- Owen Bullock's research interests are writing and trauma; poetry and process; semiotics and poetry; prose poetry; col... moreOwen Bullock's research interests are writing and trauma; poetry and process; semiotics and poetry; prose poetry; collaborative poetry; and haikai literature. He has a website for his research into process at: www.Poetry-in-Process.com. His scholarly writing has appeared in Antipodes, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Arts Therapy, Axon, Journal of New Zealand Literature, Ka Mate Ka Ora, New Writing, Qualitative Inquiry, Social Alternatives, TEXT and Westerly, and he has a book chapter in British prose poetry: The poems without lines (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). He has published three collections of poetry, 'Work & Play', 'semi' and 'sometimes the sky isn’t big enough'; five books of haiku, 'Summer Haiku', 'River's Edge', 'Urban Haiku', 'breakfast with epiphanies', and 'wild camomile '; the novella, 'A Cornish Story', and several chapbooks of poetry, haiku and haibun.edit
Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which the senses are felt together. Synesthesia can be found in numerous art forms. Examples of synesthetic writing can be overlooked in novels and longer poems as just another form of figurative... more
Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which the senses are felt together. Synesthesia can be found in numerous art forms. Examples of synesthetic writing can be overlooked in novels and longer poems as just another form of figurative language. The concentration of imagery this device produces is rich and resonant in the short form that is haiku, forming the core of the work, and making the use of synesthesia particularly noticeable. This means that haiku constitute a rich site for the discussion of synesthesia, in writing which blends the senses through the imagery used. In the literature, the term ‘synesthesia’ is often confused with ‘sense-switching’; I argue for a distinction between these two terms. Some discussions betray the influence of synesthesia rather than representing examples of it. In both cases, I recognise that it may be difficult or impossible to prove a distinction between the ideas, because of the innate subjectivity of the experiences from which they emanate.
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Research Interests:
This article introduces the term‚ Tanka intrigue, for examples of tanka that accentuate an element of mystery. Tanka intrigue accommodates the Japanese aesthetic of yūgen, described below, which is its nearest existing term. Not all tanka... more
This article introduces the term‚ Tanka intrigue, for examples of tanka that accentuate an element of mystery. Tanka intrigue accommodates the Japanese aesthetic of yūgen, described below, which is its nearest existing term. Not all tanka possess this qualityperhaps five per cent-but those that do so are notable for their suggestive powers. Tanka with intrigue build on the innate tendencies of what has been a stable form in ways that accord with contemporary poetry informed by postmodernism, and in doing so renew that form. I argue that tanka with intrigue feature at least three of five attributes, and sometimes all five in the same piece (as examples will demonstrate): incompleteness, otherness, indeterminacy, the fragmentary and the absent centre. The discussion of examples concludes with reflections on my own practice and how Tanka intrigue has informed it.
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In my research project, ‘Poetry in Process’, I interview poets whose work I consider innovative and where I suspect that their process might be distinctive and offer insights to the practitioner, critic and student of poetry; in-depth... more
In my research project, ‘Poetry in Process’, I interview poets whose work I consider innovative and where I suspect that their process might be distinctive and offer insights to the practitioner, critic and student of poetry; in-depth interviews are podcast on the Poetry in Process website . More broadly, the project aims to increase knowledge about the role of process in creativity and innovation by documenting the processes taken by poets, both to produce work and to re-invigorate and update their practice, and to examine whether they constitute a form of knowledge that is transferable. Divergent thinking is an important aspect of creative innovation (Csikszentmihalyi 2013) and poets are recognised as divergent thinkers (Nettle 2005), ideally suited to research into the methods embedded in original processes.
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Hans-Georg Gadamer says that we do not ‘conduct’ a conversation. It is rather that each speaker’s concern to establish some sort of common ground creates a directionality of its own: ‘the partners conducting are far less the leaders of it... more
Hans-Georg Gadamer says that we do not ‘conduct’ a conversation. It is rather that each speaker’s concern to establish some sort of common ground creates a directionality of its own: ‘the partners conducting are far less the leaders of it than the led’ (2004: 383). Our paper concerns the methods we have explored in “conducting” month-long creative writing intensives for injured servicepeople. The cultural differences between us and the participants provides one driver to the sort of dynamic Gadamer identifies. But so does the fact that we team teach, bringing different strategies into the room. In two voices, the article attempts to bring some of those dialogics to the space of reporting as well. It concerns rules for creative writing, and considers what stands in their place.
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Haiku are grounded in the appreciation of nature and specific experiences. They lend themselves to being workshopped and to initiating, more broadly, editing strategies that may also be useful in other contexts. This essay, about an... more
Haiku are grounded in the appreciation of nature and specific experiences. They lend themselves to being workshopped and to initiating, more broadly, editing strategies that may also be useful in other contexts. This essay, about an immersive teaching practice, focuses on the qualities of haiku for maximum engagement in a short period of time. The method has been developed by the author whilst acting as a creative writing mentor for the Australian Defence Force Arts for Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork and Skills program at the University of Canberra, a partnership with the Australian Defence Force. Participants have had little or no previous exposure to haiku. The workshop is in four stages: a discussion introducing examples of haiku for discussion; a haiku walk; an editing session conducted on a large white board; and a “haiku checklist” to take away and continue working with. This checklist offers a core of information on writing haiku, distilled from the discussion of guidelines, which will be useful for teachers. The inclusion of a selection of examples from participants demonstrates how an immersive teaching process can instil the essentials of the haiku form in a relatively short span of time.
