AustLit

'Red Sonnet, Country Song was created by taking text from twelve iconic poems – selected by compiling online lists of “most famous poems” – and using software to shuffle the words into a random order. Phrases were selected for rhyme and iambic pentameter to create a sonnet, a form chosen for its respected place in the Western literary canon. The concept was inspired by poets such as Nick Montford, who writes algorithms to generate poetry, and Toby Fitch, who uses existing texts to generate new meanings. Their work questions how poetry is delineated from other artforms, and asks “who is the ‘real’ author?” We often read poetry in search of meaning, but what feels profound for one person may be meaningless to another. Red Sonnet, Country Song is intentionally arbitrary: the words were written across continents and centuries; algorithms have no poetic intent, and phrases were chosen for their syllable structure. Nonetheless, the words create imagery; meaning is instinctively derived through the act of reading. The poem draws attention to this human instinct and the ongoing influence of iconic poems in contemporary poetry. It intertwines texts and methodologies to reflect contemporary reality: technology both distorting and facilitating human emotion.' (Publication abstract)