Poetry has gone mobile! I have just received the following press release from Poets.org
Introducing Poets.org In Your Pocket
March 10, 2008—Today, the Academy of American Poets announced the launch of a mobile poetry archive which provides free and direct access to the entire collection of over 2,500 poems on Poets.org, as well as hundreds of biographies and essays, all in the palm of a hand.
On the web at: poets.org
No Computers, No Books, No Wires
Designed using Web 2.0 Internet Standards and Apple's Developers Guidelines, the site is optimized for the iPhone, and formatted for effortless access on most mobile devices. Now, for the first time, mobile users have unlimited access to the rich resources of Poets.org, one of the largest poetry destinations on the web, a site which has steadily expanded and evolved since it was first launched over a decade ago.
Pioneering Poetry
"I have always believed that poetry has a necessary place in daily life," said Tree Swenson, executive director of the Academy of American Poets. "As the first arts organization to offer mobile content, the Academy of American Poets affirms its imperative to connect people to poetry by creating free and simple access for everyone. Ezra Pound said, 'Literature is news that stays news,' and now you can find poems while on the go, as easily as you can read the news, find a map, or check the weather report."
Woo or Woe on the Go
Poems can be browsed by author, title, occasion, or form, and searched easily by keyword. Visitors can read a poem, anytime, anywhere—whether to fill a spare moment, woo a darling, toast a friend, find solace, or recite a few immortal lines—verse is now at your fingertips.
Poetry in Your Pocket
This new mobile archive offers unlimited access to Poets.org just in time for National Poetry Month in April, a month long celebration of poetry and its vital place in American culture, which was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. On April 17, mobile users can instantly celebrate the first national Poem In Your Pocket Day by reading poems and sharing them with co-workers, family, friends, and even strangers.