SMS Poetry
In 2010, the 'Short Message Service', abbreviated SMS, has already been in existence for 17 years. In virtually no time, the short message of a maximum of 160 characters has become a part of our everyday lives, as a language form but also as literary form. Schools are gradually incorporating it into their literature programmes, SMS dictionaries have been published in several languages, and the SMS language is increasingly spreading through all levels of the population.
The enthusiasm to make SMS a new way of communicating prompted BASE in 2005 to come up with a brand-new concept: SMS poetry. The "feel good" mobile phone operator wanted to couple the SMS with poems, which are language in its most compressed and expressive form. BASE wanted to prove that SMS'ing, as a popular communication form, can also lead to concise linguistic creativity and playful and imaginative language use.
BASE organised a first SMS poetry competition in 2005 in Ghent, and in no time a new form of literature developed: the "SMS poem" or "160".
In the meantime, Ghent has been followed by Brussels, Namur and Liège. The competitions always focus on one central theme, and the best poems are collected in a booklet that is printed in a very small format, comparable to the dimensions of a mobile phone screen.
You can find more information on the different editions in these 4 cities on this website. You'll also get an overview of the winning poems.
Ghent - Namur - Brussels - Liège
KPN has delivered
solid results in 2010.
