Internal Rhyme

The reader will find in this volume a series of practical and popular discourses, delivered in the Brooklyn Tabernacle, treating upon the evils of the day, giving a clear and full exposition of said evels, and suggesting the remedies by which they may be overcome. - Blaster Al Ackerman While it is relatively clear how the success of Internal Rhyme can be attributed to its roots in zine culture and dynamic community newsletters, its success and effectiveness as a literary publication is less obvious. In fact, it seems much was done to sabotage any possible ties to "legitimate" vehicles. The truth is that Internal Rhyme was tackling a very tough problem: how do you accurately and authentically present a means of artistic expression that is comprehended differently depending on how it is presented (verbal vs. text), varies from one performance to another (various orators), and changes in its interpretation with each person's internal experience (each reader's mind silently forming words into sentences and paragraphs into stories)? To address this, Internal Rhyme actively shunned the safe presentation of material and avoided using dry antiseptic approaches embraced by many mainstream publications. It aggressively played fast and loose with the rules of how writing should be presented. "And that," according to Robert Frost, "has made all the difference." Stories were presented as articles in a newspaper with headlines that cut to the chase to reveal meaning. Readers were encouraged to play with content through various games, puzzles, and matching exercises. Drawings, collages, and illustrations both supported and juxtaposed written text and newsletter tropes such as footnotes, bylines, and headers offered short insights into the writer's creative process. Internal Rhyme was successful because each issue was a series of experiments in storytelling and active audience engagement. Every element - from fake advertisements to the articulation of incredibly personal memories - supported this goal. - Jeff Rathermel, Artist/Curator