Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.

Monday, 30 December 2024

"Poetry projects to make and do" by Deborah Alma (ed) (Nine arches press, 2023)

As it says in the introduction, this is a book of articles by many authors about how to set up personal (e.g. making a podcast or a poetry film), collaborative and public projects. Some exercises are included.

  • I like the sections on making podcasts and poetry films - practical advice.
  • Caleb Parkin makes some useful points about how a creative person can cope in a tidy-minded world. It helps to have several projects going at variable stages of completion.
  • "As Anna Severwright says, 'If I put you in a room with a lion, you would be vulnerable.' In many ways, poetry is that lion. It demands that we dip deeply into the well of ourselves" (Clare Shaw)
  • "'trigger warnings' often reflect mainstream assumptions about what is normal and what is 'other': the survivor group described how poetry around abuse and assault could leave them feeling validated and heard, whereas poetry around happy, carefree childhoods could trigger feelings of grief and isolation" (Clare Shaw)
  • Some of the later sections give behind-the-scenes views of aspects of poetry life unknown to me - being a poet-in-residence, for example. Julia Bird's chapter on her live lit production company was an eye-opener.

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