Poetweet, the new online tool that automatically takes tweets from a profile and spits them out into a poem, has taken the world by storm over the past couple of days. Even TIME got in on the action.
While it’s fun to see how your timeline reads as poetry (seriously, go try it!), some of the more interesting outputs are those from major newspapers. They offer a rough and dirty collage of what’s making headlines, turning them into rather beautiful prose. Without further ado, here’s a look at what Canadian newspapers are tweeting.
You can click on the picture to go to the actual page, where you can scroll over each line and see the full tweet.
Globe & Mail
What better place to start than our paper of record?
The Globe & Mail seamlessly jumps from the XL pipeline to Melissa McCarthy’s role in the upcoming Ghostbusters movie and even covers some sports.
Poetweet takes Twitter timelines and turns them into poems. Here, the Globe & Mail is turned into “Fiscal issues,” a rondel poem.
National Post
The flagship of Postmedia News and the baby of Conrad Black also spat out an interesting poem, featuring news on ISIS, a few health stories, and some municipal politics.
“Camp 14,” a sonnet based on the National Post’s Twitter.
Toronto Star
The highest-circulated newspaper in Canada, I like to imagine their poem reflects researchers and scientists burning the midnight oil to decide the result of a basketball game.
“At Pearson,” the Toronto Star’s poem on the recent news headlines.
Toronto Sun
The final major Toronto-based daily, the Sun‘s is the only one to include mention of butts.
“Wish List,” a sonnet based on the Toronto Sun’s most recent tweets.
Let’s take a quick look across the country, and see what’s making news regionally.
Ottawa Citizen
Starting with my hometown, I thought I’d try out an Indriso poem. Unfortunately, while the others had a certain (weird) flow to them, the Citizen‘s didn’t quite deliver that. The title is pretty striking, though, if only it wasn’t a real $4 million memorial.
“Communism memorial,” the Ottawa Citizen’s Poetweet.
Montreal Gazette
Another Postmedia outlet, this one might be my absolute favourite. I mean, just look at that middle stanza! Can’t you imagine some wannabe Bob Dylan belting that out at open mic night?
“For her.” A wonderful poem, to deep for you to comprehend it.
Calgary Sun
Coming in straight from the oil province, where apparently they use all kind of zany punctuation marks in their tweets.
“To celebrate” in Calgary.
The Province
British Columbia’s most read daily, Vancouver’s the Province, where apparently they have a “Pest Problem.”
“Pest Problem” in Vancouver, courtesy The Province.
Of course, Postmedia and QMI own most of the major dailies across the country, so let’s take a peek into some of the more local papers.
Whitehorse Star
Another Indriso style, this time out of the Yukon.
“Was betrayed” in Whitehorse.
Times Colonist
What’s a trip to Victoria without a ferry ride?
“Ferries manager,” courtesy the Times Colonist in Victoria, BC.
Chronicle-Herald
From Nova Scotia’s capital, where they’re looking for gold without caring about the cold.
Ryan Tapling is a photographer with the Chronicle Herald. And he’s so good he gets a poem named after him.
Prince Albert Daily Herald
“Never forget, always appreciate”
“THIS BUILDING” – the only title in all caps goes to the Prince Albert Daily Herald
Guelph Mercury
Closing things out, here’s the Merc reporting on dogs in crazy costumes.
“Hortons layoffs” by the Guelph Mercury.
Try it out for yourself and share your local paper’s poem in the comment section below!
(Feature image: Steve Johnson/Flickr)
Kyle Brown 