The Wondering Minstrels

Between 1999 and 2007, with my friends Martin DeMello and Sitaram Iyer, I ran a poem-a-day mailing list with over 5,000 subscribers (a big number in those days!) - The Wondering Minstrels.

Every poem was accompanied by a brief critical analysis or personal commentary, initially written by Martin and myself, eventually written by hundreds of guest submitters. These prompted a lively, friendly discussion in the comments - memories of a different era of the internet!

The Minstrels featured in the MIT Technology Review, prompted articles with titles like “Can one be a fan of high art?” and “Never let schooling get in the way of your education”, and was the subject of at least one master’s thesis.

This microsite archives the poems and their accompanying commentaries. Poems are reproduced here under fair use.


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