Dop’s poetry published in ‘North American Review’

Gary Dop recently had two poems published in the North American Review, including one inspired by his later-in-life diagnosis of dyslexia. 

That poem, On Dys•coffering Dyslexia at 44, is also available online in the web version of the magazine and links to a 3D rendering Dop, an English professor and Randolph’s dean of innovation, created. 

“Finally having the label and understanding of Dyslexia was such an affirming experience. It helped make sense of so much of my experience, my difficulties, as well as my strengths,” he said, listing off the benefits of having a dyslexic brain: out-of-the-box thinking, creative problem solving, and an ability to easily visualize three-dimensionally.  

He put those skills to good use in crafting the 3D model, a nod to his interests in woodworking and 3D design. The poem is displayed on a wooden cube that can be moved on the reader’s phone or computer screen as they read it. 

“I’m interested in creating poems that are experienced as physical objects in the real world and also as digital three-dimensional objects,” Dop said. “The digital versions become something that can be experienced through touch and the reader’s interaction with the text. Though the text can also be experienced on the 2D page, it’s not necessarily the primary space. I also have a wooden cube version of the poem that I made at the same time I was finalizing the digital version.”

The 3D model also features an Easter egg of sorts, calling back to his childhood; all of the letter Ts displayed in the poem are taken from handwriting in a fifth grade journal he kept. 

“The 3D poem just made sense to use as an affirming space,” he said. “Accepting my diagnosis gave me the freedom to reject the flat page as the only means of conveying poetry.”