The Aural Acrobatics of Music and Poetry


The fusion of poetry and music is filling Southbank Centre with its sweet sounds this month, with the eclectic jazz sound of Polar Bear meeting the serene and unforgettable voice of Zena Edwards in a collaboration on the 23rd of March. Following that, April is set to bring more aural acrobatics as jazz saxophonist Soweto Kinch and the South African Poet Laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile (Bra Willie) headline Salon Shebeen .

Collaborations and fusions like these seem to be growing in popularity. More and more artists are stepping out of their boxes as poets or musicians and meeting in the colourful spaces in-between.

A recent upload to the Global Poetry System website shows the words of the Romantic writer Jean Paul Richter, which were discovered on the wall of a pub. He eloquently describes music as ‘the poetry of the air’, reminding us that this mingling of genres has a long standing tradition. The relationship between poetry and music has always been a symbiotic one, with ballads and their musical poetics adopted by storytellers and news bearers as early as the thirteenth century.  Can modern day lyrics be described as poetry? Perhaps it depends on the song, or what it means to the listener.

Blue, Joni Mitchell

This month, Global Poetry System will be exploring this connection. Everyone has songs that could contribute to the mixtape of their life; maybe the lyrics that define a first festival, a wedding, or a childhood memory.  Music can conjure old sights and sounds, car rides and summers. It can remind us of something, or help us to forget. Personally, for better or worse, The Seekers Train Whistle Blowing will always remind me of setting out for early morning camping trips in my parents orange Larder, half the contents of our household strapped to the roof-rack. Which are the tracks that can take you back to a different place at a different time? Scribble your favourite lyrics where you will: on your feet, in the street, or get creative and record them as audio. If ‘songs are like tattoos’, then why not give your skin some temporary decoration? Take inspiration from this weeks featured poets, who have all captured their favourite lyrics in unusual places, or visit the Poetry Library here at Southbank Centre. The collection includes an interesting array of books by musicians from Bob Dylan to composer John Cage, find out more on their website.

Global Poetry System is a user generated world map of poetry. Put your musical memory on the Global Poetry System map.

GPS and Lomography

 If poetry is all around us, then the odds are we stumble across it every day. It can be found everywhere from on gravestones to graffiti, and we can either laugh at it, cry at it, or simply wander away from it a little perplexed. But when we capture it on film, we set in place a most curious process.

Poetry is the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings […] recollected in tranquillity”, and what is photography if not just that? A photograph can call to mind past emotions at any time, and so the photo functions as a poem itself.

Wordsworth was clearly calling to mind a powerful impression left upon him by the River Thames when he wrote the following lines:
“Glide gently, thus for ever glide,
O Thames! that other bards may see
As lovely visions by thy side
As now, fair river! come to me.
O glide, fair stream! for ever so,
Thy quiet soul on all bestowing,
Till all our minds for ever flow
As thy deep waters now are flowing”

And nearly 210 years later, I captured those very lines on my camera:

Now, when I look on these photos, I call to mind not only Wordsworth’s initial overflow of emotion recollected in tranquillity, but I can recollect in tranquillity my own spontaneous encounter with the poem. A photo of a written poem, therefore, necessarily contains many layers of spontaneity and tranquillity which mingle and inform each other. How do these photos change the poem for you?

And when it comes to spontaneity on film, no one does it better than Lomography.  More than just an analogue camera company, Lomography describe themselves as “an international socio-cultural movement using photography as a creative approach to communicating, absorb and capturing the world.” Here on Global Poetry System we’ve been wowed by some of the fantastic photos uploaded from Lomography users. And when you check out the Lomography “10 golden rules”, it’s easy to see why Lomography is so well suited for poetry hunting:

  • Take your camera everywhere you go
  • Use it any time – day and night
  • Lomography is not an interference in your life, but part of it
  • Try the shot from the hip
  • Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as possible
  • Don’t think (william firebrace)
  • Be fast
  • You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film
  • Afterwards either
  • Don’t worry about any rules

And in celebration of some of the wonderful Lomography photos we’ve received, this week’s featured poems on GPS were all taken on Lomography cameras. You can check them out here.

So, even if you don’t have a Lomography camera yourself, try living by some of their “golden rules”. And remember, photos don’t have to add layers of meaning to inherently poetic text; they can actually create poetry in text where there was none before. So get creative and get snapping, see what you can find, and share it on the Global Poetry System.

Global Poetry System is a user generated world map of poetry found at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

Celebrate World Book Day at the Dylan Thomas Centre

The Dylan Thomas Centre celebrates World Book Day on 4 March with offers in our bookshop throughout the day, and a special, free evening event at 7pm.

Our bookshop is open from 10am to 4.30pm, and there will be thousands of second-hand books on offer at half-price, and reductions on many new books. Relax in the unique surroundings of the Dylan Thomas Centre, and browse the bookshelves while enjoying coffee and cake.

