February 13, 2005

Palindromes on 2/12

by Nick Montfort · , 11:21 am

William Gillespie (co-author with me of 2002: A Palindrome Story) and Mike Maguire (Drawn Inward) were in town yesterday to lead the “2/12” Palindrome Workshop at the Kelly Writers House – two workshops and a reading, actually. One group of 8th-grade students and another group from the Writers House community wrote reversible language, discovering some interesting things about literary composition. While people have written palindromes in classes before, this was the first stand-alone event we know of that was dedicated to palindrome writing. Scott made it into town for the writing games, too. Some of the word- and line-palindromes we drafted are online.

What really rounded off the day was the palindromic feast prepared by Adrienne Mishkin and volunteers from the Kelly Writers House’s Exquisite Corps. There was “go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog” and Doc Evil’s live cod. I should emphasize the desserts – yes, stressed desserts: Emily Ek key lime and a fruit salad with no lemon, no melon. Red ice cider and face decaf were provided, too. I might be able to coax Scott into providing a photo or two here at some point…

Update, Feb 17: See below the fold for two details from the feast.

Doc Evil Nets Ten Live Cod No Lemon, No Melon

4 Responses to “Palindromes on 2/12”


  1. nick Says:

    Via ifMUD: Dan Schmidt offers the word palinrome “Able was I ere I was able,” which elicited from me “Rats live on on live rats” and “Star comedy by comedy star.” In Toronto, this bilingual word palindrome was sighted.

  2. andrew Says:

    At the dessert table, did anyone utter, “Drat! Such custard!”

  3. Vika Says:

    Per request, I post a link to a Weird Al ditty titled “Bob.”

    Those sideburns are eerie.

  4. nick Says:

    An excellent piece, not only because of its palindromic components, but because everything in it (music and lyrics) is appropriated.

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