In 140 Characters is a Twitter based poetry project begun by New York poet, Joseph Quintela, in May of 2009. At left are his 20 most recent posts. To read all the poems that have currently been posted to his site follow this link to Twitter.

In his own words:

"While searching for innovative ways to incorporate technology into my impetus to write, a close friend of mine began to relentlessly encourage me to open a Twitter account. Though the use of Twitter as a social or publicity tool offered little to interest me, it quickly struck me that the 140 character constraint provided by the site's design could afford an interesting arena in which to explore short-form poetry. Haiku dominates the current landscape of Twitter poetry and though the ancient form is, indeed, a fascinating one, I have tended to prefer the flexibility of free verse in exploring my ideas. So, instead, I decided to approach the project from a position of compromise. I would retain the element of free verse, but stictly adhere to a use of exactly 140 characters in each poem - no more, no less. This caveat would provide an added dimension to the writing process, forcing careful consideration of word choice and often requiring the complete revision of poems in process in order to use each required character. As I began the project, I further realized that the addition of a few other rules would benefit the overall vision. As such, after their initial posting, I allow revision of the poems on In 140 Characters for only 24 hours. When the grace period expires the poems become a permanent part of the Twitter stream and remain untouched regardless of any editorial impulse. By adherening to the nature of the technology that I have chosen to guide my writing, my intention is to poetically demonstrate both the benefits and the costs of our changing modes of communication in the modern age."

In 140 Characters will continue until the 140th tweet. At that point it is the poet's intention that the project be published as a chapbook of the collected poems and curated as a gallery exhibition which artisticly represents the entire writing process. Please feel free to post questions, comments or critiques of In 140 Characters on this site or follow Joseph Quintela on Twitter here.