Generation[s]

by J.R. Carpenter

GENERATION(S) expands upon a series of short fictions generated by Python scripts adapted (with permission) from two 1k story generators written by Nick Montfort, and incorporates GORGE, a never-ending tract spewing verse approximations, poetic paroxysms on food, consumption, decadence and desire, a hack of Montfort's elegant poetry generator Taroko Gorge. There was only one rule in creating GENERATION(S): No new texts. All the texts in this book were previously published in some way. The texts the generators produce are intertwined with the generators' source code, and these two types of texts are in turn interrupted by excerpts from the meta narrative that went into their creation. Most of the sentences in the fiction generators started off as Tweets, which were then pulled into Facebook. Some led to comments that led to responses that led to new texts. All these stages of intermediation are represented in the print book iteration of GENERATION(S).

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

J. R. Carpenter is an artist, writer, and lecturer in the School of English at University of Leeds. Her debut collection, An Ocean of Static (Penned in the Margins 2018), was Highly Commended for the Forward Prize. This is a Picture of Wind (Longbarrow Press) was listed in The Guardian's best poetry books of 2020. Her most recent collection, Measures of Weather, was shortlisted for the Laurel Prize and was The Observer's poetry book of the month for February 2025. For more information visit: https://luckysoap.com