Have you heard of the Voynich Manuscript? If not, then it’s an illuminated text that has yet to be made intelligible, yet every few years an article will come out claiming it has been deciphered. I’ve provided a link to the whole thing if you want to look or take a crack at understanding it: here. It’s odd, beautiful and possibly medicinal or alchemical. But who knows…

Anyway, I’ve been playing with artificial intelligence apps. I’ve made Arthur Rackham inspired castles, vaguely Alphonse Mucha forest fairy images that might fool an Arthur Conan Doyle type believer at a quick squint, as well as foreboding streetscapes and all manner of images. Because I have words and I have some art knowledge, this is a powerful combination in an AI art generator. It’s been fun, and some images have been more successful than others, depending on which free app I use and what settings are selected.

Then I imagined what illuminated AI manuscripts would look like, with decorated pages and scripts that almost look like language but fail to deliver meaning. And, lo, not only have I become a Voynich Manuscript generator, but I can also match these pages to the faked castles where I allegedly found these non-ancient digital dream works. A long time ago a psychic told me in a previous life I was a monk in a monastery making books. I think I am now that again.

Speaking of writing, another poem has been selected for publication, so while things have slowed down on the writing front, writing things are still happening.

Steady as she goes, the 2022 writing update:

• Rejections: 151
• Pending: 16
• Acceptances by publisher: 26
• Acceptances by work: 37
• Published: 34