Grassy Grayson by Grayson Cahal
Grayson Cahal was in the 3rd grade (in Chatham Elementary School, Lodi, Ohio), so 8 or 9 years old, when he wrote this astonishing poem. Ruth Turner did the animation, and the accompanying poster was designed by Ryan Sprowl.
This video is one in a series – part of the second Healing Edition of the Traveling Stanzas project which is a collaborative effort between the Wick Poetry Center‘s outreach program and the Glyphix design studio at Kent State University.
Shame by Richard Wilbur
http://vimeo.com/66795826
This film is called drawing, and its maker, Paul Mounsey, notes only that it was shot on 16mm film. The text may be found online here. The Poetry Foundation has a very good page on Richard Wilbur, along with a generous selection of his poems.
Witness by Lissa Kiernan
A film by Swoon for the poem “Witness” by Lissa Kiernan, recorded for qarrtsiluni‘s Animals in the City issue. This is Swoon’s 11th film for a qarrtsiluni poem. A couple of snippets from his blog post about it:
The track I wanted to lay this podcast in had to be a bit dreamy but also suspenseful and foreboding (with a small hint of mysteriousness) […]
The images had to be lush, but with a hint of decay. I had a vase with tulips, way past their ideal point of freshness. The petals falling gave me the idea for this video…
The first time I watched this, the images Swoon chose to accompany the text struck me as possibly a bit too random. But now they strike me as a subtle but inspired match. And the poem is, after all, directly concerned with how we might view an odd conjunction.
Ursonate (excerpt) by Kurt Schwitters
http://vimeo.com/66612735
William Shum says about his film,
A short excerpt from Kurt Schwitters sound poem, “Ursonate”. The typeface was created from scratch and inspired by the “Merz” art Schwitters created, hence the name, “Merzy”.
This may be the first example of a typeface invented for a videopoem.
The Wikipedia article on Kurt Schwitters includes a paragraph on Ursonate:
Schwitters composed and performed an early example of sound poetry, Ursonate (1922–32; a translation of the title is Original Sonata or Primeval Sonata). The poem was influenced by Raoul Hausmann’s poem “fmsbw” which Schwitters heard recited by Hausmann in Prague, 1921. Schwitters first performed the piece on 14 February 1925 at the home of Irmgard Kiepenheuer in Potsdam. He subsequently performed it regularly, both developing and extending it. He published his notations for the recital in the last Merz periodical in 1932, although he would continue to develop the piece for at least the next ten years.
Man and Woman by Sergej Timofejev
Edmunds Jansons made this video for a piece by the Russian-Latvian poet Sergej Timofejev, a member of the Orbita collective and a pioneer of Russian-language videopoetry.
After the Robins by Angela Readman
This is Alastair Cook‘s Filmpoem 31. He writes:
After the Robins is a magnificent tour de force of a poem by the English poet Angela Readman; Readman grew up in Middlesbrough and following university in Manchester relocated to Newcastle upon Tyne to complete a film studies MA. She completed a masters in creative writing at the University of Northumbria in 2000 and won a Waterstones prize for her distinctive poetry and prose. Her words are incredible, I think.
This film comes at a difficult time and is dedicated to my late Godfather, a real and bright presence in my young life.
The poem is read by my brother in life, Gérard Rudolf; the haunting lilting music composed by yvonnelyonmusic.com; I’m very pleased to say I’ll be working with Yvonne over the coming year with our filmpoem.com/absentvoices/ project. Please do think about following twitter.com/AbsentVoices for updates.
For more on Angela Readman, see her Wikipedia page.
Moon in the Window by Dorianne Laux
http://vimeo.com/66443184
Artwork (for the accompanying poster) and animation are both by Alison Farone of Glyphix design studio.
The 2013 edition of Traveling Stanzas is a collaborative project between Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center and Glyphix design studio. This series combines the creative talents of KSU Visual Communication Design students with student writers (grades 3–12), health care providers, patients, veterans and professional writers to encourage dialogue about the connection between art and medicine, writing and healing.
Much appreciation to Dorianne Laux who graciously allowed us to us her poem “Moon in the Window” as inspiration for a poster design and poetry animation.