Join us at 7pm for ‘Stuff Happens’ on World Book Day. Inspired by the GPS project, and run in partnership with The Crunch poetry night at Mozarts, the Stuff Happens events bring together new and established voices from Swansea’s diverse poetry scene. To celebrate World Book Day, Stuff Happens readers will be discussing some of the authors who have influenced and inspired their own writing, and reading a poem or two. Those taking part include Nigel Jenkins, Margot Morgan, Emily Vanderploeg, Richard Jones, Alan Kellermann, Rhys Owain Williams, Liza Penn Thomas and Kelly Constanza, and the evening will be compered by Adam Sillman. There will be books and magazines for sale, dadaist poetry fun, and plenty of time to enjoy a drink and good conversation in between the readings.
Contact the Dylan Thomas Centre on 01792 463980 for more information.

Rory Bremner kicks off our Election 10 Literature season

Southbank Centre Election 10 Series

Our Election 10 series kicked-off in style with a fiery battle between some of the UKs leading think tanks – competition was tough but the battle stayed good humoured thanks to the expert chairmanship of Rory Bremner.

The fixtures were as follows:

Bout 1: Red Toryism – Progress vs ResPublica
Bout 2: Welfare reform – Fabian Society vs Reform
Bout 3: Character or networks? Demos vs the RSA
Bout 4: The Economy: Policy Exchange vs IPPR

ResPublica, the Fabian Society, the RSA and IPPR emerged victorious but credit to all for a fantastically entertaining evening.

Using footage from the event we’ve produced a trailer for our forthcoming season of events running up the general election, take a look.

Election 10 Season Trailer

See the listings for the other events in the series at:
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/election10

On the blogs

Hopefully the first of many such events… the atmosphere was as playful as it was political
- Jonathan Rowson, RSA

A good night for the political left, bouncing back strongly after falling a goal behind, thanks to star striker Phillip Blond relying on an assist from loan signing Will Hutton
- Sundar Katwala, the Fabian Society

Patrick Nolan and I had great fun at the sold-out Southbank Centre “Think Tank Clash” … hosted by Rory Bremner who warmed up by treating the speakers to his own take on the Chilcot Inquiry in the green room beforehand.
- Dale Bassett, Reform – conservativehome

In Other News: A DIY Guide to Newspaper Poetry

Instead of writing poetry about current affairs, why not have a go at making poetry out of them? Newspaper and magazine articles provide an abundance of words ready for poetic manipulation. Cartoonist and poet Austin Kleon crafts his Blackout Poetry by erasing words in news articles with a marker pen. Often moving and always interesting, these poems push the boundaries of the poetic form and reveal surprising snapshots of beauty in blocks of newsprint.

The practise of text alchemy has been a long standing one, with poet Tom Phillips creating visual masterpieces such as these in the 1970’s.

 

With a pair of scissors and a bit of imagination a news article can be turned into a thing of beauty. The radical Dadist movement of the 1920’s shook up the news by cutting up and rearranging its parts. Here is a word from the father of the Dadist movement on how it’s done:  

  • -Take a newspaper.
  • -Take a pair of scissors.
  • -Choose an article as long as you are planning to make your poem.
  • -Cut out the article.
  • -Then cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them in a bag.
  • -Shake it gently.
  • -Then take out the scraps one after the other in the order in which they left the bag.
  • -Copy conscientiously.
  • -The poem will be like you.
  • -And here you are a writer, infinitely original and endowed with a sensibility that is charming though beyond the understanding of the vulgar.

-Tristan Tzara

Why not pick up your local paper and make news into poetry? Upload your alchemic creations to the GPS website to put them on the global poetry map.

Global Poetry System is a user generated world map of poetry found at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

 For more newspaper poets and text alchemists, including Tom Phillips and Sam Winston, visit the poetry library website.

IN OTHER NEWS: Jane Gardam tells The Guardian about how she is taking poetry out onto the streets of Sandwich

Wear Your Heart On Your Street

‘They do not love that do not show their love’
William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen From Verona

Global Poetry System is a user generated world map of poetry found at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

With Valentine’s Day just gone, the lucky ones among us may have received a card, almost certainly adorned with a valentine’s love poem. The very lucky may have even had a poem written for them. But, of course, love poetry is not just for the 14th of February. For as long as man has been writing poetry, there have been musings on love’s joys and ecstasies, as well as its trials and tribulations.

And on Global Poetry System it is evident that poetry and love are still walking hand in hand. There are heart felt stencils on brick walls, messages of advice on faulty bus-stop signs, and even love sick pebbles on beaches. You can see them all in our featured poems section. But of course, there’s plenty more love out there to be shared around. So why not upload some of your own findings onto the Global Poetry System?

And if you still have a hankering for love poetry after Valentine’s Day, then be sure to check out the fantastic collection of love poetry in the Poetry Library here at Southbank Centre. There’s plenty to chose from, including rather unusual anthologies such as, Bleeding hearts: love poems for the nervous & highly strung, and Cowboy love poetry: verses from the heart of the west.

