Back in March, we mentioned Kevin Varrone’s upcoming app, a poem sequence about baseball, history, and Philadelphia. We are proud to announce that this Perch Pub veteran has successfully launched Box Score: An Autobiography, which is now available for download at the App Store.
“Box Score is a completely free, easy-to-use app for anyone who loves baseball, poetry, art, and history. Formatted as literary baseball cards, the app features artwork by Randel Plowman, historic photographs from the rich history of baseball in Philadelphia, and poems and collages by Kevin Varrone. Users can view the artwork, read the poems, and listen to nearly 80 writers and artists perform the poems. The app also features an ‘Extras’ section that includes a glossary, list of sources, contributor bios and a video performance of Ernest Thayer’s iconic poem, ‘Casey at the Bat.'”
As much as we still value the written word on a physical page, the movement of artistic endeavors into technological arenas is inevitable, technology itself being a new medium of artistic expression. We must admit that we do not wish to see books, chapbooks, and lit mags go, but Varrone’s design lends a new way of engaging with his work. The user participates in a way that reshapes the way he or she understands and experiences not only poetry, but notions of other concepts like art and history as well. Taking away a new understanding of the world we live in, particularly not only what we read, but how we read, is central to the act of learning.