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We present here an account of the way we employ the reading of poetry in engaging participants of an intensive four-week creative arts programme known as ARRTS (Arts for Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork and Skills) for wounded, ill or... more
We present here an account of the way we employ the reading of
poetry in engaging participants of an intensive four-week creative
arts programme known as ARRTS (Arts for Recovery, Resilience,
Teamwork and Skills) for wounded, ill or injured serving military
personnel people with injury or illness, to prepare and assist
them in writing their own stories. Poetry can deal with
experience and perception in unique ways, as can haiku, which
are invaluable for their accessibility and depth. The open qualities
of our reading matter invite discussion and models the fact that
poetry gives us permission to feel and to express ourselves. This
discussion and engagement with readings is a key aspect of any
prospective writer’s development, and, supplemented by the
identification of specific techniques such as enjambment, creates
awareness of ways in which it is possible to ‘re-author’ experience
for healing effect.
poetry in engaging participants of an intensive four-week creative
arts programme known as ARRTS (Arts for Recovery, Resilience,
Teamwork and Skills) for wounded, ill or injured serving military
personnel people with injury or illness, to prepare and assist
them in writing their own stories. Poetry can deal with
experience and perception in unique ways, as can haiku, which
are invaluable for their accessibility and depth. The open qualities
of our reading matter invite discussion and models the fact that
poetry gives us permission to feel and to express ourselves. This
discussion and engagement with readings is a key aspect of any
prospective writer’s development, and, supplemented by the
identification of specific techniques such as enjambment, creates
awareness of ways in which it is possible to ‘re-author’ experience
for healing effect.
Research Interests:
This paper reports on the use of four poetry writing exercises in the Creative Writing stream of the four-week intensive residential programme, Arts for Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork and Skills (ARRTS), with Australian Defence Force... more
This paper reports on the use of four poetry writing exercises in the
Creative Writing stream of the four-week intensive residential
programme, Arts for Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork and Skills
(ARRTS), with Australian Defence Force participants diagnosed
with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or anxiety disorders.
The programme is hosted twice annually by the University of
Canberra. As a Creative Writing Mentor for the programme, I have
developed these exercises, which have specific goals: metaphor
creation, writing from the senses and using detail, and writing
about movement and the body to assist engagement; these
exercises are generative. These approaches are predicated on the
idea that the therapeutic value of writing is assisted by trying to
write well. They highlight the need to both restore and explore
symbolic language, an ability which is sometimes lost following
trauma; to use sensory detail; and the value of writing in
embodied ways. After discussing each exercise, the paper reflects
on their usefulness to participants.
Creative Writing stream of the four-week intensive residential
programme, Arts for Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork and Skills
(ARRTS), with Australian Defence Force participants diagnosed
with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or anxiety disorders.
The programme is hosted twice annually by the University of
Canberra. As a Creative Writing Mentor for the programme, I have
developed these exercises, which have specific goals: metaphor
creation, writing from the senses and using detail, and writing
about movement and the body to assist engagement; these
exercises are generative. These approaches are predicated on the
idea that the therapeutic value of writing is assisted by trying to
write well. They highlight the need to both restore and explore
symbolic language, an ability which is sometimes lost following
trauma; to use sensory detail; and the value of writing in
embodied ways. After discussing each exercise, the paper reflects
on their usefulness to participants.
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Three poet-researchers conduct three different readings of Tishani Doshi’s poem ‘A Fable for the 21st Century’. We ask how as creative practitioners and critics we can negotiate the desire for mastery of a text, and the dangers a semiotic... more
Three poet-researchers conduct three different readings of Tishani Doshi’s poem ‘A Fable for the 21st Century’. We ask how as creative practitioners and critics we can negotiate the desire for mastery of a text, and the dangers a semiotic reading presents, allowing for difference, indecision and complexity. We present our initial readings of the poem and summarise our discussions of them grounded in the transactional reading theory of Louise Rosenblatt and nuanced by assemblage theory. A final section includes three original poems written in response to Doshi, together with a brief discussion of them, and forms part of our conclusion.
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This hybrid critical/creative essay discusses the vocation of being a poet and the attendant problems of earning a living. It describes the lure and attraction of writing poetry, employment history, barriers to the academic world and an... more
This hybrid critical/creative essay discusses the vocation of being a poet and the attendant problems of earning a living. It describes the lure and attraction of writing poetry, employment history, barriers to the academic world and an eventual, fruitful encounter with it, as well as ideas associated with creativity and play. The original poems included, largely in the prose poetry form, work in counterpoint with discussion of key issues surrounding the poetic vocation as an example of the wider topic of the protean career and cultural vocations, with particular reference to sociologist Vincent Dubois.
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This paper reports on a residential creative-arts program for wounded, injured and ill Australian Defence Force personnel. The program aims to assist in recovery, build resilience, and to help participants forge an additional identity... more
This paper reports on a residential creative-arts program for wounded, injured and ill Australian Defence Force personnel. The program aims to assist in recovery, build resilience, and to help participants forge an additional identity beyond their ill or injured status to assist with either reintegration into the military or transition into civilian life. The paper describes the practical and creative elements involved in the program, which is run by a multidisciplinary team, but where creative mentorship is provided by creative professionals rather than by art therapists. The authors discuss the benefits and challenges of using artist educators; of allowing participants to choose whether they wish to work with material related to their injury or illness or with more neutral content, as well as the implications for other arts-based research with military groups.
