Virtual Worlds Virtual People by Kay Porter Winfield

Poetry and video games don’t often occupy the same space at the same time, but Kay Porter Winfield’s Virtual Worlds Virtual People proves once and for all that they can (and maybe they should). These poems rocket with character-driven action and conflict: electrical shocks, diabolical plots, flashing swords, and cliffhangers galore. But they’re also full of moving, emotionally charged resonances that wobble back and forth between cartoonish overabundance and real pathos. This book is a cathartic reminder that reading is one of the oldest video games of all, but also that the virtual worlds and people we encounter in play are sometimes more real to us than we are to ourselves.

—Matt Hart

In her exciting debut collection, Virtual Worlds, Virtual People, Kay Porter Winfield takes the archetypal characters and scenarios of popular video games and spins them into bold new narratives that comment on contemporary society. Mythic in nature, the poems offer keen and poignant observations that spark a new way to investigate both the world of virtual reality and the world of human character. Readers, whether seasoned gamers or novices, will find throughout this collection an inquisitive longing to engage with our humanity even in the wake of our deepening technological landscape. With unforgettable imagery that neither shies away from nor succumbs to violence, Winfield’s poems center on personas who navigate love, grief, loneliness, and despair in order to formulate identity and promote equality in worlds that, though virtual, are heartbreakingly recognizable.

—Christine Butterworth-McDermott

Poetry isn’t the only tradition Kay Porter gives homage to in this debut collection. Virtual Worlds, Virtual People may be the first book of its kind – one that unabashedly gives praise to the cult of video games while simultaneously deconstructing the roles of players and avatars. Equal parts poet and gamer, Porter’s no stranger to the terrain: from Tetris-blocks-in-love to plumber-saving-Princesses, these poems portray a version of 21st century reality where “boys laugh at player pictures, / men discuss the right angle to hold the stick / for optimal fire. My trapped screams / crackle as static over the headsets / as the next match starts without me.”

—Gary Jackson

Kay Porter Winfield lives in Nacogdoches, Texas. She is the managing editor of Gingerbread House Literary Magazine. She holds a MA degree in English from Stephen F. Austin State University. Her poems have appeared in BlazeVOX, Psaltery & Lyre, and SunDog Lit. She enjoys hot tamales, musicals, and League of Legends.

Book Information:

· Paperback: 58 pages
· Binding: Perfect-Bound
· Publisher: BlazeVOX [books]
· ISBN: 978-1-60964-189-4