Perforum is an annual performativity/arts/theatre conference run by UCC's Drama and Theatre Studies department, and this year, as last year, I presented some work in progress at it. Perforum welcomes interdisciplinary and experimental presentations, and since my work skips between poetry and drama, between academia and arts practice, I feel at home here.
Last year I showed a twenty-minute theatrical interpretation of my long poem 'Camino.' As you can see here, the show had lighting and sound cues, costume, a memorised script and props. At the time I wanted to explore making the performance of my long poetry more theatrical, and this really did seem to work: but it seemed also to take it away from being POETRY – which it is and always will be.
The most fascinating part for me about making that piece was the idea of layering my own recorded voice over my live speaking voice, so this year I made a presentation experimenting with that. I am now working on three simultaneous voices, each operating within a specific register, which I want to flow into, over and around each other, creating a semi-random ocean of meaning from which each listener will take their own poem. In the presentation, I explained my hope that this word-palimpsest could undo or unravel the complexities of writing, as a woman, within language systems which are inherently patriarchal. For me, it has felt liberating and playful to do this.
The piece I am working on now, for my PhD in Creative Writing, is a kind of playful rewriting of the history of Irish women and writing. I'm exploring new ways to present knowledge outside of academic registers, in the hope that I can interrogate some of the barriers between academia and more widespread discourse. Presenting in Durham University (see previous post) I outlined how poets may not see what I am doing as poetry; how historians will not see it as history; how academics will not see it as having academic validity. These concerns just make the work more exciting, for me – though I have a sneaking suspicion that I would be better off making such wide leaps out of the status quo(s?) if I had a penis.
Having presented the work in progress, I now hope to work on the flow of the word-stream more (using Kate Hilder's techniques among others – see previous post). I need to negotiate a fine line between overclarification (returning the piece to a linear word-sequence where meaning appears predetermined) and obscurity, where too little can be distinguished from the stream to make any meaning at all. The work so far still feels like an introduction, and I am excited to follow the three interweaving voice-paths and to see where they will lead.
Clips from the presentation to follow...
Last year I showed a twenty-minute theatrical interpretation of my long poem 'Camino.' As you can see here, the show had lighting and sound cues, costume, a memorised script and props. At the time I wanted to explore making the performance of my long poetry more theatrical, and this really did seem to work: but it seemed also to take it away from being POETRY – which it is and always will be.
The most fascinating part for me about making that piece was the idea of layering my own recorded voice over my live speaking voice, so this year I made a presentation experimenting with that. I am now working on three simultaneous voices, each operating within a specific register, which I want to flow into, over and around each other, creating a semi-random ocean of meaning from which each listener will take their own poem. In the presentation, I explained my hope that this word-palimpsest could undo or unravel the complexities of writing, as a woman, within language systems which are inherently patriarchal. For me, it has felt liberating and playful to do this.
The piece I am working on now, for my PhD in Creative Writing, is a kind of playful rewriting of the history of Irish women and writing. I'm exploring new ways to present knowledge outside of academic registers, in the hope that I can interrogate some of the barriers between academia and more widespread discourse. Presenting in Durham University (see previous post) I outlined how poets may not see what I am doing as poetry; how historians will not see it as history; how academics will not see it as having academic validity. These concerns just make the work more exciting, for me – though I have a sneaking suspicion that I would be better off making such wide leaps out of the status quo(s?) if I had a penis.
Having presented the work in progress, I now hope to work on the flow of the word-stream more (using Kate Hilder's techniques among others – see previous post). I need to negotiate a fine line between overclarification (returning the piece to a linear word-sequence where meaning appears predetermined) and obscurity, where too little can be distinguished from the stream to make any meaning at all. The work so far still feels like an introduction, and I am excited to follow the three interweaving voice-paths and to see where they will lead.
Clips from the presentation to follow...