Nina Parish (University of Bath) and Emma Wagstaff (University of Birmingham) are delighted to invite article proposals for an Autumn 2018 guest-edited special issue of L’Esprit Créateur on the theme of ‘Poetry’s Forms and Transformations’.
The poetic practice of the last twenty years in France takes multiple forms. The definition of poetry is expanding to take account of its porous boundaries with other art forms, practices and genres, whose own boundaries and definitions are also challenged and expanded. This special issue will examine the connections between poetry and other disciplines and creative practices. The volume will not simply propose that poets engage with the work of other practitioners. The AHRC Translating Cultures workshops from which it emerges (see http://frenchpoetryand.wordpress.com) revealed that the relation between poetry and other creative practices produces new artistic forms rather than dialogue, and poetic objects emerge that are more than written texts inspired by other media. Poetry leaves behind the format of the written collection to extend into other domains, and poets reflect on that phenomenon in their texts or in parallel to them, thinking about what other forms and practices do to transform poetry. Among the most recent manifestations of innovative poetic forms are poets’ explorations of the possibilities afforded by digital technologies, not merely to aid the dissemination of their work, but rather radically to transform our understanding of performance, exhibition and publication.
We invite proposals for articles in English that examine contemporary (post-2000) French-language work in which poetic practice engages with other creative practices or disciplines to produce new forms, and would be particularly keen to receive proposals on poetry’s involvement with dance, architecture, or film. We welcome proposals on French-speaking practitioners not based in France as well as on female-authored creative work. Abstracts of around 250 words should be sent to n.parish@bath.ac.uk and e.r.wagstaff@bham.ac.uk by 30 September 2017. The deadline for final articles (c. 6000 words) to be submitted will be 31 January 2018.