‘TRANSFORMATIONS’

TRANSFORMATIONS

A Very Warm Welcome Poets!

Firstly, let me say a big thank you for being so patient with me in relation to the formal launch of this idea. I wanted to get it right for you all and also to make sure it worked. 

Here we go:

ARTIPEEPS’ COLLABORATIVE POETRY PROJECT 2013 on the theme of ‘TRANSFORMATIONS’

The Idea :

Is that we will create a new contemporary extended narrative re-interpretation of Ovid’s METAMORPHOSES created by a range of diverse poetic voices (ie. you) (the famous epic poem completed in AD 8 ; a tale about change and transformation, myth and legend, charting the world’s creation from the beginning to the crowning of Julius Caesar). Our piece will be inspired and driven by the content of the 15 books therein (see below).

10 plus poets working together over 15 months starting in February 2013 (this will give us a chance to get over xmas and will give me time to start up a Facebook Group Page so you can share your experiences, collaborate and hopefully create a little mini-community … ). The start date will be formerly confirmed to all participants once numbers have been firmly established. I will also need email addresses (some of which I’ve already got).  

Logistics:

Each poet will be asked to produce at least one poem per month (if you’re a poet who writes quickly you can do more that’s fine) inspired sequentially by the stories in each book of Metamorphoses (1-15). One book per month. One poem per month, submitted to me via email by at least the last Friday of the month. You can use just one of the stories as a point of inspiration or all of them. It’s up to you. The stories can be interpreted in anyway you like within a modern or ancient context. The idea is that the piece will be of  contemporary relevance. An extended time frame has been chosen so that the emphasis can be on creating quality whilst giving you the space and time to create and engage with the subject matter freely and within a sensible time frame (i.e. on top of life). 

 

Here are the books to give you an idea (you might need to get hold of a copy if you haven’t got one already or there’s a copy online HERE : 

 

Month 1 Book I: Cosmogony, Ages of Man, Gigantes, Daphne, Io;

Month 2 Book II: Phaëton, Callisto, Jupiter and Europa;

Month 3 Book III: Cadmus, Actaeon, Echo, Narcissus, and Pentheus;

Month 4 Book IV: Pyramus and Thisbe, Hermaphroditus

 and Salmacis, Perseus & Andromeda. 

Month 5 Book V: Phineus, the Rape of Proserpina;

Month 6 Book VI: Arachne, Niobe, Philomela and Procne;

Month 7 Book VII: Medea, Cephalus and Procris;

Month 8 Book VIII: Nisos and Scylla, Daedalus and 

Icarus, Baucis and Philemon;

Month 9 Book IX: Heracles, Byblis;

Month 10 Book X: Eurydice, Hyacinth, Pygmalion, Myrrha, Adonis,

 Atalanta, Cyparissus;

Month 11 Book XI: Orpheus, Midas, Alcyone and Ceyx, Aesacus;

Month 12 Book XII: Iphigeneia, Centaurs, Achilles;

Month 13 Book XIII: the Sack of Troy, Aeneas;

Month 14 Book XIV: Scylla, Aeneas, Romulus;

 Month 15 Book XV: Pythagoras, Hippolytus, Aesculapius, Caesar.[1]

They are truly beautiful stories  that have shaped our existence and mythologies! Wonderful! 

In order to mark the monthly transition from one book to the next. I will blog an introductory post outlining the stories and content of each book. I am also going to allocate one page of ArtiPeeps to the collaboration and there you will find all the details of the project. I will also include suggested OPTIONAL word and form prompts which poets can use to direct their work if they wish. 

When the poems for that particular post come in I will post them directly onto that page, and cumulatively we will create a massive collaborative epic contemporary poem ! How exciting is that? It’s exciting !

 

Outcomes:

I have in mind that extra to the sheer satisfaction of having produced this mega piece of work that I will also find a means (on its completion) to publish our work  in a hard-copy format; or, maybe, to turn it into a multimedia piece in some way… I’m exploring options at the moment….

 

Joining Us:

I know so far that 10 plus poets have said they are interested, but the more the merrier! If you’ve read this and would like to get involved please do contact me via the reply box or via @ArtiPeep on Twitter. And indeed if you know of anybody who might be interested in this project do pass the information on to them and they can gladly join us. 

I want to make this a truly great collaborative experience for you all and I also want to produce a piece of work that is of true quality and a reflection of all your talent. I’m always up for feedback and input. If you think I’ve forgotten anything, or are confused logistically please do get in touch. The good thing about starting in February is that we have time to tweak things. I will put the ‘Transformations’ page up shortly.

Thank you for your interest and support. I’m really looking forward to working with you all over an extended period of time and creating something truly wonderful, meaningful, socially relevant and creative.

Let the collaboration commence!

Nicky

aka

ARTIPEEP