1999 Experiment
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2015 Experiment

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Still available! "between sleeps" is the definitive anthology of the experiment from 1993-2005. Click here to read more about it.

The 3:15 Experiment,
ed. by Albert Flynn de Silver

guidelines for participating in the 3:15 Experiment

want to participate?

guestbook

3:15 Experiment 2012 Long live the 3:15 Experiment! This is the legacy site for the 3:15 Experiment, which ran to 2015. If you participated and would still like to enter poems, remember that you must already have an account in order to enter poems. If you don't sign up on our handy dandy registration page. It only takes a couple of minutes. If you forgot your password, write the webmaster and we'll get you a new one. For the most recent updates, we have a Facebook group set up for those of you savvy with the tubes of the internet machine. You can view the page without signing up for Facebook, but to be on the e-mail list and to post comments you must have a Facebook profile. Thanks for participating, and we look forward to reading your work! The 3:15 Cognizanti And remember: We still have copies of "between sleeps" available, our published compilation of 3:15 Experiment work, and if you would like to make a donation to help keep the experiment afloat, there's a PayPal button on the left side of this page. Any amount is a huge help! HOW TO PLAY: Begin at 3:15 AM on August 1st (so set your alarms on JULY 31) . Continue each day until August 31. You may write any length, style, form, content, voice, rhythm, etc. DO NOT EDIT your work. This is raw stuff, baby. That's part of the experiment. You are welcome to edit, collage, break apart the poems later for whatever purpose you choose, but please SHARE THE RAW STUFF with the rest of the group here or on the website once the experiment is over. (Optional) Do not read what you have written until the month is over, except to skim the work to make sure everything is legible. TIP: do not use a felt tip pen unless you don't care about ink stains on your bed. Many a poet has fallen asleep in the middle of writing. If you can help it, don't even get out of bed! The point is to ride that dream state, that precarious point between sleeping and waking and sleeping.

Now when I'm up (agonized) in the middle of the night with
the rest of man & woman kind I'm a little less lonely
Anne Waldman

In 1993, Poets Lee Ann Brown, Danika Dinsmore, Jen Hofer, Kathleen Large, Myshel Prasad, and Bernadette Mayer all connected at Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics Summer Writing Program. Danika was writing her thesis on states of consciousness and the writing process with a focus on Bernadette's work. She and Bernadette decided to create their own collaborative writing experiment and invited Lee Ann, Jen, Kathleen and Myshel to join in the planning.  It was decided they would write each morning at 3:15 AM for the entire month of August in whatever time zone they were located. It was primarily an experiment in states of consciousness and writing, recording what was happening during "3:15 AM mind."  

In 1994, 1996, 1997, and 1998 the collaboration grew in size as they invited other poets to participate.  The format changed and they wrote at 3:15 AM in a specified time zone (i.e. 3:15 AM EST would be 12:15 AM PST). This altered slightly the focus of the experiment into writing within a "collective consciousness." The idea was to discover what connections would be made while writing separately, but together, at the same time for a month while under hypnogogic influences.

There is a sense of camaraderie across time and distance and process.
There is process and idea clapped together, and the reverb off that clap.
Jen Hofer

In 1999, Naropa University hosted a 3:15 panel featuring Lee Ann, Danika, and Bernadette. There was an overwhelming response from those who wanted to join in the experiment. In an effort to keep it new, Lee Ann suggested writing twice a day, once at midnight and once at noon in whatever time zone anyone happened to be. The purpose, simply, to see what would happen and how it would alter the ritual.  At this point, the website was created in order to make it easier to share these half-conscious ramblings with each other.

By 2000 and 2001 the experiment was international, with poets participating in the U.S., Prague, Vienna, Mexico City, and others traveling through Europe.

at 3:15, world slows, mind opens to impulse, direction, wandering … it is what the day brought and what is right in front of.  there is more room at 3:15 to let this all in.
Danika Dinsmore

To view some of the scribblings of 3:15 participants, click on the links to each year.  Not all participants choose to post their writing, some never even type them up, but for most, it is a month to look forward to each year.  The capturing of 1/12 of your year in half-dream …

Danika Dinsmore
info@danikadinsmore.com

The 3:15 Experiment now available from The Owl Press (www.theowlpress.com) with selections by Lee Ann Brown, Danika Dinsmore, Jen Hofer, and Bernadette Mayer edited by Albert Flynn de Silver introductions by Albert Flynn de Silver, Danika Dinsmore, and Jen Hofer $14.00 Click on the book for more information