Borderline خط التماس


Sep’24 – Present
Computational Poetry
Website
2024 Robert Coover Award



Halim Madi is the recipient of the 2024 Robert Coover Award for their work Borderline.


Borderline offers a mediated experience of wading through the red tape, inanity, and xenophobic-induced prejudice that comprise any international border crossing. Questions float about the screen, asking whether you are a terrorist, whether you are carrying weapons of mass destruction, while checkboxes for “No” scurry behind them like mice avoiding the light. To continue the crossing, readers must hunt down and select each checkbox (because any other answer than “no” is infeasible), only to be faced with more digitally interpreted hoops through which to jump, one after the other, in order to be declared human enough to occupy another nation’s space. The work makes use of the simple web interface to mimic the feelings of frustration, exasperation, anxiety and often fear that accompany strangers to strange lands, as a faceless and fathomless entity with many moving parts and little empathy seeks to judge their worth. It is a remarkable example of how electronic literature can perform as an emotional and experiential conduit between people.

“As judges we felt that this piece exhibited admirable care and restraint. Each interactive element was perfectly deployed in service of its subject matter - distilling the complex and intersecting mechanics of capitalism, bureaucracy, and border control into their purest forms. The final screen is a brutal punchline: having followed each alienating instruction, the reader is met with a 299 day countdown until their documents arrive. The green background - used elsewhere in the work to mark ‘success’ - makes it cut all the deeper. We loved this invitation to sit with our frustration: Borderline is the rare work that builds space for the reader within it, in stark contrast to the immigration systems it portrays.” Electronic Litterature Organization, Robert Coover Award Judges Lyle Skains, Florence Walker Kwabena, Opoku-Agyemang.

The Robert Coover Award for a Work of Electronic Literature is an award given for the best work of electronic literature of any length or genre. Bestowed by the Electronic Literature Organization and funded through a generous donation from supporters and members of the ELO, this annual prize aims to recognize creative excellence. The Prize for 1st Place comes with a $1000 award, with a plaque showing the name of the winner and an acknowledgement of the achievement, and a one-year membership in the Electronic Literature Organization at the Associate Level. One prize for Honorable Mention is awarded and consists of a plaque showing the name of the winner and an acknowledgement of the achievement, and a one-year membership in the Electronic Literature Organization at the Associate Level.