Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Fib Review

Good Friends:

I've added to my blog list today The Fib Review. This is an online poetry zine devoted to the syllabic form known as the Fibonacci, affectionately referred to as the Fib.

One aspect of English Syllabic Verse that I enjoy is how those interested in a particular syllabic form often get together and create a zone where they can explore their interest. The internet has greatly facilitated this. There are such zones for many syllabic forms and I'll be adding them to my blog list as time goes by.

The Fibonacci, or the Fib, is one of those forms based on a mathematical sequence. The Fibonacci Sequence is generated by taking two numbers, starting with zero and 1, then adding them, which generates the next number. Then that generated number is added to the previous number to generate the next number, and so forth. The Sequence starts as follows:

Begin with 1
0 + 1 = 1
1 + 1 = 2
1 + 2 = 3
2 + 3 = 5
3 + 5 = 8
8 + 5 = 13
Etcetera

Unlike most syllabic forms the Fib has no set number of lines since it is an ongoing sequence. In practice most Fibs are six line poems with a syllable count as follows: 1-1-2-3-5-8, for a total of twenty syllables. However, some poets have begun looking at the possibilities of the longer lines, such as 1-1-2-3-5-8-13, for a total of 33 syllables; about the length of a syllabic Tanka. Apropos my recent post on the very short line, the Fib has the most very short lines of any syllabic form I know; the first four lines are very short lines.

I have not written any Fibs; no particular reason, I just haven't been drawn to it. But, like the Etheree, the Fib has its following and I found the online zine, the Fib, to be well run and well edited, filled with a lot of enjoyable, well done, and creative poems. Drop by and take look. It's at:

http://www.musepiepress.com/fibreview/

Best wishes,

Jim

1 comment:

Jim714 said...

Thanks for the encouragement.

Best wishes,

Jim