Here’s an unique addition to the body of a poet’s work and publication credits: The Tattooed Poets Project. The visionary behind the web archive is New Yorker Bill Cohen who answered an email interview while at cruising altitude on his flight to Hawaii for a conference on tribal tattoos. And he wrote, among other things, “I am a fickle blog reader…generally won’t finish long ones.” So I’m keeping this short. His project is an interdisciplinary response to National Poetry Month. Every day for the month of April annually, the Project features a photo of a tattoo on a poet, commentary by the poet about the tattoo, including both shop talk and any literary significance, plus bio, and then links to a poem. The corollaries between ink on the page and ink on the body are explored all month long, with—as is par for poets—a huge range of both poetic voice and aesthetic style. Amazing archive. Take a look-see. Even New Mexico’s own Joy Harjo with her amazing hand tattoos is featured along with the likes of Kim Addonizio, Jill Alexander Essbaum, and Brendan Constantine (who will be here to perform at Church of Beethoven in August).
Ink Link: Writing The Body
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