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The original poetry in this hybrid critical/creative paper seeks to find acts of making that are equivalent or complementary to those of other art forms and to construct poems which respond not just in their content but in their... more
The original poetry in this hybrid critical/creative paper seeks to find acts of making that are equivalent or complementary to those of other art forms and to construct poems which respond not just in their content but in their structures, leading to a radical ekphrasis. It argues that this strategy makes for invigorated writing. The topic of ekphrasis finds numerous references in the literature of the last thirty years, but definitions of ekphrasis have narrowed since the term's use in ancient times. It now has a particularly close association with the visual arts. It was formerly widely understood as a poetic response to any other form of art (Francis 2009), with no special importance placed on the visual work of art (Webb 2009: 11), but rather with a general ability to make a scene vivid. These poetic experiments attempt to balance the modern impetus to respond ekphrastically with the ancient understanding; they react to works of graphic design, journalism, Indigenous painting, as well as sculpture and installations, and notional ekphrasis. These poetic experiments explore Olson's dictum that form is never more than an extension of content (1972: 338) and Hejinian's equally important idea that 'form is not a fixture but an activity' (1983), and end by evaluating how the intention to find new structures has affected the content of the poetry. Keywords: Poetry- ekphrasis-form- experiment As poets, we look for new ways to expand the scope of our work, both in form and content, to inhabit new spaces in language. Other art forms often amaze and inspire us. In my own practice, I find myself wanting to write in some way that matches the force or energy of other art works. It is unsatisfying to respond to another art work merely by producing poetic content which is derivative. Surely, if I am to respond fully and successfully, I need to allow that other work to impact the structure of my writing, as well as its content, and I argue that this strategy will make for invigorated writing. It should have the effect of breaking writing habits and creating fresh modes of expression. Since writing from a place of otherness is a significant dynamic of poetry, with commentators as diverse as Anthony Easthope (1983: 37-38) and Hélène Cixious (1986: 84-85) asserting its importance, it is likely we are drawn to the visual arts as a stimulus, because of its very difference to what we do as poets. In contrast, to write a poem in reaction to a song is to move in similar terrain which already privileges the aural, and is almost the same as reacting to another poem. This would make the work less clearly ekphrastic, the approach explicitly under consideration here, and further treated by the expressed concern to achieve a radical ekphrasis that affects form as well as content. But, of course, I begin with a contemporary perception of what constitutes ekphrasis.
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This critical/creative work responds to a call from Krauth and Watkins for a more radical form of the scholarly paper. Its hybrid form presents poems written in response to events at the second Poetry on the Move festival at the... more
This critical/creative work responds to a call from Krauth and Watkins for a more radical form of the scholarly paper. Its hybrid form presents poems written in response to events at the second Poetry on the Move festival at the University of Canberra in 2016. Key ideas about the intersections between poetry and knowledge from David McCooey and William Carlos Williams are considered together with readings and discussions by poets Tusiata Avia and Simon Armitage. The article charts writing experiences, tracking the drafts and the editing process for ways in which my festival-inspired poems reflect on the intersections between poetry and knowledge, knowing and unknowing. Specifically, the poems concern the topics of knowing and observing the world; knowing memory and integrating the past with the present; and knowing the body. They embrace embodiment, imagination and biography, conscious of antagonisms between memory and the present. In this article, I problematise the use of the noun knowledge as opposed to the verb knowing and demonstrate that the former is unnecessarily privileged. I argue that articulating the full scope of poetry composition from inspiration to the final stages of editing demonstrates that artistic knowledge is best defined as a process of knowing. It is my contention that poets do demonstrate the knowledge of how to make things, as identified by Aristotle (1954); and also that we show 'knowing as a process of inquiry' (Johnson 2010). In doing so, we offer readers 'new ways of knowing and doing' (Webb 2012, my emphasis). At the same time, our own new work, as I demonstrate here, responds to knowledge as 'a living current' (Williams 1923), an active state characterised by the verb 'to know'.
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Research Interests:
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Characteristics of the prose poem emphasised by Stephen Fredman include a focus on language for its own sake, openness and the employment of the long poem. These facets are strongly present in Alan Loney's prose poem sequences 'The... more
Characteristics of the prose poem emphasised by Stephen Fredman include a focus on language for its own sake, openness and the employment of the long poem. These facets are strongly present in Alan Loney's prose poem sequences 'The erasure tapes' (1994) and 'Gifts' (2005). The paper argues that these concepts are intimately connected. It evaluates the link between prose poetry and postmodernism and between language and the idea of open writing as it relates to postmodernism and its appropriation of the long poem. The erasure in question in Loney's masterwork could be that of memory, meaning, or connection; yet meaning and connectivity are handled differently in the long poem form, and build sense and connection in different ways, through juxtaposition, accumulation and the questioning of perspective in the individual's response to language and its unavoidable wedding with memory. The prose poem offers a diversity of tools and structures, via the sentence and sentence fragment, supremely useful for practitioners of poetry who wish to extend their range.