GPS
Find it, Map it, Share it

Imagine Children’s Festival on Global Poetry System

 ’Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.’
Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince 

Global Poetry System is a user generated world map of poetry found at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

This week sees the launch of the Imagine Children’s Festival here at Southbank Centre, which promises to be full of wonderful readings, storytelling and poetry featuring some of today’s leading children’s writers, as well as comedy, visual arts, magic and music. 

To celebrate the launch of the festival, we’ve picked out Laura Dockrill’s reading of The Pig by Roald Dahl, John Hegley’s reading of Tarantella by Hilaire Belloc, and Francesca Beard’s reading of Cargoes by John Masefield as this week’s featured poems. We’ve also picked out an incredibly moving poem written on a small pebble, by a six year old on the Lune Estuary. 

Childhood is a time of great excitement and awe, and as Goethe writes, ‘If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses.’ So throughout the Imagine festival, why not try and get back in touch with your inner child, and tell us your favourite poem or nursery rhyme from childhood. Post it as a video, photo, audio recording, or text, and place it on our map. Maybe you’ll choose to place it where you first heard the poem as a child, or maybe you’ll place it where you are now. Or maybe the poem can be a bridge between those two places?

And if all this talk of nursery rhymes and children’s poetry has whetted your appetite, then be sure to check out the wonderful collection of children’s poetry in the Poetry Library here at Southbank Centre. Among the poems you know, you may find a few new favorites in some of our more unusual anthologies, such as, Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes, or Coin Opera; a wonderful micro-anthology that takes computer games as its theme.  

GPS
Find it, Map it, Share it

Join in our Election 10 series and debate the issues that matter to you

Art makes a difference to our lives and the world, and our Election 10 series invites you to participate in a people’s forum of debates, spoken word performance, comedy, music and new documentary theatre. Discover, debate and decide the issues that matter to you.

The series kicks off on February 9th with Think-Tank Clash which promises to be a lively panel debate chaired by political scoffer Rory Bremner and forthcoming events and debates with deliberate civil liberties, gay rights, the city and the environment.

Series highlights include leading Scientist James Lovelock sounding a final warning from Gaia and the world premiere of Waiting, a groundbreaking work of music theatre depicting the impact of the War on Terror on the real lives of refugee women.

Wiki on the Gaia Hypothesis

Election 10 series info/book tickets

There’s Something Missing

“Well, they are gone, and here must I remain”

Coleridge, This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison

Global Poetry System is a user generated world map of poetry found at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

We tend to think of loss as a bad thing, as a thing to be avoided. No one wants to lose a game, or lose touch with a friend. But loss doesn’t always have to be a cause for woe. In fact, loss can be a source of amazing creativity, and from the loss, we can all gain. The best thing is, this creative process is happening all around us.

The GPS team have collected together some of the poems uploaded to our global poetry map that have found inspiration in “Loss”. From friendly greetings on bridges, to angry messages on the underground, it’s amazing how the loss of a single letter can transform a sign or message. Check out this week’s featured poems to see some of our favourites.

They’re just some examples of the creative word play that we’ve mapped so far. But there’s so much more out there, and we need you to help us put it on the map. Poetry is all around us, so don’t lose out. See what you can gain by having a closer look.

And if you like some of our featured poems, why not check out some of the following fantastic published works, which similarly create through absence:

Sam Winston’s A Dictionary Story

Ronald Johnson’s Radi Os

Janet Holmes’ The Ms Of My Kin

Sarah Riggs’ Chain Of Minuscule Decisions In The Form Of A Feeling
All of which are available in the Poetry Library at Southbank Centre.

 

GPS

Find it, Map it, Share it.

Poetry that travels

Global Poetry Systems is a user generated world map of poetry found at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

Imprisoned in a cage of sound, even the trivial seems profound.

What are the things that you notice when you’re commuting to work, waiting for your bus or taking a long distance journey? Maybe you’re busy avoiding elbows and newspapers on the London underground, or listening to your favourite songs to drown out conversation. The endless rows of tube adverts and bus-stop billboards can be enough to drive anyone mad, but what if there is something more remarkable to read?

The GPS team, now including two new interns, Chris and Sophie, have all been looking out for poetry on their journeys: from the buses in London to the subways of Paris; from a Bolivian train graveyard to the railroads of Louisiana. Check out this week’s featured poems to see what we discovered.

GPS website users have been discovering poetry on their journeys too, and uploading photos to put their trip on our world poetry map. There’s plenty of it to be found since the launch of the Poetry On The Underground project.

Maybe there are hidden joys on your journey that you’ve never noticed before. Next time you’re travelling, keep an eye out for the poetry that might be travelling with you. With Poetry On The Underground launching their new series of ‘Science’ themed poems in February, we’re looking forward to seeing where the six new poems appear on the poetry map. Find it, map it, share it.