~ September 2025 ~
Opportunities? Cylinders and joining dots …
Poetry film is the small but growing medium we all love. It can do amazing things when it brings image and words together. But as much as film festivals are great, I am always more excited by how good it can look when projected in a site-specific way. In 2022 I interviewed Lori Ersolmaz about her installations, and was inspired by what she achieved. Last year I tried to join the dots between various organisations and do something similar but failed. But I don’t think I’m on the wrong path.
In the news this week has been Trump’s state visit to the UK and Windsor Castle. Very close to home for me, and I happened to be near the Castle early in the morning. I enjoyed spotting the protection officers buying pastries, the photographers grabbing a coffee together, the protestor waiting with a giant teddy bear, and most of all, eavesdropping on all the numerous international reporters outside the castle gateway and catching all the cliche words like unprecedented and pomp.
And then at home I heard about the protestors who had projected images onto a castle tower. Projected onto a huge cylinder … wow. It just looked so good. The edges fall away beautifully, and I would think little or no mapping required.
And to cap off my excitement, I then read of a new poem. The Guardian newspaper reported that:
“Carol Ann Duffy has written a poem about Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain that appears to reimagine the ceremonial banquet as taking place in a bombsite”
Read the full poem here. Just imagine if someone had been able to join the dots on this one? Duffy was previously the poet laureate for the UK from 2009 to 2019, and so has frequently marked significant occasions for the country, and her work is studied on school curriculums.
Big public buildings often have big projections on them, think Buckingham Palace at a Jubilee or the Olympics perhaps. But they can feel just like fancy coloured light bunting. Very pretty, sometimes spectacular. But not so much in depth of thought and feeling. A poetry film officially projected on Windsor Castle? Now that would be something. And if not there, let’s all look out for other big cylinders you might gain permission and access to: a lighthouse, a silo, your neighbour who has a turret to their house? It could look unprecedented and just fabulous.
Submissions are open for Cadence Video Poetry Festival
We missed their opening announcement back in April, but submissions are open until January 15 (late dealine; the regular deadline is December 15) for the Northwest Film Forum’s 2026 Cadence Video Poetry Festival in Seattle.
Verse meets visuals in motion during a series of cinepoem screenings, ekphrastic responses, and generative workshops celebrating National Poetry Month.
Cadence Video Poetry Festival is seeking video poems for inclusion in the April 2026 festival. Each selected video poem will receive an artist payment.
Video poetry is language as light. As an art form, video poetry is lucid and liminal—on the threshold of the literary and the moving image. It articulates the poetic image visually, rather than metaphorically—it shifts words from page to screen, from ink to light. A video poem makes meaning that would not exist if text was without image, image without text. It is language-based video work or a video-based poem. Video poetry is a literary genre presented as visual media.
Cadence showcases visual media that makes new meaning from the combination of text and moving image.
We welcome:
• Collaborations between video artists and writers;
• Video by poets creating video from, or as, their writing;
• Video artists creating poetic meaning through visual or aural text;
• Video work that’s poetically informed or poetry that’s visually informed that isn’t easily defined;
• and beyond!Any poems used for adaptations of pre-existing poetry must be in the public domain or else used with written consent of the author.
Cadence Video Poetry Festival is co-directed by Chelsea Werner-Jatzke and Rana San and hosted annually at Northwest Film Forum, satellite venues, and online.
Helen Dewbery launches Kickstarter to support publication of a guide to making poetry films
UK poetry filmmaker Helen Dewbery is turning her years of experience in creating poetry films and leading workshops into a book called How to Make a Poetry Film: A handbook for poets.
How to Make a Poetry Film is a step-by-step guide to creating a poetry film. Each chapter covers different aspects of poetry film and is designed to build skills and confidence. As you progress through the book, you’ll learn:
- where to find the tools to make films at low cost
- how to put everything together
- how to make your films stand out
The style is supportive and clearly delivered. By engaging with the fourteen activities, you will have planned and made at least one poetry film and gained the skills to make many more. All you need is a phone and a little imagination.
In the book I share with you what I have learned over fourteen years of teaching and mentoring. I have tried to bring the same ethos here that I bring to my workshops: a relaxed and enriching learning experience.
Click through to read the rest and make a donation if you’re able. Let’s hope that the situation with shipping from the UK to the US is resolved by publication time!
Single-use Plastic Bag by Abeer Ameer
UK filmmaker Janet Lees adapted a viral poem by Iraqi British poet Abeer Ameer. She told me in an email,
Like many of her poems, this has stayed with me in a visceral way since I read it. For a long time I have been wanting to make a film with Abeer’s poetry, and particularly this poem, but I couldn’t find a way in visually. Then when I was out walking by a children’s playground a few weeks ago, it became clear – I needed to encapsulate that cry we hear so often on social media, ‘What if it was your child?’
Here are the credits from Vimeo:
Based on the poem ‘Single-use Plastic Bag’, by Abeer Ameer @abeer_ameer77
Creative direction & video editing, Janet Lees
Music, ‘Dream Thieves’, Richard Quirk
Footage, Janet Lees, Motion Array & Pexels
Additional sound, freesound.org: children1.mp3 by yacou — https://freesound.org/s/190894/ — License: Creative Commons 0
Seaside Mono.wav by morganpurkis — https://freesound.org/s/402392/ — License: Creative Commons 0
Giggles.aiff by Alex_hears_things — https://freesound.org/s/457275/ — License: Creative Commons 0
Toddler Laughing.wav by Stevious42 — https://freesound.org/s/259625/ — License: Attribution 3.0
Midwest Video Poetry Fest 2025 open for submissions
Submissions to the Wisconsin-based Midwest Video Poetry Fest opened on 1 June, with a deadline of 1 December.
