The Poetics of Poetry Film
The Poetics of Poetry Film (Book)
Film Poetry, Videopoetry, Lyric Voice, Reflection
The first book of its kind, it classifies the different types of poetry film, shedding light on the fast-growing genre and citing works from poetry filmmakers worldwide. A ground-breaking industry bible for anyone interested in poetry, digital media, filmmaking, art and creative writing as well as poetry filmmakers. 60 col., 20 b/w illus.
Edition
Set to generate and influence discussions in the field for years to come, this is an encyclopaedic work on the ever-evolving genre of poetry film. It will set the benchmark for all subsequent works on the subject, being the first book of its kind.
Poetry films are a genre of short film, usually combining the three main elements: the poem as verbal message; the moving film image and diegetic sounds; and additional non-diegetic sounds or music, which create a soundscape. This book examines the formal characteristics of the poetic in poetry film, film poetry and video poetry, particularly in relation to lyric voice and time.
Provides an introduction to the emergence and history of poetry film in a global context, defining and debating terms both philosophically and materially. Examines the formal characteristics of the poetic in poetry film, particularly in relation to lyric voice and time. Includes interviews, analysis and a rigorous and thorough investigation of the poetry film from its origins to the present. This is a very important, groundbreaking work on film poetry. The ideas discussed here are of great importance, and the diversity and breadth of the volume is especially impressive and very useful. This book brings together in one place crucial ideas and information for practitioners, students and academics, and is clearly and accessibly written.
Including over 40 contributors and showcasing the work of an international array of practitioners, this will be an industry bible for anyone interested in poetry, digital media, filmmaking, art and creative writing, as well as poetry filmmakers. It explores working practices, processes of collaboration and the mechanisms which make these possible. It also reveals the network of festivals disseminating and theorizing poetry film and presents a compelling bibliography.
This is the most incisive and complete analysis of filmic poetry to date. It is poised to become a major text in the field.
Essential reading for academics teaching poetry filmmaking, moving image, film, media and media poetry, writing and art. Undergraduate and postgraduate students in those fields. Great potential for textbook adoption.
Also relevant to poets, filmmakers, visual artists, graphic artists and theorists, filmmakers, screenwriters, art historians, philosophers, cultural commentators, arts journalists.
Sarah Tremlett (MPhil, FRSA, SWIP) is a commissioned poetry filmmaker, writer, artist, arts journalist, and theorist. She is the cofounder of the poetry film organization and online platform Liberated Words CIC, judging and curating international screenings and events.
Illustrations
Foreword
Valerie LeBlanc
Preface xix
Introduction: Poetry, Song, Philosophy – The Combined Lyric Aesthetic
PART ONE: FORM AND STRUCTURE
1. Terminology across Time
2. Realization and Structure
3. Voice and Narrative
4. Time and Mind
5. Constructing Dynamic Spatio- Temporality
6. Tonality, Light and Colour
7. Sound Design
8. Poet on Screen: Persona and Subjectivity
PART TWO: ARTISTS’ VOICES
9. Contemporary Pioneers
George Aguilar
Enzo Minarelli
Enzo Minarelli
Tom Konyves
Javier Robledo
Peter Todd
Valerie LeBlanc and Daniel H. Dugas
Stuart Pound and Rosemary Norman
Rosemary Norman
Stuart Pound
Heather Haley
Thomas Zandegiacomo del Bel
Zata Banks
Gabrielė Labanauskaitė
Dave Bonta
Alastair Cook
Marc Neys
10. Making
Chaucer Cameron
Marie Craven
Lucy English
Ian Gibbins
Jane Glennie
Suzie Hanna
Kate Jessop
Adeena Karasick
Martha McCollough
Matt Mullins
Adele Myers
Charles Olsen
Caleb Parkin and Helmie Stil
Helmie Stil
Caleb Parkin
Maciej Piatek
Dave Richardson
Othniel Smith
Howard Vause
Susanne Wiegner
11. Poetry Film and Videopoetry in Portugal and Spain: Alive and Thriving
Charles Olsen
Alexandre Braga
Manuel Vilarinho
Eduardo Yagüe
Tarha Erena
Alejandro Céspedes
Celia Parra
Jordan T. Caylor
Belén Gache
Santiago Parres
Lola López- Cózar
Agustín Fernández Mallo
David Argüelles Redondo
Ángel Guinda and Sándor M. Salas
12. Experimental Poetry in Argentina from the 1960s to the 1990s: Political Voice and Prefiguring the Turn to Digital Literature and Video Poetry
Marisol Bellusci
13. Liberated Words: Developing a Poetry Film Festival and Workshops
Butterflies Haven Workshop
Helen Moore
Howard Vause
PART THREE: SELECTED NARRATIVE FORMS
14. Collections
John D. Scott
15. Text- on- Screen
16. Video Haiku and Video Haiga
Katia Viscogliosi and Francis Magnenot
Judy Kendall
17. A Documentary Approach to Poetry Film
18. Dance and Movement
Helen Mort
19. The Ecopoetry Film
Meriel Lland
Janet Lees
Janet Lees
Helen Moore and Howard Vause
Helen Moore
Overview
Examples of Leading Poetry Film Festivals
References
Artists and Authors Index
'Sarah Tremlett’s The Poetics of Poetry Film is a unique and extraordinary contribution to this vibrant field of expression. Her landmark volume elegantly articulates the conceptual foundations, language, grammar, and vocabulary of poetry film and its cognate forms; delivers a concise and incisive history of the genre, and introduces students, practitioners and scholars to the field’s contemporary pioneers, methods of making, and varied narrative forms. Laden with rich and provocative illustration and example, The Poetics of Poetry Film functions as Bible, Guide to the Perplexed, and indispensable reference, fluidly integrating interviews with and notes by forty contributors into a coherent and beautifully structured progression. This book—a wonder in its variety, complexity, and ambition—is a superb read.'