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This practice-led paper discusses an ongoing creative and conceptual collaboration between three authors, in which poetry is approached as a means of exploring how lived experience and language are being transformed by the rapid evolution... more
This practice-led paper discusses an ongoing creative and conceptual collaboration between three authors, in which poetry is approached as a means of exploring how lived experience and language are being transformed by the rapid evolution of digital devices and technologies. We reflect on our use of poetry to explore and interrupt the increasing invisibility of metaphors such as 'cloud' and 'screen' as applied to technology, by re-foregrounding the disjunctions between metaphor and what it describes. Engaging with the work of Paul Ricouer and Maurice Blanchot, we consider the unique operations of literary language and the ability of poetry to invite critical encounter in ways that foreground physical sensation and the free association of signifiers. We explore how such poetic engagements offer an important means of approaching questions concerning the implications of digitisation, via language and lived experience on what we perceive as the 'real.' In this context, we consider Baudrillard's dystopic postulations regarding simulacra and hyperreality, and Susan Stewart's perception of digital modes of communication as inducing a nostalgic longing for the immediacy of pre-digital reality. As this paper will discuss, such possibilities, at once dystopic and mournful, are at once complicated and offset by the generative potential of creative engagements with digitisation, which have exciting possibilities for creative practice.
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The line is arguably the most defining feature of poetic structure. Discussions of prosody are prone to the limitations of convention, though the poet may strive for more freedom in the line. This paper begins by noting an example of a... more
The line is arguably the most defining feature of poetic structure.
Discussions of prosody are prone to the limitations of convention,
though the poet may strive for more freedom in the line. This
paper begins by noting an example of a radical use of page space
from Mallarmé and goes on to describe recent innovations and
experiments with line breaks in work by Australian and New
Zealand poets, and to summarise the functions of the line breaks
used. These explorations of form show that the poetic line is
neither static nor redundant in contemporary practice, and
suggest the need for poets to reappraise the possibilities made
available to them by the work of their peers.
Discussions of prosody are prone to the limitations of convention,
though the poet may strive for more freedom in the line. This
paper begins by noting an example of a radical use of page space
from Mallarmé and goes on to describe recent innovations and
experiments with line breaks in work by Australian and New
Zealand poets, and to summarise the functions of the line breaks
used. These explorations of form show that the poetic line is
neither static nor redundant in contemporary practice, and
suggest the need for poets to reappraise the possibilities made
available to them by the work of their peers.
Research Interests:
Response mode: taking everything and the genre Abstract: This hybrid paper of creative and critical writing reflects on my explorations of poetry. I write in what I call 'response mode', which is a group of behaviours, beginning with... more
Response mode: taking everything and the genre Abstract: This hybrid paper of creative and critical writing reflects on my explorations of poetry. I write in what I call 'response mode', which is a group of behaviours, beginning with impersonation, and also open to understandings gained from other art forms. After studying the style and techniques of other poets, I move towards a mid-point between another poet's voice and my own, effectively, a new, hybrid voice. The engagement with literary ancestors enables evolution towards an expression that is more fully my own. Stealing the designations of genre ensures a continued experiment. The challenges and variety of voicings made possible by prose poetry and haibun are important. The haibun influences other new hybrid forms, which encompass found poetry and appropriate language in a way which is redolent of the times. We take from exhibitions, songs, film, poems, conversation. Poets eavesdrop; I do it on the bus. If there is stealing, it is on a spectrum, which includes intertext. My poems draw from Gerard Manley Hopkins, Yunna Moritz and Alan Loney, and from sculptor Cori Beardsley, who suggest to me fresh possibilities. Biographical note: Owen Bullock is a PhD Candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Canberra. His research interests are semiotics and poetry, line and space, prose poetry, collaboration and haikai literature. His publications include River's Edge (Recent Work Press, 2016), A Cornish Story (Palores, 2010) and sometimes the sky isn't big enough (Steele Roberts, 2010). He has edited a number of journals and anthologies, including Poetry New Zealand.
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This article shares an experimental poem created by three poet-researchers using an online word processor to collaborate within a single document. We attempt to blur the line between creative and academic writing, focusing on the... more
This article shares an experimental poem created by three poet-researchers using an online word processor to collaborate within a single document. We attempt to blur the line between creative and academic writing, focusing on the possibilities for writing as a method of inquiry and the opportunities for different perceptions of being that it suggests. Our project unfolds as we also produce a brief diffractive reading that does not mirror or deconstruct the poem, but thinks it in an alternative way, as a broader collaboration, or intra-action between entities, both human and non-human. We avoid determining how our purported individual voices merge to form any united voice. Rather, we are alert to agencies and flows that complicate understandings of us as three rational, discrete, fully formed human figures articulating coherent narratives. We therefore offer a response to theoretical calls to explore collaborative writing as inquiry, through sharing our practice.
