Introduction post
Dec. 5th, 2011 09:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzula posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
poetreeHi! I'm luzula, and jjhunter found a post I'd made in my journal about reading poetry out loud and asked if I wanted to post about it here during this week. So here I am. : )
I am--kind of a random poetry reader? I mean, I don't actively hunt for new poetry the way I hunt for new fiction or new music. But sometimes I'll stumble over poetry that really moves me and then I'll track down more poetry by that author. Stuff I have found this way and which I love include C. D Wright, Ursula K. Le Guin's translation of the Tao Te Ching, and the Swedish-Finnish poet Eva-Stina Byggmästar (I am Swedish myself). I used to write poetry when I was younger, but it was just for my own private purposes, kind of like a diary. Nowadays my creative writing energy is channeled into writing fan fiction instead.
I also do a good deal of amateur audiobook recording, mostly podfic, but I also record at Librivox, which is an awesome volunteer site dedicated to recording public domain books and other writings (including poetry) and releasing them back into the public domain.
Here is my plan for this week:
- a post about reading poetry aloud and why it appeals to me. I'll also share one of my Librivox recordings.
- a post about setting poetry to music, which is something I've done almost since I was young enough to read. I'll share some recordings here, too.
- a post about another person's recording of a poem that changed how I experienced the poem.
I'll keep to public domain poems, so as not to break the guidelines on the comm profile.
Right, I'll end with a bite-sized poem that I've recorded. (Rather bleak, I know. It, um, inspired me to write a story from the POV of someone turning into a zombie, which I bet is not what Walter de la Mare was thinking about. *facepalm*):
November, by Walter de la Mare
There is wind where the rose was,
Cold rain where sweet grass was,
And clouds like sheep
Stream o'er the steep
Grey skies where the lark was.
Nought warm where your hand was,
Nought gold where your hair was,
But phantom, forlorn,
Beneath the thorn,
Your ghost where your face was.
Cold wind where your voice was,
Tears, tears where my heart was,
And ever with me,
Child, ever with me,
Silence where hope was.
luzula, and jjhunter found a post I'd made in my journal about reading poetry out loud and asked if I wanted to post about it here during this week. So here I am. : )I am--kind of a random poetry reader? I mean, I don't actively hunt for new poetry the way I hunt for new fiction or new music. But sometimes I'll stumble over poetry that really moves me and then I'll track down more poetry by that author. Stuff I have found this way and which I love include C. D Wright, Ursula K. Le Guin's translation of the Tao Te Ching, and the Swedish-Finnish poet Eva-Stina Byggmästar (I am Swedish myself). I used to write poetry when I was younger, but it was just for my own private purposes, kind of like a diary. Nowadays my creative writing energy is channeled into writing fan fiction instead.
I also do a good deal of amateur audiobook recording, mostly podfic, but I also record at Librivox, which is an awesome volunteer site dedicated to recording public domain books and other writings (including poetry) and releasing them back into the public domain.
Here is my plan for this week:
- a post about reading poetry aloud and why it appeals to me. I'll also share one of my Librivox recordings.
- a post about setting poetry to music, which is something I've done almost since I was young enough to read. I'll share some recordings here, too.
- a post about another person's recording of a poem that changed how I experienced the poem.
I'll keep to public domain poems, so as not to break the guidelines on the comm profile.
Right, I'll end with a bite-sized poem that I've recorded. (Rather bleak, I know. It, um, inspired me to write a story from the POV of someone turning into a zombie, which I bet is not what Walter de la Mare was thinking about. *facepalm*):
November, by Walter de la Mare
There is wind where the rose was,
Cold rain where sweet grass was,
And clouds like sheep
Stream o'er the steep
Grey skies where the lark was.
Nought warm where your hand was,
Nought gold where your hair was,
But phantom, forlorn,
Beneath the thorn,
Your ghost where your face was.
Cold wind where your voice was,
Tears, tears where my heart was,
And ever with me,
Child, ever with me,
Silence where hope was.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-05 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-06 09:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-06 12:22 am (UTC)Was this the zombie-inspiring line?
Heh. Anyway, it occurs to me that some of the people on the comm might not be as familiar with giving feedback for how someone reads (performs? recites? says? speaks? is there an all-around verb that's usually used to describe how someone reads a piece of poetry?) a piece of text; do you have links you'd recommend? I dug out two posts from
no subject
Date: 2011-12-06 11:57 am (UTC)I don't know that the podfic community has done a lot of meta on how to formulate feedback on reading, other than what you link to. Or, hmm, there was the Podfic Critical Feedback Exchange a while back, and I know there was discussion then about how to write feedback, but I can't seem to track down the posts about it. I'm sure other communities who do audio stuff have discussed this and come up with good ways to feedback, but sadly I'm not aware of them. So I'm not much help here--I want to get better at it myself!
My accent is kind of a mix. I lived in the US for two years when I was a kid, and after that I read a lot in English by myself and my accent sort of went its own way.
And yeah, I love my microphone--it's a ZOOM H2 (but really, you don't need an expensive microphone in order to record).
no subject
Date: 2011-12-06 01:11 pm (UTC)I've been using my computer microphone to record my singing & (recently) poetry and podfic (e.g. my recent recording of Billy Collins' poem 'Forgetfulness'), but I keep getting this darn echo effect that's really, really irritating.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-07 08:57 am (UTC)Not silly at all! I (almost?) always end up with textures when I try to describe the sound of things. I try to use it in my writing, but the textures are hardly ever very clear or easily put into words, which makes that harder to do.
Thoughts
Date: 2011-12-06 02:23 am (UTC)You're welcome to look through my published poetry for stuff that you might wish to record; I have a LOT of it posted online. Also I'm doing a live poetry activity on Tuesday, with a theme of "chocolate and other foods," if you'd like to observe that.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2011-12-06 03:09 am (UTC)What characterizes hearing poetry read aloud in person versus hearing a recording of it that makes one enjoyable for you and not the other?
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2011-12-06 03:30 am (UTC)No, I like music and songs. I don't much care for spoken-word audio, with a few extremely rare exceptions. Also, I use music and songs -- and also environmental sounds -- for background, not for primary entertainment. I'm doing something else.
It's the time investment. I read at blinding speed. Seriously, I can read a novel in half a day. Listening to something is so slow it's aggravating. I can't easily do something else at the same time, and I get bored.
In person, I'm at an event not just listening to entertainment. I can watch the people and pick up on the energy. I also have a chance to talk with the poets afterward, most of the time. So that's different for me.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2011-12-06 12:04 pm (UTC)Yeah, I get that. I used to feel the same way--it frustrated me that I couldn't affect the speed of reading. But then I started to think of audiobooks as a different medium entirely from books. It's not really the same thing as reading at all, and I get other things out of it than I do reading a book.
But yeah, I get that it's not for everyone, especially if you can't do other things at the same time! I usually listen while washing the dishes or walking to work, when I couldn't read a book anyway. (Well, okay, I have been known to walk around outside with my nose in a book, but it's certainly not ideal. *g*)
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2011-12-06 01:16 pm (UTC)