Real Poets in a Virtual World

This anthology is a collection of writing exercises and poetry by a group of poets who met together to try these exercises in a virtual reality environment, Second Life. The subject and style of the work is not focused on the novelty of this process—the virtual reality aspect—but rather on the sincere wish and group determination to use the writing process as part of the writers’ inner essence work. Both the exercises and the poems collected here are artifacts of an art based on voyaging away from the ordinary and into more magical realms. The reader is invited not just to read the poems in the book but to try writing his or her own poems in this vein. The book is also illustrated with imaginative drawings created by writers collected in the anthology.

Gail Bering-Porter is an artist, graphic designer, puppet maker, costume designer, and writer. She is a former teacher and works with the Springfield Little Theatre, designing and creating specialty costumes for their stage productions. Gerald Porter is the vice president of academic affairs at Forest Institute. He previously served as dean of the School of Natural Health Arts and Sciences at Bastyr University and the School of Education at SUNY–Cortland. They live in Springfield, Missouri.