'The sentence on the cover says it all for me. Hard to believe it’s been more than 50 years since Sympathies of War, my first videopoem. I’m thankful that a book like this, the first of its kind, of its sheer scope, finally exists and humbled that I had a part to play in the flowering of a new genre of poetry. No one better than the indefatigable doyenne of videopoems, my good friend Sarah Tremlett to make it come true.'
'This is an encyclopaedic, groundbreaking manuscript on an area of film production that definitely needs more attention, and stands to be the book to surpass for quite some time; the author knows her territory intimately ... It is the most incisive and complete analysis of filmic poetry to date; it’s very diverse, includes women, minorities and transgender filmmakers, and Tremlett's descriptions of the films, and the intent of the filmmaker poets, and is both accessible and clearly written. This is a sharp, up to the minute manuscript on the bleeding edge of film criticism. ... A book exploding with dazzling, evocative images and trenchant analysis.'
'This is a gem of a book. It brings together in one place crucial ideas and information for practitioner and academic. I wish very much that it had been available when I found my way into videopoetry ... Considering the scope of the subject matter, what has been achieved here in terms of clarifying and anatomizing is remarkable.'
‘I loved reading this book. The Poetics of Poetry Film is an amazing resource for scholars and everyone interested in contemporary poetry.’
'An exhaustive study of Video Poetry by the remarkable Sarah Tremlett and over 40 contributors! I was fortunate enough to have read with Sarah at the Bury Text Festival and found her work to be amazing. She also appears in an issue of Ekleksographia edited by Judith Skillman. I recognize some names among the pioneers of the movement, including the Polypoet Enzo Minarelli. Congrats on this fantastic book! This is really wonderful!'
'Sarah Tremlett’s The Poetics of Poetry Film: Film Poetry, Videopoetry, Lyric Voice, Reflection offers a breathtaking range of glimpses at the historical flashpoints, formal anatomy, and major and minor contemporary makers and trends in what Tremlett alternately calls film poems and poetry film (and their sister, video poetry). [...] The book is impressively comprehensive in its representation and acknowledgment of the wide diversity of formal experiments and elements that constitute the history and present of “poetry film,”. [...] The Poetics of Poetry Film should serve as an important resource for scholars and filmmakers interested in contemporary aesthetic trends in this interdisciplinary field. It also offers an important archive of festivals and conferences on poetry film through its inclusion of interviews with festival organizers and writings by contemporary filmmakers working at the intersection of poetry and film.'
'The Poetics of Poetry Film functions as an extensive survey of the field of poetry film, film poetry, videopoetry and the many related methodologies. [...] Tremlett’s voice carries with it a level of authority due to her work as both a scholar on the subject as well as a practicing artist in network with the international collection of practitioners included in the volume.
As a reference volume, instructors working with students through experimental forms could find many valuable resources. An inclusion of the leading poetry film festivals stands out as a great resource for filmmakers interested in sharing their own poetry films with a larger audience. The ideal audience for this book includes those interested in creating film poetry works who can explore other makers’ methods described in this book for inspiration. The volume is organised by topic and looking directly at the subheadings within each section reads as a toolbox for aspiring poetry filmmakers with examples of artists and works to direct the reader toward additional resources.'
