Machinima of the Event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpTzzMz-z44
Sunday was Mother's Day. It was also the date of The Virtual Worlds Story Project 2009 Poetry Quest awards held at the new Poetry Garden and Gallery on Storybook Island. Since I have my mother to thank for encouraging me to express myself in words, I took it as a good sign that this was the one Sunday everyone could make it to the event this month. So while mom was watching a pre-recorded Laker's game (she is a RABID fan), I logged into SL to congratulate the amazing poets who put their hearts and minds into the Quest.
Two winners emerged from the group that completed all 30 poems: Franchella Milena and Lizzie Gudkov. Each received a plaque and $1,000 Lindens for their efforts. They will also have some of their poems published in RezLibris Magazine.
However, there were dozens of others who turned in several poems and helped make the Quest an event to be remembered. Out of these, nine agreed to read. Here is a transcript of the ceremony and some pictures from the Garden. I do hope you will find the time to stopy by the Poetry Garden-Gallery soon to read the amazing work of these SL poets. I'm told it is a special place, which is exactly what I intended :-)
Welcome. My name is Jenaia Morane, the founder and head story sleuth at The Virtual Worlds Story Project. Today’s celebration is being held to share the results of the 2009 Poetry Quest, held throughout the month of April as part of National Poetry Month.
The challenge Poetry Questers faced was to write a poem a day for 30 days. Stop and think about that for a moment. That means that every day, rain or shine, work or no work, distractions or no distractions, Questers managed to log into SL, get the daily writing task I set for them, and write a poem. That’s amazing and I salute you!
Literally dozens of poets tackled the Quest, which covered everything from haiku and limericks to sonnets and free verse. Questers were also asked to visit a wide variety of sims throughout Second Life and write about dozens of different topics – love, despair, nature, famine, and mythology. They danced in fountains, talked to dragons, meditated, practiced tai chi, and sat at the top of waterfalls.
The results of their efforts can be seen all around you on the panels here in the Poetry Garden and Gallery. From the field of participants, two top poets emerged. In order to be eligible for one of two prizes, a poet had to complete all 30 poems. These two poets not only completed the task, but produced outstanding poetry as well. So without further ado, let me introduce the first of our winners, Franchella Milena or Patricia Facciponti in her first life.
Patricia is a teacher, photographer, videographer, academic technologist, GIS mapper; wife, parent and grandparent; animal-lover and historic preservationist; writer and poet, Patricia enjoys studying and writing about just about anything.
Franchella Milena, her alter ego, was born into Second Life in January 2008. Together, Franchella and Pat collaborate on adventures of discovery, learning, writing, building, and teaching in Second Life.
Our second winner is a very different kind of poet. Here name is Lizzie Gudkov and lives in Lisbon - Portugal where she is a teacher of English. Her main interests in Second Life are connected to social, educational and management areas. She has managed a Theatre where she organised events such as concerts, voice readings and chats, trivia, classes and talks. She has also worked as a host of several different types of events such as discussions, club events and sports events. Lizzie believes Second Life has great potential for enhancing people's social and organisational skills enriching everyone's lives.
Next on the program are poets who also took part in the Poetry Quest, though they didn’t’ have time to complete all 30 poems. As you will see, their work is both engaging and eclectic.
Elegia Underwood
Gia is a Rememberer of Dragons, the one in each generation in each tribe who carries the memories of her kind. She writes poetry & records the tales of dragons. She tells stories of dragonkind to anyone who will listen, hoping for a greater understanding between the races.
Twilight Dreamscape
Twilight was born on October 23 2007. Her RL persona, Tricia, had already been in SL for over a year under another name, but that avi was (and still is) in so many groups she had no room for writing groups. When Tricia saw the surname Dreamscape, she thought it was so beautiful that she had to create an alt. Evening twilight is her favourite time of day; Twilight Dreamscape would represent her spiritual creative side. It has to be said that for a while Tricia neglected Twilight, but eventually Twilight joined various writing groups and moved into beautiful Winterfell Laudanum. The covenant says that "Winterfell is a twilight dream realm". Where else could Twilight live?
Tricia was born a good few years before Twilight. :) She has a lifelong disability which has limited her in her career choices: she feels she was meant to be a performer, but that was not possible. Perhaps in a parallel universe she has achieved that. Now, although the disability is not getting any worse, her body's ability to cope with it is weakening and Tricia is largely housebound. SL has given her a new lease of life, and for this she will always be so grateful.
Divad Gravios
Divad is also a teacher in his first life. Divad has a condition in rl that allows him to flourish here in SL - a mild version of synesthesia in which sight and sound simultaneously stimulate amazingly integrated combinations of meaning: He can hear colors as music and vice versa. Poetry to him has become quite an eclectic tool for listening to Nature. He craves the natural confusion of growth; the edge of the unknown seems to be a great social leveling device that would keep daily perspectives in a realistic check and balance with the past, present, and future. To his detriment, however, he's never satisfied with any so-called 'achievement' and perpetually stirs the mix of what could be with the so-called facts of life.
RayVal Dreadlow
RayVal was born with three peculiarities
A pencil in his hand, his tongue tied to it, and a head crowded with characters ready to become physical. The first allowed him to write stories as soon as his fine motor skills had developed enough to shape characters. The second encouraged a lifelong preference for the written word. The third proved an endless source of inspiration for conversations, conflict,and complications. He established himself as shapeshifter by transforming his body to match the patterns of his heart. As a writer, he wants to nudge at people's established realities. His greatest delight is when he succeeds in doing so.
Ludo Merit
Ludo is an ambassador from Prism, where color dancers, singers and bards are the heroes. She came to SL to awaken the memories of the other Prismatics here, who forgot Prism Home so that they could make true homes here. That is how we colonlize. However, as Prismatics are heroes by nature, they are all too busy with their own missions to help Prism much right now.
Marty Snowpaw
Our final poet for the day is a gentleman who almost didn’t enter. His name Marty Snowpaw. Marty is an educator and producer of children's television programs. He started out in the classroom teaching and was one of the early innovators to use film and television. He went on to co-found Scholastic Productions where he produced series like the Magic School Bus, Goosebumps, and the feature film, Indian in the Cupboard. He's now working to develop educational opportunities in Second Life and continues to help guide the new media literary movement.
Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this event. I would also like to thank Sledge Roffo, who donated the amazing sculptures you see all around you, and Saxet Uralia who not only provided the Lindens for the prizes, but continues to be a source of inspiration and support in her own work.
