I always get chills when I first see all the exquisite corpse lines on the page for the first time. I try not to look at them before that. They come in my email, go straight to a folder and I wait until the last day to copy and paste them together. Then come the chills.
The lines come from everywhere—friends, strangers, new writers, old writers. None of us know what anyone else has contributed but it always comes together well. This is also how the writer community works.
We are like an exquisite corpse made of friends, strangers, new writers and old writers. We come together with advice, things we’ve learned, critiques, reviews, support and sometimes just a shoulder to lean on.
This is why the exquisite corpse has become my favorite poetic form. It’s not about any of us—it’s about all of us. It’s a community of scribblers coming together for fun. It’s the writer equivalent of a friendly game of netball in the driveway. And it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Thank you all for playing.
Oh, and the winner of the necklace is Naching T. Kassa! Congratulations—I’ll be emailing you for your address.
Read past corpse creations…
Exquisite Corpse #1: Collaborative Poem
Exquisite Corpse #2: The Daunting Riddle
Exquisite Corpse #3: Toxicated
Exquisite Corpse #4: Deceptions
Exquisite Corpse #5: Final Chimes
Exquisite Corpse #6: Treading
Exquisite Corpse #7: The Reckoning
Another terrific blind collaboration, Angela! Great job!
[…] Exquisite Corpse #1: Collaborative Poem Exquisite Corpse #2: The Daunting Riddle Exquisite Corpse #3: ‘Toxicated Exquisite Corpse #4: Deceptions Exquisite Corpse #5: Final Chimes Exquisite Corpse #6: Treading Exquisite Corpse #7: The Reckoning Exquisite Corpse #8: The Last Kiss […]