New Poetry Project: Looking for Participants

I’m working on a new poetry project, and right now… I’m looking for folks who might be interested in participating. Here’s the skinny:

The project is about “fathers,” and centers around Robert Hayden’s excellent poem, Those Winter Sundays.

I’m planning on recording a lot of people, reading Hayden’s poem. Then, I’ll slice up all the audio and combine each track randomly in Flash. At the end, I’m planning on allowing users to “hear” Hayden’s poem read by fourteen different people: a different person reading each line. If the page is refreshed, the users gets a new arrangement: fourteen different people, each reading a separate line.

As each person’s voice begins, I’ll also display a photograph of that person’s father.

That’s pretty much it. Fairly straightforward, but this kind of multi-person reading is something I’ve had on my mind for… well, a really, really long time. Back when I was first learning about arrays and randomization, if you can believe that. And for some reason, right now, this winter feels like the right time for me to take another stab at this idea.

If you’re interested in participating, drop me a line (using the contact form on the right). I’ve got a minidisc recorder I’ll be using to record anyone in Chicago; if you’re outside of Chicago, we can talk more about some options on how to get the recording done.

I’m pretty excited by this project, and I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting this thing put together. I think too that, the more recordings I can get, the better it’ll be. So if you know anyone else who might be interested, by all means… let me know.

I’m still working out some of the details, but drop me a line (contact form on the right), and I’ll get you the particulars on how to participate.