About Clerinews
A newspaper where every front-page story is told in four lines.
What is a Clerihew?
A Clerihew is a 4-line poem where the first two and second two lines rhyme. The meter or metre doesn't matter. The meter can be vulgar, but unlike a limerick the content matter doesn't need to be. We are not responsible for you reading into things. I learned about Clerihews from reading a section in Gilbert! Magazine, the publication of the American Chesterton Society and have submitted two which have been published, I don't recall which issues, but trust me - they're in there somewhere. They're named for Edmund Clerihew Bently, an author and friend of Gilbert Keith Chesterton who lived in the late 1800's / early 1900's England. You can read some originals in Biography for Beginners.
Why Clerinews?
The word is a portmaneau of Clerihew and News and just to be some lame Twitter handle.
As a person who reflexively types in news sites whenever he opens a web browser and is saddened by pay walls which offer very little in the way of content, I figured that if I simply make a poem about someone who is in the news today, that I could make a website that is just as serious (to the unpaying eye) as any number of so-called professional news rooms. We don't know what they're hiding behind their pay walls, maybe underneath the blurry text is just more blurry text! But here, you get it all in four easy lines. As the editor of the site, I choose the most interesting thing that happened, write a poem about it and you have everything you need to sound cool. This is journalism as it was meant to be delivered.
No News Is Good News
In leiu of a 404 error on the site for days when the muse is lacking or I have to rhyme with Hochul. You may see the poem about King James. This does not mean King James is in the news, it means I am not on top of things, check back tomorrow. We'll have lots of things to talk about.
About the Author
My name is Peter Turner, I'm a proud sixth generation Wisconsinite. A Catholic, Homeschooling Father, slowly getting fatter and slower. Enjoying life while my kids are still around. Wondering what the future will be like, but never quite expecting things to be the same from day to day, even if they are. I enjoy throwing knives and mumbledy peg. Making my children watch videos about space on youtube. Praying the Rosary and Divine Office. Going on dates with my wife. Fixing things. Making websites. Playing instruments. Not divulging too much information about myself that could possibly be used to answer one of those "Forgot my password" things. I moderate a StackExchange site - and for SEO purposes, I'll let you guess which one and not link to it.