Poetic Acts & New Media advances the fields of literary and new media studies by clarifying boundaries between competing genres and media through the creation of a new artistic genre, "media poetry." This aesthetic mode of expression/becoming seeks to transform mass culture (our codes of communication) by self-consciously acknowledging how textual, audio, and/or visual signs are constructed according to their simulation and not their representation. This study draws heavily upon literary media theories that intersect with Gilles Deleuze's philosophy of 'Sense' as a simulated power of sensory transformations. Media poetry becomes a complex power of 'Sense' by blending conventional mass-media codes with poetic simulations that provide alternative forms of creating meaning. Poetic Acts & New Media specifically examines the works of several poets that exemplify this multi-sensory approach to printed-text poetry, especially: * Langston Hughes * Tony Medina * David Wojahn * John Kinsella * David Trinidad. It also analyzes several contemporary films that embody the multi-modal logic of media poetry: * David Lynch's Mullholland Drive * Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky * Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich. In addition, this study interprets two influential primetime TV shows as exemplars of media poetry: Twin Peaks and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All media poetry, regardless of genre or medium, allows readers/viewers to envision "reality production" as a rewriteable and poetic enterprise that can productively remediate any transparent abstraction or common-sense realism.

Medieval and modern myths accrued to Ireland's Iron Age Queen Maeve (Medb), notably in Rosalind Clark's 'The Great Queens', led to this redemption of Medb's true identity. Clark alone showcased the divine elements and tragic qualities on which the greatness of the medieval 'Tain Bo Cuailnge' rested, enabling us to fully appreciate Ireland's greatest national epic. Nevertheless, a seismic shift had taken place in the retelling of Medb's story which elevated the 'Tain Bo Cuailnge' to the level of a Greek-style Odyssey. Medb's archaic history was deliberately suppressed as she underwent gross character assassination. Her true pristine identity is finally recovered here. "O Connor's research and photographs are unprecedented in any account of Irish history. This scholarly work is real Irish History - not the romantic myth of Gaelic High Kings of Ireland based at Tara. It should be compulsory reading for any student of Irish history" (Amazon.com Kindle book review by Seamus050). "This book is not only of Irish significance, for its revelations should result in a reinterpretation of prehistoric and early historic Europe. Academics and experts in archaeological, nomenclature and allied fields must study what can only be a very important discovery. I await their interpretations of its findings with excited anticipation" (Hugh W.L. Weir, historian and publisher, Ballinakella Press, Whitegate, Co. Clare, Ireland). "What can I say This has to be the most informative work on early Ireland. I have a burning desire to learn about the people I descend from. All has been explained and expanded on to such a degree with accuracy that many other history books seem to be guesswork and fairy tales. What a great book " (Michael Geraghty, Victoria, Australia). "Extremely interesting This book's Flickr and Web sites (www.handofhistory.com ) are awesome and explain a lot" (Steve Cavanagh, Death Valley, California, USA).