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The Prose Poetry Project was created by the International Poetry Studies Institute (IPSI) in November 2014, with the aim of collaboratively exploring the form and composition of prose poetry. The ongoing project aims to produce both... more
The Prose Poetry Project was created by the International Poetry Studies Institute (IPSI) in November 2014, with the aim of collaboratively exploring the form and composition of prose poetry. The ongoing project aims to produce both creative and research outcomes stemming from the resurgence of interest in the prose poem. It was initiated as a simple email exchange of prose poems between three founding members, with additional poets invited to join over the following months. There were no stipulations except that everyone was expected to write at least three prose poems within the year. At no stage was a definition of prose poetry imposed, or even suggested, despite the fact that some members of the group had never written prose poetry before. Through the process of making and sharing, however, various models emerged. The project was first showcased and discussed at an event within the Poetry on the Move festival in Canberra, 7 September 2015. At that stage, ten months from its inception, the project had accumulated over 600 poems. It ranged across four universities, two countries and eighteen poets (three of whom had yet to contribute). Six of those poets spoke at the event about the influence of the project on their personal practice, encouraged to do so in whatever manner they considered appropriate. Their various reflections, here collated, include: the challenges and delights of working within a form where all rules are suspended; the (questionable) distinction between the prose poem and flash fiction; the relationship with haibun; the nature of endings and a poem's limits; and the way in which prose poems may elude some readers' resistance to poetry in its more recognisable guise. In all these considerations, there is recognition of the benefits of working within a group, and of collaborative, creative play.
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Collaborative poetry in New Zealand The collaborative writing of free verse poetry is a rare endeavour in any country but perhaps particularly so in New Zealand. The field of haikai literature, however, offers frequent examples of... more
Collaborative poetry in New Zealand The collaborative writing of free verse poetry is a rare endeavour in any country but perhaps particularly so in New Zealand. The field of haikai literature, however, offers frequent examples of collaboration, through various forms of renga, and its influence on poets who collaborate has been significant. Following the example of Octavio Paz, this paper will consider whether collaboration might mitigate against 'the myth of the unique author', the single and authoritative signature with which 20th-century theorists such as Barthes, Foucault and Derrida found so much fault, and which Paz tried to dispel through collaboration. The paper will consider examples of co-authored poetry published in New Zealand, in particular those involving Jenny Powell-Chalmers, who has been New Zealand's most active collaborator in free verse. In discussing collaborative poetry, particular attention will be paid to voice and heteroglossia, including its social aspect, and with reference to Bakhtin's stylistics of the novel. As well as analysing collaborative poems for the effects of voice achieved, this paper will try to suggest why writing collaborative poetry is productive and has potential for invigorating creative practice.
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This paper will consider poetic practice which emphasises an intuitive approach, through the poetry of Sylvia Plath, poetics and assemblage theory. Poets tend to write intuitively, attempting to say, despite the limitations of our use of... more
This paper will consider poetic practice which emphasises an intuitive approach, through the poetry of Sylvia Plath, poetics and assemblage theory. Poets tend to write intuitively, attempting to say, despite the limitations of our use of language and of language in general, what we barely understand about life and ourselves. This is sometimes achieved by accessing the unconscious, a method which is characterised by putting analytical faculties to one side and trying to surrender to what is deep within the individual. Assemblage holds that the unconscious is not fixed, and that it is constructed in process; schizoanalysis, which is a development of the idea of the unconscious, emphasises multiplicity and the indefinable, even as Plath’s writing reflects on the multiple and the uncertainty of the self. The assemblage method is not a model for producing poetry, and authors may be unaware of its conception of the unconscious whilst in practice exemplifying it. Assemblage is one way in which to enhance understanding of the poetic process to assist the reader’s enjoyment. This paper concludes with poetic responses to the example of Plath’s work, and as Plath becomes a focus of imagination, inspiring further writing which looks to the unconscious for new reference points.
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The paper will consider syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations in the poetry of Michele Leggott. The syntagm is a sequential lexical unit, including anything from a compound noun to a line or stanza; it is seen as occupying a horizontal... more
The paper will consider syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations in the poetry of Michele Leggott. The syntagm is a sequential lexical unit, including anything from a compound noun to a line or stanza; it is seen as occupying a horizontal axis, and concerned with the positioning of words. The paradigmatic is a vertical axis and concerns possible substitution of words; it has much to do with the choices a particular poet makes which suggest the ‘other’, with aspects of composition that are less logical and more intuitive. The paper also considers the implications of the binary oppositions of this discourse and what the relational axes might say about the use of space in a poem. I argue that the use of space in the layout of a poem is paradigmatic rather than syntagmatic and that the use of space sometimes constitutes an act of substitution for language. The paper moves towards a wider understanding of semiotics with reference to deconstruction and assemblage theory.
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The success of books such as Charles Simic’s The World Doesn’t End: Prose Poems (1989) seem to have helped establish the genre of prose poetry, but acceptance seems to have taken longer in the UK. Only recently have UK interviewers,... more
The success of books such as Charles Simic’s The World Doesn’t End: Prose Poems (1989) seem to have helped establish the genre of prose poetry, but acceptance seems to have taken longer in the UK. Only recently have UK interviewers, editors, critics and judges embraced the concept of the prose poem. At the same time, readers and poets may talk about the form in quite different ways, and the writing itself is not dependent on the name ‘prose poetry’ to achieve its effects. The affordances prose gives the poet beg investigation, as do the ways in which poets talk about their use of prose. These questions will be discussed in relation to recent works by Claudia Rankine, Simon Armitage and Peter Riley.
