This weekend I had the privilege of seeing Kate Tempest perform at the Bongo Club in Edinburgh (hosted by the Scottish Poetry Library and Rally & Broad) as part of her tour promoting her new collection Hold Your Own (website here, book available here). The venue was completely packed, with audience members lining the walls … Continue reading Review: Kate Tempest, Edinburgh, 25 Oct 2014
Month: October 2014
In Defense of Performance Poetry
Last week I posted about how an inspiration chooses its medium: how a creative spark gets funneled into one genre or another. Today I will discuss how performance poetry is defined then offer some counterarguments to a culture that often deems it less worthy than published work. How is performance poetry distinguished from page poetry? As … Continue reading In Defense of Performance Poetry
How an inspiration chooses its medium
As I begin writing creatively again after a dry spell, I’ve been thinking a lot about how one creative spark, one subject, chooses which medium to be communicated in. By this I mean: when I start writing, when and how do I know in which format the piece will emerge? Will it be best conveyed through a “page” … Continue reading How an inspiration chooses its medium
Fall and We Will Catch You
Earlier this week I had a difficult day. I was feeling defeated, powerless, guilty, homesick, and exhausted. It was a day where I sensed being alone in the world, making me prone to self-pity and frustration. But I had planned on going to a dance class I’d seen online (a Contemporary class at DanceHouse Glasgow) so in … Continue reading Fall and We Will Catch You
The Creative Impulse: External or Internal?
The other day I watched an excellent TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love (link here). I’ve never read the book or seen the movie, but Gilbert’s theories about art-making and responsibility have been sitting with me. Her argument is that today we place too much pressure on artists by assuming that … Continue reading The Creative Impulse: External or Internal?
On Being a Scottish Poet – or am I?
A couple weeks ago, in the first seminar discussion for the Constructions of Scotland class I’m auditing at Strathclyde, we were introducing ourselves and the professor (Dr. David Goldie) said he’d heard I was a Scottish poet. “Well,” I fumbled, flattered but confused, “I do write poems and I’m in Scotland…” He replied, laughing, “There … Continue reading On Being a Scottish Poet – or am I?
