No shame at all Geraldine!
I agree with so many essences of each mail. I am not arguing for any dumbing
down, nor a soup or a mud. I totally support Geraldine's friend in his
battle with the WMA.
Perhaps I can clarify through my own work. The Great Yarmouth Site Specific
Project involves myself, Rob (a brilliant 22 year old photographer) and the
fast expanding Quill Writing Group, actively involving seventeen. The group
is entirely independent, drawn from across the borough. They write,
generally, in rhyming couplets - despite huge influences thrown at them. But
think: rhyming couplets belong to folk and modern songs. That's fine by me.
Imposed on us all in this project is that we - as a mushy allotment - have
to produce a 12 minute screening of text, voice and images. The group, ever
enthusiastic, have done amazing amounts of research about their town. Out of
this, they've written enough to fill a big folder.
My job is to edit down their precious four hours worth into 12 minutes -
including each! I could've gone through each of their poems as an
'arbitrator' and told them what I wanted to cut and include. Thus, I would
have to decide 'good' from 'bad' as if on high. To introduce them to editing
I brought along three of my own poems for them to tear to pieces at my
pleasure - down from 30 lines each to 6 or less. They did this individually
and in couples - and it was a liberation for us all. They'd exposed my bones
and made brilliant dances with the skeletons - so they were kind of enthused
about editing themselves, their work.
Thereby, I'm not posing myself over their work but they have arrived at a
point where they can go through the same process to realise the project. And
it is not about 'good' and 'bad' but about what fits the frame we've been
given.
Of course, we all have preferences, passions and prejudices of our own
towards writings. That's fine, for one couldn't run a small press without
discerning what one wants to publish or reject. But that judgement is ones
own - or should be. There is no holy grail of poetry but there is, for me,
the pursuit of equality for All People through a dialectic of sharing
difference (hence my allotment analogy).
Best wishes, Rupert
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