Michelle Detorie

Michelle comes first because her work provided the exhibition's title:

Lunar Baedeker poetry puzzle





The letters of six words from the poem “LUNAR BAEDEKER”" by Mina Loy - chandelier, whirl, phosphorous, ecstatic, museums, infusoria - are gathered and stored in a triangular jar. The brightly coloured letter beads allow the player/puzzler to experience the letters synaesthetically, feeling and seeing them as simultaneous acts of “reading.” The letters can also be used to make anagrams and new words. Other materials are harvested and added to the jar as well for further delight and stimulation. These additional materials are -- to a certain degree -- intended to conjure sensory details related to the poem which inspired the puzzle. This “syntax of tangibles” can be used to create poems, to conjure new ideas, and to amuse, delight, and inspire.

CONTENTS: Letter beads * one hematite bead * tiny silver key * blue yarn * two mermaids * zinnia seeds * tiny silver bells * small brown glass bottle * bundle of bedtime tea (organic mint and chamomile) tied with iridescent organza ribbon * 3 black liquorice cats * blue and purple sequins * tiny blue crayon * bitty dried flowers * flower shaped sequins * white feathers * iridescent bird confetti * small white plastic dove * 3 sea-green medium sized beads * red glass heart * six hexagon shaped zinc nuts * small round mirror * iridescent thread * red plastic heart bead

Cleromancy Poetry Game



Cleromancy is a form of divination using sortilege, casting lots or casting bones in which an outcome is determined by random means, such as the rolling of a dice. The cleromancy poetry game consists of six word dice for poetry, divination and play. The words in this game are sourced from poems by Emily Dickinson and Christina Rossetti.

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Michelle Detorie grew up in South Carolina and now lives in Goleta, California where she edits WOMB, an online magazine for poetries by women, and Hex Presse. She is also a contributing editor for Little Red Leaves and Narrative Magazine. Besides numerous publications in magazines, she has published three chapbooks, Daphnomancy (Small Chapbook Project), Bellum Letters (Dusie) and A Coincidence of Wants (Dos Press). Michelle has taught writing at Johns Hopkins, Loyola College, and Texas State University. In addition to her work with college students, she has also taught middle and high school students, most notably at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth and the Katherine Anne Porter Young Writers Program. When she is not writing, designing, or editing, Michelle teaches writing at Santa Barbara City College and works with injured seabirds through the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network.