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When I come across a great poem that shows originality of form or content, I often wonder how it was made. The process of making a poem is often not fully articulated and in my interviews with poets I will aim to be as specific as... more
When I come across a great poem that shows originality of form or content, I often wonder how it was made. The process of making a poem is often not fully articulated and in my interviews with poets I will aim to be as specific as possible about the writing process to elucidate how they work. I'm also on the lookout for existing interviews or essays which may tell us something about the writing process. I want to create a resource that other poets may use to invigorate and stimulate their writing and that readers will find illuminating. In his Inaugural Lecture at the University of Glamorgan in 2006 (subsequently published in NAWE (h ps://www.nawe.co.uk/DB/wip-editions/articles/a-walk-in-the-abstract-garden-how-creative-writing-might-speak-for-itself-in-universities.html? clid=IwAR38m47Cr-isI-Zw1BypvBax0xeDFsHw8GX-UAAWcPV00pBH-sSwIQl8yyA)), Philip Gross talks about the role of research in creative writing and outlines a method that may be useful for generating original content. Gross coins the delicious term 'free-search' for exploring potential material through serendipity. He recommends reading "way beyond your field" with no method or purpose, and doing so avidly, in "the discipline of deliberate indiscipline." That writing a poem is suited to a random reading or research process which might constitute "the worst kind of academic practice" may seem radical, yet he recalls the fact that not so long ago we were hunter-gatherers and that we can hunt and gather anew for our writing. Research is a wonderful stimulus, but, at the same time, he says: "it is in the gaps between the facts that fiction happens. Find out everything, and what's left to do?" His own poem 'Archaeology' (a piece I've long admired, and which is included in the essay), speaks of how the narrator appreciated the word 'archaeology' from an early age, and goes on to talk about the way teeth are used to identify people. Alongside the need to explore, Gross places stress on not being fixed or sure. He narrates how, soon after trying to get students to be more "conscious and articulate about their writing process," he asks them to be neither of these things, but instead to be quite vague. This is not about being vague in one's wording but in one's position as a writer. What makes Creative Writing a discipline is that we learn to consciously use not-knowing and these 'vague', or less systematic, methods. To this end, he offers various strategies: "the choice to use practised states of indirection, methods akin to meditation, guided fantasy, free association, automatic writing, games designed to derail goal-oriented convergent thought." To embrace not-knowing invites serendipity in the same way that free-search does. ← Philip Gross and collaboration Claudia Rankine and autobiography →
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I recently revisited the text of UK poet Philip Gross’ keynote speech ‘Together in the Space Between: Collaboration as a Window on Creative Process’ given at the Poetry on the Move festival in 2015 and later published in Axon. Gross has... more
I recently revisited the text of UK poet Philip Gross’ keynote speech ‘Together in the Space Between: Collaboration as a Window on Creative Process’ given at the Poetry on the Move festival in 2015 and later published in Axon. Gross has had the advantage of a number of productive creative collaborations, both with artists from other media and, less commonly, with a fellow writer. Early in his career, he worked in a mixed group of painters and musicians from several traditions gathered around John Eaves’ huge charcoal drawings of Stonehenge, a collaboration which was extended to include the artist FJ Kennedy. The topic of Stonehenge is one shrouded in unknowing, which was deemed inviting to creative adventure, to leaving behind preconceived notions and to improvising.
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Hello poets and readers, In our recent podcast with poet Merlinda Bobis, she notes that consciousness of process comes about after the fact. While writing, she is too busy leaping from one thought to another to allow for this kind of... more
Hello poets and readers, In our recent podcast with poet Merlinda Bobis, she notes that consciousness of process comes about after the fact. While writing, she is too busy leaping from one thought to another to allow for this kind of reflection. Something captures her and makes a poem possible. She describes the initial impetus as an accident-her book title Accidents of Composition reflects this-the poem has to retain an element of surprise. The poem leads her, and further accidents happen as she writes, through associations; the poems seem to compose themselves. Analysing her own text, she remembers what gave rise to it, an act of contextualising how the work happened, and of looking at it as a reader. Even her return to poetry from the novel was accidental. Her writing often begins with strong images; sometimes she takes photos to use as prompts-the sense of 'something else' that is in the image becomes the poem. Her poetry conveys a strong sense of embodied writing. Writing relates to speaking, speaking relates to breathing, and so breath is essential to the poetic line. Her work celebrates and harnesses the power of dance. She describes a case of writer's block preceding composition of her epic poem 'Cantata of the Warrior Woman Daragang Magayon'. She started dancing, to traditional Filipino music and western classical music, populating the room with different bodies, using traditional movements, and with those movements 'the body's cadence' driving the lines. A poem is animal, organic. The body leads one into play, or out of the mode of being in control; it is as if the poet is tricked into a creative space by the possibility and surprise of writing. One is not in control until the editing stage. Bobis is also a novelist and playwright and speaks about the differences between the genres, in terms of process, and ways in which they inform each other. For example, the structure of Accidents of Composition can make it seem like a verse novel. This structuring was planned, but the entry point into the project (through an image) was not. The book also forms a kind of travelogue. Some of her longer poems (such as the epic poem) include a degree of research and planning but still contain accidents. Research is more likely to inform novel writing and occurs when the story is generated by an image that can no longer be contained by a poem. Note-making is part of her process, but is used more in prose writing, which is implicitly structured. In her poetry, Bobis writes in Filipino and English, mediated by her first language, Bikol. The different languages struggle with each other, but also produce poetic tension and new choices. Bikol is present in the subconscious even if not used in the text, so that 'each language enriched the other' in diverse ways, such as discovering new metaphors in English that she wouldn't otherwise have wri en. She likens the different tongues to being tuned into different sound stations. Most of all, Bobis emphasises writing from the lived life-even if not autobiographical, it is informed by one's world view, and composing is facilitated by openness to that experience.
