Friday, December 1, 2023

Poetry in VR Exhibit, and December 2023 update

I was thrilled and honoured to have my poem, “For Laika,” included in the VR forward exhibit as part of The Wrong Biennale. The exhibits are located in a VR space called “Second Life.” Being part of this exhibit challenged me to learn about how to navigate in the Second Life world, and expanded my skill set.
 
The “For Laika” exhibit includes a video of me reading the poem, and an exhibit of stamps created by various countries in Laika’s memory. Part of my motivation in writing the poem was to help Laika’s memory live on, and I think the exhibit does that. 

There are even little animated Laikas at the exhibit, and available for visitors to take around Second Life with them. I’ve included a couple of photos of the exhibit to give some of the flavour. Though the official launch took place in November 2023, the exhibits are available to visit until March 1, 2024. More details are provided further below, for those interested.
 
Recent Publications
Poetry:
“The Mural,” “Pegasus Seeks a Change of Scenery,” and “The Sand Dogs of Mars,” Polar Starlight #12, November 2023, https://polarborealis.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/POLAR-STARLIGHT-12-November-2023.pdf
 
“Oops!”, Spaceports and Spidersilk, Hiraeth Publishing, October 2023.

Reviews:
Sapphire and the Hollow Bone: Poems by Diana Hayes, by Diana Hayes, posted on The Miramichi Reader web site, November 27, 2023, https://miramichireader.ca/2023/11/sapphire-and-the-hollow-bone-by-diana-hayes/
 
Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality, posted on The Miramichi Reader web site, November 6, 2023, https://miramichireader.ca/2023/11/seeking-social-democracy-seven-decades-in-the-fight-for-equality-by-ed-broadbent-and-others/
 
The Winter Knight, by Jes Battis, posted on The Miramichi Reader, November 5, 2023, https://miramichireader.ca/2023/11/the-winter-knight-by-jes-battis/
 
Short Stories:
“Cerby’s First Day,” Havok, “Wacky Wednesday: Legendary,” November 1, 2023.
 
More about the VR Forward exhibit
VR Forward explores poetry, art, and the poetics of space by bringing the work of Canadian artists into virtual reality spaces. The VR Forward Project developed an exhibit in the online world of Second Life featuring the work of four Canadian poets and two Canadian media artists. This event is also a part of The Wrong Biennale, an independent, multicultural, decentralised and collaborative international art biennial.

The project is the result of a collaboration between the BBMC (a transdisciplinary artists collective), the House of Zolo (an independent Canadian publisher), and an array of Canadian artists, builders, and coders. The exhibit features documentation from the Virtual Reality projects that have been created throughout the year, and four installations that bring the work of Canadian poets to life with inventive and interesting installation environments.

The best way to visit the virtual space is to enter the virtual world via your computer. In the case of Second Life, avatar accounts and software are free and accessible to both PC and Mac computers. If you are not already a user, visit Second Life to create an avatar, download the client, and enter the virtual world. Once you are in-world you can access the exhibit by entering this SLURL in the chat window and clicking it to teleport to the gallery:

VR Forward is a project of the BBMC and was made possible thanks to the support of the Canada Council the for Arts’ Digital Now Program – bringing the work of Canadian artists into digital spaces.

What I’m Working On
In November, I worked on several short fiction and non-fiction pieces as part of NaNoWriMo. Now it’s time to polish these items up and send them out in the coming months.
 
Coming Soon
The Bicyclist's Guide to the Galaxy: Feminist, Fantastical Tales of Books and Bikes, edited by Elly Blue, is due to launch December 5, 2023. This anthology includes my short story, “Down Memory Lane.”

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