Poem Brut is entering a third phase. I began the project hoping my approach would create a nice series of events. I wanted to promote poetry methods that engaged in their context, innovatively, in a contemporary way, with the handmade, the visceral, the visual and the live while also asking what effect our brains have on our writing. I wanted to include knowledge from those with alternative cognitive experiences. But I didnt want to make them definitional. I didn’t want to advertise it, or make the project about ‘outsider’ poetry, or people’s bio. This is all seems to have worked. I’ve had emails over the lockdown asking me about the ‘movement’ of Poem Brut. It’s a bowel word but that’s nice that people see the project as a thing.
Our first phase was events and publications. Our second was about continuing that energy, including exhibitions and then commissioning and mentoring individuals who are often left out of that kind of stuff because they are so original. In both cases the open submissions of our 3am series kept the people involved ever changing, growing, open minded and open doored.
This third phase, planned for 2021, will continue all these activities, but go further in helping poets branch out with their own projects. A brilliant example of this is the incredible teaching work of Paul Hawkins at the Second Step mental health charity in Bristol. Paul has done an amazing job sharing Poem Brut work and ideas to people using Second Step’s service. You can read about that here https://www.poembrut.com/secondstep and the tweet above says it all. / More coming soon on Poem Brut in the new year, when hopefully we are all able to meet again in person.
