Caroline Hawkridge recently
received her MA in Creative
Writing, with distinction.
In this report, she recounts
how, last year, a small
grant from the English
Subject Centre
helped to start a MMU
Writing School festival,
and much more.
‘I am not a great fan of poetry, but these films have really been an eye-opener.’
‘... stunning variety of ways poetry can be mediated and illuminated by the moving image, and how TV images and poetry can mutually enliven each other – it made one yearn for more!’
Film poetry can invite a sceptical response from literature or film students alike. An English Subject Centre Student Literary Societies grant enabled me to set up Words on Film, a festival showcasing cutting-edge film poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). My aims were to invite an exchange between disciplines and to alert students to the innovative work that can be produced when poetry leaves the page.
Words on Film featured pioneering BBC producer Peter Symes, poet Simon Armitage and three film screenings. Planning and running the festival was an exciting way of bringing together a variety of students and led to several unexpected outcomes. Now, further plans are afoot, including a second season of screenings.
Poetry and film
Poets and film-makers have been attracted to the synthesis of poetic text and moving images since the 1920s (eg Manhatta, 1921; Etiole de Mer, 1928), although the most famous early example is the documentary Night Mail (1936) featuring W. H. Auden’s verse. More recently, poetry has been used to provide a subjective voice in TV documentaries, eg The Blasphemers’ Banquet (Symes/Harrison, 1989) or Songbirds (Hill/Armitage, 2005). Short films based on poems have also been produced, eg Colin Still’s work for Channel 4 Learning (www.opticnerve.co.uk) or Bloodaxe’s webcasts, Poetry Quartets, (tinyurl.com/6p7sv9).
Today, students have the means to make and distribute their own film poems – or poetry film – and yet even award-winning examples of the genre remain difficult to access because they are TV documentaries. Most TV programmes have never been released on DVD or video and are, therefore, not available, for instance, via the British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC) or British Film Institute (BFI) archives. Also, older films were made before off-air recordings of broadcasts were licensed as teaching resources by the Educational Recording Agency (ERA) under the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.
Words on Film festival
My proposal was to invite a pioneering film-maker to share their creative practice and experience of working with poets as scriptwriters, and to showcase several classic films to a diverse audience of students from disciplines such as literary criticism, Creative Writing and film studies. Benefits would include: critical, creative and social interdepartmental exchange; improved access to poetry film and the collation of a shared list of poetry film resources. As hoped, the Subject Centre grant enabled us to invite the pioneering BBC producer Peter Symes to visit MMU while MMU senior lecturer Simon Armitage volunteered a session on The Not Dead (2007), his latest documentary about war veterans made with director Brian Hill (Century Films). The pair of live events offered a great opportunity to hear a respected film-maker and renowned poet describe their roles. To complement this, three full-length screenings were also arranged:
• 9/11 Out of the Blue (Ned Williams/Simon Armitage, Silver River Production for Channel 5, 2006)
• Black Daisies for the Bride (Peter Symes/Tony Harrison, BBC, 1993)
• The Blasphemers’ Banquet (Peter Symes/Tony Harrison, BBC, 1989)
Words on Film took place over three weeks in November 2008. All events were held in the evening in the English department and were free and open to students.
Adding up
One of the aims of the festival was to encourage critical, creative and social interdepartmental exchange. This occurred during the planning, but
the range of students attending the events proved equally exciting. There was a noticeable split in the attendance however: Peter Symes and the
film screenings attracted a mostly postgraduate audience whereas Simon Armitage attracted a
mostly undergraduate audience.
The sum
Another aim of the festival was to encourage students to explore film poetry ideas for research or creative projects. A chance to pursue this came about during early discussions about the festival when I worked with the Writing School to improve access by MA students to the free digital video training offered by MMU’s Media Services. Between January–March 2008, eight students attended this two-day training. We hope to repeat this in 2009.
Later, judging by what students said they’d learned, the Words on Film festival also provided encouragement for continued student work in this area:
‘... stunning variety of ways poetry can be mediated and illuminated by the moving image, and how TV images and poetry can mutually enliven each other – it made one yearn for more! Thanks Peter Symes. Also poetry on film can be dynamite for change!’
‘Yes, I was sceptical initially as I am not a great fan of poetry, but these films have really been an eye-opener and have inspired me to explore the genre further.’
‘Yes, it introduced me to a whole new way to deal with poetry – both with writing my own and reading others. It has also given me many personal ideas on doing my own poetry for film. Also, I was introduced to Tony Harrison and am currently reading his poetry.’
‘Coming from a background where I had very little exposure to poetry, I think the season has really opened my eyes to what an interesting medium it can be.’
The festival engaged students from different disciplines and provoked critical and creative responses as well as enthusiasm. We have begun collating a list of film poetry resources following discussion with Peter Symes, Simon Armitage, the NW Film Archive and Poetry Library (London). Kate Jessop (www.katejessop.co.uk), MMU’s Artist in Residence, has already donated her film-poem Desires. Other outcomes include requests from both literature and film students for a second poetry film season. We hope to do this, although accessing TV poetry film remains a significant problem.
Conclusion
The process of planning and running the festival succeeded in bringing together a variety of students (and staff!) and launched an interest in poetry film among the diverse audience. The Subject Centre grant provided a focus for this activity and led to small financial supplements from the Writing School, English Research Institute (ERI) and several contributions in kind. However, the festival would have been impossible without a considerable number of people, particularly Simon Armitage, Dr Vicki Bertram and myself, volunteering valuable time and resources. A second season of screenings is in the pipeline, but our more ambitious plans will require further funding.