Though this is a screening in the Midwest, we are seeking work from poets, filmmakers and artists from around the country, and even from around the world. We are particularly interested in under-represented voices and works in any of the following categories:
Originals: Original poem and moving images created by the artist(s). Artist(s) may collaborate with each other to create the original work.
Performances: Videos that include elements of spoken word performances but are not limited to a simple recording of a reading are encouraged. Videos might include other elements such as music, animation, other footage, or special effects, to name a few.
Adaptations: The artist(s) may use a poem that exists in the public domain and/or has written permission for use of the work by the copyright holder.
Midwest’s Own: A work that significantly features the Midwest or a place within the Midwest or where the artist(s) a) lives in the Midwest at the time of their submission; b) was born in the Midwest; or c) has lived for a significant period (two years or more) in the Midwest.
Translations: Original work that an artist has translated from another language into English or English to another language. If the audio is spoken in another language, please use English subtitles as our judges are primarily English speakers.
Student Work: Work created by current students or individuals that were students when the work was created.
Poetic Videos: Work that uses poetic structures or forms or is poetically informed in some manner.
Dark by James E. Kenward
A film by Jane Glennie in collaboration with poet/performer James E. Kenward. Here’s the description from Kenward’s website:
Award-winning poetry-film director Jane Glennie came together with poet James E. Kenward on ‘Dark’, made with Jane’s unique photo-collage style. The soundtrack features a fresh piano-arrangement of Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ dueted with the spoken poem ‘Dark’. Jane took a year to hone her response, in the medium of light, to a poem about the dark. ‘Dark’ has gone on to play in festivals all over the world.
There is something magical in the coming together of all the different art-forms in this production.
In some ways the film provides a momentary solution to an age old puzzle that is so much a part of our lives. How to be with the dark itself? Must we always reach for the light?
Please see the interview I conducted with Kenward, where we delve into his process of musical composition for poetry films.
The making of “Dark”: an interview with James E. Kenward
British poet and filmmaker James E. Kenward has a unique approach to musical composition in his poetry films. I wanted to learn a little bit more about that…
Dave Bonta: So many otherwise brilliant poetry films are ruined for me by a faux-classical piano soundtrack—aimless major-key tinkling that many people seem to find atmospheric. I grew up listening to actual classical music, though, and this garbage drives me up the wall. So it was very gratifying to watch DARK, your collaboration with Jane Glennie, and hear classical piano perfectly matched to the mood and rhythm of the piece, leaning on some tasty dissonances—utterly haunting. The parts meshed so well, and what with focusing on the words, I didn’t even recognize that it was an adaptation of a favorite work until the last few seconds.
So what’s your secret? How are you able to achieve this balance where so many other poetry films fall short?
James E. Kenward: Rehearsal!!! For our film scores, we carefully select pieces of music that are in keeping with my poems, sometimes adapting them slightly. I then spend weeks working out how the words fit best into the music – each syllable gradually tending toward a perceived optimum. The pianist and I rehearse intensively to pin down style, dynamic shifts, and key moments, until we are at a point where we can go into the studio, look each other in the eyes, and let go! It has to sound like the vocal part was intended for the music by the composer – a libretto of sorts. It’s a long process, done with a lot of love, and I’m so glad you enjoy the results. In the specific case of ‘Dark’, my nephew Otis Kenward made the new piano arrangement of the Stravinsky at my request, because I thought the juxtaposition of Spring’s arrival with the depths of Dark would be gorgeous. There’s always a chink of light!
What Jane did with it was incredible. She made the duet a trio; when I watch it I feel like she’s jamming with us! A really great balance of artforms – she put a lot of time into considering how to portray Dark in the medium of light, which can’t have been easy! A delicate selection process, in terms of materials. Jane’s amazing. We are so glad that the film was well received in so many places.
Were music and video always a part of your live performances? How did you first get into this collaborative mode of sharing your poetry?
It starts with music and lyricism. I’ve been performing vocals with music for 25 years, having MC’d jungle drum and bass music during my teenage years and twenties, before deciding to concentrate on other forms of poetry. I also wrote and performed in the theatre, with music, and even did lyric-based comedy sketches on the BBC radio.
All the different skillsets, experiences, and people you meet along the way become part of the puzzle. When were thinking of venues to shoot my new poetry film ‘KEY – OR WHO NEEDS THE KEY’, we thought of the Hackney Empire – where I had built bonds earlier, during a musical theatre show. That film, starring T.S Eliot and Polari Prize-winner Joelle Taylor, was my production company, Layerjam’s, third film, the second being DARK, made with Jane, who saw our first film ‘BORNE’, at O-Bhéal in Cork, and approached me after the screening. Jane had the same questions as you do regarding the relationship of music and vocals. When we talked, we knew we had to make something together.
Do you have plans for more?
Our album of poetry and piano features the soundtracks for ‘KEY – OR WHO NEEDS THE KEY’, ‘DARK’ and ‘BORNE’. It goes out this November. There are several new tracks, with music from Tchaikovsky to Alexandre Skrjabin, which we would love to make into films! There will be more concerts. The album actually compliments my illustrated debut-collection Key and Other Poems, which is in the shops now.
Every track on the album is in the book. So, once the album goes out in November, you will be able to read poems that have been hand type-written, scanned, and lithographically printed next to watercolour illustrations; whilst also going to Spotify to listen to the duets, or to view the poetry-films on platforms like Moving Poems!
So thank you. It’s really wonderful to have the opportunity to share. This is a labour of love that we are passionate about. The support of those who work with poetry films, like Moving Poems, feels amazing.
‘Key and Other Poems’ is stocked in Daunt, Waterstones and independent stores. More information about connected artwork from James E. Kenward and collaborators can be found on his website.
