Preface

These pages began with a name misheard over the telephone, a few poems and the possibility of somewhere to put them. Upper Case—Yewper, if you’re asking—is a fictional poet created for The Blue•Print. Through him, we are exploring how a collection can grow: choosing words, gathering drafts, making changes and deciding when the work is ready for someone else to read. His poems concern small encounters. A spare chair. A kettle interrupting a conversation. An insect that persuades someone to look again at a leaf. There is room here for humour, uncertainty and the hope that a poem might find company beyond its writer’s door. This collection also serves a practical purpose. It is a working example used to develop and test The Blue•Print’s publishing tools, and to explore future possibilities for poetry, art and collaboration. The character and writing have been developed with AI assistance at John Anthony Brown’s direction, with John selecting, reviewing and editing the material. Yewper’s voice and experiences belong to fiction; they should not be read as a real person’s testimony or an endorsement by people or organisations named in the stories. The collection will change as we work on it. For now, the gate is open, the chair is available, and there is a page waiting.