Fungible Conviction #6: Add Audio.
Creative writing began, well, as creative speaking. The first thing you learn in 9th grade World History is that the first fancypantsers did their fancypantsing through speech.
So let’s move back to that, now that we can. The intimacy of audio distribution has returned.
At the beginning, it was voice —> air —> ear. Very intimate, but very limited.
Then it was voice —> tape —> production —> tractor trailer —> stores —> many ears. Not so intimate and still pretty limited.
But now it’s voice —> computer —> many, many ears. Intimate in everything except physical presence, and limited only by folks’ unwillingness to use it.
Some literary journals are moving ahead, finally following news sites’ lead, making good use of audio in podcasty and non-podcasty ways. And to their credit, it’s a mix of audio readings of stories and poems already in print but also of extra goodies, recordings that complement a litmag and extend its mission.
Recording of W.S. Merwin, as made available by the Hudson Review
An interview with Robert Bly conducted by the Cortland Review, “an Online Literary Magazine in RealAudio”
Zeni Jardin piece for NPR about “bookcasting,” and their link to volunteers reading classic works
