Søren Bro Pold on Joe Tabbi

“Dear Joe,

Your retirement is a special occasion to celebrate your long and remarkable effort as a leading member of our community! You should obviously be thanked and praised for your work with the Electronic Literature Organization, not least for your fantastic work in starting, hosting, and editing the electronic book review for so many years. The journal has been a space and community where many of us, including me, have found a home for our writing and research. For me this goes back almost twenty years to 2007, when I published my first article in ebr.

ebr is tremendously important for the community as a place, we can find high-quality research and material in the field and aspire to publish it ourselves. It’s experimental and well-edited with its threads and gatherings, allowing new discussions to occur and older papers to be seen in new light as much more than an archive of dusty research. Of course, it is open, online as one of the longest-standing examples of the best from net-culture. That is amazing at a time when everything has become locked into platforms.

Then, lastly, Joe, you’re always a very attentive person coming up with the best questions from an eager and intelligent listener, an intellectual companion and friend. You’ve been fantastic at inviting people into the community. I’m sure, I’m not the only one that has experienced this, which even includes people coming from the Scandinavian outskirts, even outside the hub in Bergen, where you moved to. Thanks a lot! And, again, congratulations!

Hope to see you soon.”