Conjunctions 42. Cinema lingua. Writers respond to film (2004)

Now that the art of motion pictures has matured into its second century, Conjunctions has commissioned a diverse group of writers to respond--in poetry, fiction, and multi-genre works--to the countless cultural, historical, psychological and theatrical aspects of the seductive flickering medium we watch in the dark. Cinema Lingua pays creative homage to the symbiosis between filmmaking and the written word. Our authors explore, rewrite and celebrate all avenues of film, from its narrative plots to visual storytelling, from character to mood, from lighting to suspense. Each contributor presents defining visions of the movies and focuses the lens of writing on one of our liveliest modern art forms, from mainstream Hollywood to the most exotic corners of the experimental and avant garde. A movie theater of the mind, Cinema Lingua's contributors include Joyce Carol Oates, who explores the troubled relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and his leading ladies, Peter Straub writing on film noir, Peter Gizzi, who offers a multi-genre poem on silent film, Frederic Tuten, whose Never Never Land Near Marienbad is based on the Alain Resnais film, as well as works by Peter Hutton, Elizabeth Willis, Robert Coover, William H. Gass, Tan Lin, Kent Jones, Joshua Furst and many others.