Rena J. Mosteirin

Moonbit (punctum books, 2019) is a hybrid work comprised of experimental poetry and a critical theory of the poetics and politics of computer code. It offers an extended intellectual and creative engagement with the affordances of computer software through multiple readings and re-writings of a singular text, the source code of the Apollo 11 Guidance Computer or the “AGC.” Moonbit re-marks and remixes the code that made space travel possible. Half of this book is erasure poetry that uses the AGC code as the source text, building on the premise that code can speak beyond its functional purpose.

Both half-fabulous whales and my contributions to Moonbit are erasure poetry. Herman Melville's great American novel Moby-Dick is the source text for half-fabulous whales. The Apollo Guidance Computer code, specifically the code that took Apollo 11 to the moon, is the source text for Moonbit. Erasure poetry is an experimental form developed by the French writers of the OULIPO, the Workshop for Potential Literature. As I am primarily an experimental poet, it may seem strange that I teach formal poetry. In order to make experimental poetry, we must cultivate an understanding of and appreciation for existing poetic forms.

I serve on the board of The Frost Place in Franconia, NH. Judith Volmer selected my work for the Liam Rector Poetry Prize. Eduardo Corral selected my work for publication in The Puritan. I've published in The Southampton Review, The Rumpus, The Common, No Tokens, New York Magazine and elsewhere in print and online. I edit Bloodroot Literary Magazine and I own Left Bank Books.