Travis Ortiz' first book, geography of parts, has recently appeared from Melodeon Poetry Systems. What appeals to me about his writing is the ways in which complex relations among line, word, and image reveal themselves slowly, suspensefully, with the edges cut, the exposition delicious. For the first time I can see the white space between words take on meaning like one of those nature time-lapse sequences on public TV. Travis Ortiz is co-editor of Atelos Publishing Project. He also edits a series of short books of poetry that highlight the visual aspects of poetry called ghos-ti- (an indo-european root pronounced "gaws-tee"). His poems has appeared in Chain, Salt, Mirage #4/Period[ical], Lyric&, River City. His "text collages," or visual poems have
appeared in Prosodia and Mirage. He is a contributing editor for Chain's "Different Languages" issue.
February 19, 1999
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