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It might be useful, and perhaps comforting, to look at the topic of continuity in haiku. When I think of continuity, I think of keeping life going, of qualities such as resolve, steadiness and endurance. I hope the following haiku will... more
It might be useful, and perhaps comforting, to look at the topic of continuity in haiku. When I think of continuity, I think of keeping life going, of qualities such as resolve, steadiness and endurance. I hope the following haiku will reflect such aspects of life. This essay is aimed at the beginner rather than the experienced practitioner, but my main hope, aside from suggesting astute ways in which poets work, is to open up discussion around the topic.
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This PhD by exegesis and creative project examines the poetry of three contemporary New Zealand poets: Alistair Paterson, Alan Loney and Michele Leggott in the context of the relational axes, comprising syntagmatic and paradigmatic... more
This PhD by exegesis and creative project examines the poetry of three contemporary New Zealand poets: Alistair Paterson, Alan Loney and Michele Leggott in the context of the relational axes, comprising syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations. It addresses the question
of what the relational axes can tell us about poetry which can then be used in practice. After due consideration of the implications of binary oppositions in the discourse and of features such as codes, the discussion considers Jakobson’s insights into the relational axes and ideas that problematise understandings of the sign, such as Riffaterre’s theory of representation and Derrida’s elaboration of the originary nature of writing. The analysis accommodates theoretical evolution from structuralism to poststructuralism, postmodernism and assemblage
theories.
Poetry is richly susceptible to semiotic analysis because of the way it highlights language. I describe examples of the interaction between the axes through techniques such as metonymy and metaphor. Work that features distinctive layout invites a discussion of how the use of
page space may be conceptualised and what effects are gained by it. The idea of space being used to score music was made popular by Charles Olson and has been a justification for experimental typography, but this is just one possible function. I describe various functions
for the use of space in the poetry discussed, and I argue that its use is paradigmatic as well as syntagmatic, since it often subverts the definition of the syntagm (which is singular and linear). I argue that the use of space constitutes an act of substitution for language.
I have encountered few attempts in the literature to systematically articulate the variety of effects which space can yield, and this is important work that I extend here. The appendix attempts a provisional taxonomy of the use of space, via reference to the analysis of poetry in
chapters two, three and four. These instances are charted and grouped together to gain a better understanding of how space contributes to meaning, and to encourage the use of page space in suggestive and embodied ways. At the same time, I acknowledge that it is one
avenue of many by which multiplicity of meaning can be achieved, and reflect on the way Michele Leggott’s poetry, for example, has moved away from spatial experiments yet found other ways to attain multiplicity, often through an articulation of competing codes. My
creative project responds to ideas in both the poetry analysed and the theoretical components, investigating formal structures as syntagmatic confines; the idea of the centre being outside structure; the place of written language (as opposed to speech); social context; selection and
substitution in poems; spatial relations, misdirection and the unity of the whole. It does so in a variety of forms with an emphasis on hybrids.
of what the relational axes can tell us about poetry which can then be used in practice. After due consideration of the implications of binary oppositions in the discourse and of features such as codes, the discussion considers Jakobson’s insights into the relational axes and ideas that problematise understandings of the sign, such as Riffaterre’s theory of representation and Derrida’s elaboration of the originary nature of writing. The analysis accommodates theoretical evolution from structuralism to poststructuralism, postmodernism and assemblage
theories.
Poetry is richly susceptible to semiotic analysis because of the way it highlights language. I describe examples of the interaction between the axes through techniques such as metonymy and metaphor. Work that features distinctive layout invites a discussion of how the use of
page space may be conceptualised and what effects are gained by it. The idea of space being used to score music was made popular by Charles Olson and has been a justification for experimental typography, but this is just one possible function. I describe various functions
for the use of space in the poetry discussed, and I argue that its use is paradigmatic as well as syntagmatic, since it often subverts the definition of the syntagm (which is singular and linear). I argue that the use of space constitutes an act of substitution for language.
I have encountered few attempts in the literature to systematically articulate the variety of effects which space can yield, and this is important work that I extend here. The appendix attempts a provisional taxonomy of the use of space, via reference to the analysis of poetry in
chapters two, three and four. These instances are charted and grouped together to gain a better understanding of how space contributes to meaning, and to encourage the use of page space in suggestive and embodied ways. At the same time, I acknowledge that it is one
avenue of many by which multiplicity of meaning can be achieved, and reflect on the way Michele Leggott’s poetry, for example, has moved away from spatial experiments yet found other ways to attain multiplicity, often through an articulation of competing codes. My
creative project responds to ideas in both the poetry analysed and the theoretical components, investigating formal structures as syntagmatic confines; the idea of the centre being outside structure; the place of written language (as opposed to speech); social context; selection and
substitution in poems; spatial relations, misdirection and the unity of the whole. It does so in a variety of forms with an emphasis on hybrids.
