Where I try out different platforms – animation, experimentation, audio and video.
Poetry – Animation
Crossing the Water
A short animated poem originally created in 2001. The audio is me playing the kalimba!
Eating Out
A cycle of three poems made from one set of word tiles. Inspired by my experimentation with magnetic poetry – both online and offline – and originally created as a swf (Flash) file in 2002. This version has been converted to video so that it is compatible with more viewing devices. No audio on this one.
Globetrotting
An animated sonnet inspired by a trip to Blackpool in 2005. That’s where I took the photo. It’s a piece of artwork on Blackpool promenade purporting to be the world’s largest mirrorball, ‘They Shoot Horses Don’t They?’ by Michael Trainor. No audio on this one for copyright reasons, but the ideal soundtrack would be ‘Mirrorball’ by Everything But The Girl.
Poetry – Audio
Feminist Poem (a matter of perspective)
I wrote this poem in August 1986, aged 17. You can listen to an mp3 of me reading the poem, overlaying my recorded voice in 1987 and 20 years later (2007). I found it an interesting experiment to recognise the changing timbre of my voice.
Use the audio player below to hear the spoken words only, or follow the title link above to view the written words alongside the spoken.
How I looked at 17
Sunk
I wrote this poem in September 1986, aged 17. You can listen to a wav file of me reading the poem, as recorded in 1987.
It was a difficult time for me, having understood and accepted my lesbian identity, while feeling so isolated. At that time, I hadn’t knowingly met anyone else who identified as LGBT, and had only confided in a handful of friends. Homophobia was rife. I felt desperately alone and fearful of prejudice.
Use the audio player below to hear the spoken words only, or follow the title link above to view the written words alongside the spoken.
Poetry – Video
Spindle Remakes: a poem of LGBT connectivity – originally written for the Nottingham Festival of Words in February 2013, this version is performed as a celebration of LGBT History Month February 2014
Reading at Sapphist Writers – a link to video of me reading at the Sapphist Writers group in August 2009
Reading at Tea & Poetry – a link to video of me reading at this event in East Hardwick, Vermont, USA in August 2007