via Flickr

It's Obama Art Week

by Della Watson

The post has been held by 43 other guys--most of them bland and forgettable, a few of them grandly memorable, and some of 'em we really, really wish we could forget. 

But Barack Obama is more than just the 44th President of the United States. He is a muse. You need only take a look at blogs like the Obama Art Report (or stop by your local Urban Outfitters) to find the biggest image-making frenzy since Che hit t-shirts. And it's not just professional artists and clever marketers who are inspired. Schoolchildren are doodling Obama art in their notebooks, senior citizens are sketching his likeness, and my neighbors are painting Obama murals on their houses (the photo above was snapped in Berkeley, California).  

Obama's legacy isn't set in stone--yet. On July 8, Greenpeace rock climbers unfurled Obama's giant image on the face of Mt. Rushmore. The banner read "America honors leaders, not politicians. Stop Global Warming." The implication was that Obama can be one of our most memorable, rock-worthy leaders if only he plays his cards right. The stage for grandeur has been set. We'll have to see how the HOPE and CHANGE things play out, but one thing's for sure: We're sooooo ready to immortalize the guy in stone and ink and paint. 

So this week on Wunderkammer, we're celebrating the muse of the moment: Barack Hussein Obama.

HELLO, my name is . . . Wunderkammer

Wunderkammer is accepting submissions. If you would like to contribute, please email your poetry essay, art, fiction, video, or photography to wunderkammer.poetry@gmail.com.

Upcoming themes include Obama/the Political, Ecopoetics, Non-motherhood, and Childhood Photos. Wunderkammer also accepts curator proposals.

About the name: A wunderkammer, also known as a cabinet of curiosities or a wonder room, is a collection of objects meant to represent the world in miniature. Wunderkammern were popular during the Renaissance, when wealthy people would amass encyclopedic collections that might include fossils, paintings, sculptures, bones, feathers, religious relics, and other oddities. The tradition of the wonder room is believed by some people to be the precursor to the modern museum.

Image by Della Watson