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This thesis analyses the poetry contained in anthologies published between the 1940s and 1980s in New Zealand and that of some later anthologies that retrospectively covered the same period. I wanted to find out what subject matter... more
This thesis analyses the poetry contained in anthologies published between the 1940s and 1980s in New Zealand and that of some later anthologies that retrospectively covered the same period. I wanted to find out what subject matter preoccupied poets during these times, to monitor changes in the content of that poetry and to observe what techniques were used and the evolution of styles. Complimentary to the study of the poetry is an evaluation of the intentions of the editors of the anthologies and how much their selections were directed by their tastes and knowledge to form a kind of ‘construct’, or representation of the publishing of poetry.
From my reading, I conjectured that the literary canon with regard to poetry was formed in New Zealand by the mid-1970s, on the strength of publications from Penguin and Oxford University Press. The 1945 and 1960 anthologies by Allen Curnow were extremely influential - particularly the second of these two - and the editors of future anthologies from the larger publishers diverged comparatively little
from his choices. Curnow’s anthologies are the subject of Chapter One, and in Chapter Two, I look at Vincent O’Sullivan’s series of three anthologies for Oxford (1970, 1976 and 1987), which confirmed and expanded that canon.
However, from the mid-1960s, and especially in the early 1970s, new trends emerged in New Zealand writing, linked to a consciousness of post-modernist literary theory. Some of the new trends, together with material that supplemented existing perspectives on poetry, are discussed in Chapter Three. The greater degree of acknowledgement of writing by women poets - which began in the late 1960s in smaller literary journals - reached a point where the first anthology of women’s poetry, Private Gardens, could be published in 1977. The first major anthology to be edited by a woman appeared five years later. The gradualness of these changes is stressed, however, with regard to women’s poetry included in the larger anthologies
themselves.
A new bias emerged in the late 1970s and 1980s in favour of work from the University presses. Nevertheless, anthologies that presented some alternative point of view on our literary history proliferated at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Taken together, the anthologies Big Smoke and Real Fire form a more holistic picture of what went on in the 1960s and 1970s and are discussed in Chapter Four of this thesis. Concluding remarks focus on the prejudices that appear to have guided the publishing of poetry in New Zealand anthologies, the influence of major poets, and the possibilities for further study of this body of literature.
From my reading, I conjectured that the literary canon with regard to poetry was formed in New Zealand by the mid-1970s, on the strength of publications from Penguin and Oxford University Press. The 1945 and 1960 anthologies by Allen Curnow were extremely influential - particularly the second of these two - and the editors of future anthologies from the larger publishers diverged comparatively little
from his choices. Curnow’s anthologies are the subject of Chapter One, and in Chapter Two, I look at Vincent O’Sullivan’s series of three anthologies for Oxford (1970, 1976 and 1987), which confirmed and expanded that canon.
However, from the mid-1960s, and especially in the early 1970s, new trends emerged in New Zealand writing, linked to a consciousness of post-modernist literary theory. Some of the new trends, together with material that supplemented existing perspectives on poetry, are discussed in Chapter Three. The greater degree of acknowledgement of writing by women poets - which began in the late 1960s in smaller literary journals - reached a point where the first anthology of women’s poetry, Private Gardens, could be published in 1977. The first major anthology to be edited by a woman appeared five years later. The gradualness of these changes is stressed, however, with regard to women’s poetry included in the larger anthologies
themselves.
A new bias emerged in the late 1970s and 1980s in favour of work from the University presses. Nevertheless, anthologies that presented some alternative point of view on our literary history proliferated at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Taken together, the anthologies Big Smoke and Real Fire form a more holistic picture of what went on in the 1960s and 1970s and are discussed in Chapter Four of this thesis. Concluding remarks focus on the prejudices that appear to have guided the publishing of poetry in New Zealand anthologies, the influence of major poets, and the possibilities for further study of this body of literature.
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'Reading Spaces' is an exhibition of artist books and other creative publications, produced as a series of collaborations with poets and other artists. All the work is either printed or informed by letterpress printing. This exhibition... more
'Reading Spaces' is an exhibition of artist books and other creative publications, produced as a series of collaborations with poets and other artists. All the work is either printed or informed by letterpress printing.
This exhibition took place in Canberra, Australia, in April 2017 as the major creative component of Caren's PhD with the University of Canberra. It is staged to allow the various pieces of furniture to create distinct zones of activity and 'introduce' the texts to the reading audience.
This exhibition took place in Canberra, Australia, in April 2017 as the major creative component of Caren's PhD with the University of Canberra. It is staged to allow the various pieces of furniture to create distinct zones of activity and 'introduce' the texts to the reading audience.
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Reading Spaces (East Space, Commonwealth Place, Canberra Australia, 5-12 April 2017) was a temporary ‘reading room’ of artist books, zines, poetry chapbooks and artworks. There were no plinths, no glass cases for the books; the reader is... more
Reading Spaces (East Space, Commonwealth Place, Canberra Australia, 5-12 April 2017) was a temporary ‘reading room’ of artist books, zines, poetry chapbooks and artworks. There were no plinths, no glass cases for the books; the reader is able to handle the work and engage with it with the intimacy that the printed page demands. The multiple reading areas, ranging from formal to casual seating, represented different kinds of reading experiences created by collaborations with poets and other artists.