Britt Fleming, proprietor and founder of the virtual literary community, Northography.com, offers a mini-history of this unique MN-based, grassroots writers' workshop, followed by a sampling of some of the poets and authors from around the state who are finding inspiration there.

To browse through a collection of some of Northography's contributing poets and to find links to a bit of their poetry, click here or "Start Tour" above.



THE FACT THAT YOU ARE READING THIS RIGHT NOW illustrates how internet technology has made it possible for those with like interests to engage in common discussion at any time, anywhere in the world. Email, websites, blogs, instant messaging and other technologies are widely available, and have become commonplace tools in the creative environment. One such tool is Northography.com, begun in April 2006 as a collaborative literary website for poets and writers living in our region.


Over the past two years, the project has morphed into a dynamic web-based workshop, although, as proprietor of Northography, I prefer to think of it as a neighborhood tavern. On a recurring basis (usually every week or so), an image—visual art of some kind, photography—is posted to stimulate creativity. Authors, mostly poets, post responses, which may or may not directly refer to the visual “stimulus.” As poems appear online, members are able to write comments, which tend to range from “Good job” to a detailed critique. When the image changes, the poems are archived, the slate is wiped clean, and the process begins anew.


Membership, initially a handful of poets, has grown to over 65 members, all of whom have posted work. Many we invited (MNArtists.org has been a major source of poets for us) while others learned of the project and applied on their own. Most of our members make return visits to the site, but the number of members who participate on a weekly basis usually runs from 15 to 20. These are positive statistics; but what is more encouraging is to see how many members have published their work, often developed within the unique web-based framework.


Based on these facts, Northography has been a success. The primary purpose of the project is to encourage creativity, and it has done so. Also, through collaboration in this virtual (and hopefully relaxed) environment, members can strive for artistic improvement. Of course, a technological project like this can never be considered a substitute for scholarship, live workshops, or spending summers in a Tyrolean villa. A website does have one advantage over all of these other venues, though – it's always there. In what we think of as the real world, poets work as teachers, bartenders, technicians, and in every other occupation you can think of. They have families, houses, cars, jobs, and only a little bit of time left over to write. There are poets spread out over congested metropolitan areas, nestled in small towns, lost in suburban space. So how can they come together and talk about it, do some writing, and compare notes?


As much as we would like to see each other's lovely faces in the flesh, opportunities to do so are few and far between. In lieu of being able to raise a few together at the corner tavern, many of us will settle for electronic communication. This sort of virtual gathering place does not replace the powerful impact of human presence, but instead augments it. Poets, who had never heard of each other a year ago, now run into each other at scheduled live readings. When they finally meet in person, these relationships are cemented, artistic synergy takes place, and creativity gets another turbo-boost. In this virtual community, people are creating art, as they were meant to, and loving it.

As membership grows and new initiatives are implemented, the possibilities become more exciting. Every time members post poems, they put their talents, skills, memories and love into them. As they continue to cast spells with words and share them with the rest of us, there will be surprises, lessons learned, and some great art. Without the poets, Northography would just be a stream of electrons trapped in metal, and the world would just be a wet rock.
--Britt Fleming

About the proprietor of Northography: Britt Fleming lives in North Mankato, MN. He retired from the US Air Force, and is currently employed by a wireless phone company. He has run Northography.com since April 2006. You can find his writing in Whistling Shade and elsewhere on the web.



CLICK HERE to find out more about Northography, including how to register, yourself, as a contributing writer in this literary community.

Northography.com
See this online lit community for yourself, and if you're so moved--why not look into registering to join the conversation?

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