The systems that are the basis for the Memory Slam generators were all originally developed without recourse to interactive programming; the author/programmers of them, in the 1950s, 60s, and even in one case the late 80s used punched-card style batch processing. The programs I developed — which can be considered reimplementations of a sort — are their own literary artworks. My hope is that they operate, formally, like the original systems in many ways. This project is meant to offer a glimpse into the history of creative text generation through these new programs in modern programming languages.
These generators may fail to correspond to the earlier systems formally, and they certainly do not represent the material aspects of these systems. Most generators present their outputs, by default, in mixed case, even though this type of output was impossible originally. I did this just to make my generators work in a way that was a bit less alien and easier to read. The outputs of the original systems also wouldn’t have appeared on screens. They would have been printed out on teletypewriters.
These generators are for study, sharing, and learning, too, and you are encouraged to view the source. They are all free (libre) software. I have made HTML5 versions available on the Web that can be downloaded as single, stand-alone Web pages. These are easy to modify; you may use them as the basis for your own poetry or artwork, if you like. I have also developed Python generators that will run in both Python 2 and 3. (Note that “Random English Sentences” consists of three files.) These are linked from each generator’s Web page. There are other reimplementations of some of these text generators available online, and some of these may work more like the original systems than the Memory Slam generators do.
In sum, I have tried to balance four factors: (1) accessibility of the code (even for new programmers), (2) ease of reading for someone accessing the generator on the Web, (3) ability to display these generators running in a gallery setting on a display, and (4) formal workings that correspond to those of original.
I first put this project together (with four text generators) on the train from Boston when I was invited to judge the first NYU ITP Code Poetry Slam in New York City on November 14, 2014.
I reimplemented “Random English Sentences Redux” in response to a commission by Agnieszka Kurant for a reading in Rhinebeck, New York, July 23, 2016. “Random Poetry Redux” was reimplemented & translated as part of the Renderings project; added July 28, 2017. “Five-Word Lines Redux,” where the connection to the earlier project is most speculative, was added November 7, 2018.
Memory Slam 2.0 does not include any new generators. Rather, I have overhauled the appearance of all the programs, tried to ensure compatibility across phones and tablets, and reviewed and refactored the code. All version 2.0 generators have a full screen control ⛶ in the upper right. Those programs that generate text continually now have the ability to pause (use ⏸) and for most programs users can shift between mixed case all caps (use ⇪). For “Permutation Poems Redux” and “Random Poetry Redux,” shifting case is best done by simply editing the HTML file.
Memory Slam 2.0 was published on January 1, 2024. In June 2025, I reorganized the file structure of the site, redirecting old links so that they will still work. I overhauled the grammar for “Random English Sentences Redux,” did some work its sentence generator, and added command-line flags to the Python version. I also clarified that each of the generators here are new works of computational literary art, based on information I was able to easily access about previous systems, rather than being new editions or versions of those early systems. I’ve made this clarification to this page and by adding “Redux” to the title of each generator.