./code --poetry

./code --poetry is a creative coding project published online (code-poetry.com) and as a print book (Broken Sleep Books, 2023). This project is a collaboration between Chris Kerr and Daniel Holden.

This project consists of a series of code poems, each written in the source code of a different programming language. Every poem is also a valid program that produces an ASCII art representation of itself when compiled and run.

Book

The print version of ./code --poetry, published by Broken Sleep Books in May 2023, contains the code poems featured on code-poetry.com as well as ten additional book-exclusive poems, a Linux-style "manual" page with help text for each code poem, and two essays on code poetry.

This book is an expanded edition of an earlier version self-published via Createspace in 2016.

Front cover of ./code --poetry Back cover of ./code --poetry Book with spider on it

Each code poem appears on the left-hand page, with its corresponding visual output displayed on the right-hand page.

Inside ./code --poetry Inside ./code --poetry 2 Inside ./code --poetry 3

Website (code-poetry.com)

On code-poetry.com, you can navigate between code poems using the buttons at the top of the screen. The code poem is displayed on the left of the screen, while its output is displayed on the right. Unlike the print book, which features static snapshots of the output, the website showcases the animations in motion.

by_conspiracy_or_design.js from code-poetry.com compound_eye.rb from code-poetry.com code_violation.pde from code-poetry.com

Previous publication of ./code --poetry work

Battalion anthology (Sidekick Books)

'iron_lung.bat' first appeared as part of a series of works called 'Barotrauma' in the print anthology Battalion, published by Sidekick Books in 2018. One of Sidekick's editors, Jon Stone, wrote about 'Barotrauma' in his 'Barotrauma' spotlight (December, 2018).

Welcome to the Jungle commissions

In 2019, the media company Welcome to the Jungle commissioned four new code poems, which were later included in ./code --poetry (2023 edition):

Broken Sleep Books launch content

./code --poetry was released by Broken Sleep Books in March 2023.

Lectures on ./code --poetry by the authors

Chris and Daniel have presented the following lectures and talks on ./code --poetry:

Academic article by the authors

Chris and Daniel developed their conference presentation at the University of Hamburg (2022) into an academic paper:

De Gruyter Front De Gruyter Inside De Gruyter Back

Strauhof Gallery Exhibition

Work from code-poetry.com was exhibited as part of Maschinenpoesie at Museum Strauhof in Zurich, Switzerland, from November 2024 to January 2025. The following three pieces were looped on wall-mounted screens:

Strauhof gallery exhibition photo 1 Strauhof gallery exhibition photo 2 Strauhof gallery exhibition photo 3 Strauhof gallery exhibition photo 4 Strauhof gallery exhibition photo 5 Strauhof gallery exhibition photo 6

Exhibition photos © Zeljko Gataric.

References to ./code --poetry

References to ./code --poetry have appeared in the following media.

Academic citations

./code --poetry has been cited in the following academic articles, conference proceedings, and theses:

Conference presentations by third-parties

The following conference speakers have kindly referred to ./code --poetry in their presentations:

Online articles

./code --poetry has appeared in the following online articles:

Podcast interview

Chris discussed ./code --poetry with Wes Brown in his Broken Heroes Podcast, Episode 2.

Print magazine

./code --poetry was featured in P-Code Magazine (Issue 001), published by HAUS++ in Japan. For photographs of the magazine, see Trans Books archive.

Shoutouts and blog posts

./code --poetry has been mentioned in the following blogs and shoutouts:

University syllabuses

./code --poetry has been taught at several universities in the UK and at the European University Cyrpus.