One of the reasons behind the sparsity of entries on Matilda of late is due to the work I've been doing on creating another weblog.
This second weblog, Rhymes Rudely Strung, will consist of reprints of Australian poems, from the early 1800s to the early 1950s, where each poem will be published on the anniversary of its first appearance. It's a strange little idea that I've had kicking around for a while, and as I've lately found myself with a bit of spare time on my hands I thought I'd have a shot at it.
The process of identifying the right poems has taken a fair bit of work and I'm indebted to the material available on Austlit (the Australian Literature Resource out of The University of Queensland) and Trove, run by the National Library of Australia. Without both of these I could never have even contemplated getting this thing off the ground. With them it has still been difficult, but achievable.
The initial aim is to print one poem per day for the whole of 2011. I've so far been able to create entries for each day in January, most of February and some of March. Keeping myself about 2 months ahead of publication might just make this work and give me a bit of leeway if enthusiasm starts to lag at any time.
I'm fully aware that this is really a vanity piece, probably only of interest to me and a few stray visitors. That doesn't bother me. The good thing about the internet is that it allows you to demonstrate your hobbies in public without the requirement for any form of feedback or approval.
The first real entry in this new weblog will be posted on January 1st 2011, but I'm hoping to add an introduction to the project on December 31 2010. I'll publish a link to the new site here on Matilda on that day.
This second weblog, Rhymes Rudely Strung, will consist of reprints of Australian poems, from the early 1800s to the early 1950s, where each poem will be published on the anniversary of its first appearance. It's a strange little idea that I've had kicking around for a while, and as I've lately found myself with a bit of spare time on my hands I thought I'd have a shot at it.
The process of identifying the right poems has taken a fair bit of work and I'm indebted to the material available on Austlit (the Australian Literature Resource out of The University of Queensland) and Trove, run by the National Library of Australia. Without both of these I could never have even contemplated getting this thing off the ground. With them it has still been difficult, but achievable.
The initial aim is to print one poem per day for the whole of 2011. I've so far been able to create entries for each day in January, most of February and some of March. Keeping myself about 2 months ahead of publication might just make this work and give me a bit of leeway if enthusiasm starts to lag at any time.
I'm fully aware that this is really a vanity piece, probably only of interest to me and a few stray visitors. That doesn't bother me. The good thing about the internet is that it allows you to demonstrate your hobbies in public without the requirement for any form of feedback or approval.
The first real entry in this new weblog will be posted on January 1st 2011, but I'm hoping to add an introduction to the project on December 31 2010. I'll publish a link to the new site here on Matilda on that day.
