From the memory of a 90s television programme, where a small portable receiver was shown out and about - the continuity announcer talking about songs and music and life - interspersed with obscure music videos from the far fringes of the current taste, the idea of an aesthetic stuck in my head.
A radio, filmed in interesting locations, and the announcer talking about art and poetry and life, as if a radio programme was just on in the background as passers by and nature and the world go about their business around it.
Decades later this image finally took form as a creative video art project, with poems and essays.
Here a selection of 10 poems and 8 poets.
More info: youtube.com
'What kind of Times are these' by Adrienne Rich
𝗔𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵 (1929 - 2012) was one of America’s foremost public intellectuals, essayist and feminist.
'Warning' by Jenny Joseph
𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵 (1932 - 2018) was an English poet, featured here with her most well known poem 'Warning'.
'Lines Written on hearing Sweet Home' by Mathew Franklin Whittier
𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘄 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 (1828 -1883) was the seldom remembered brother of the nationally celebrated poet, John Greenleaf Whittier. His poems scattered and spread here and there in magazines and newspapers under various synonyms.
'Mit a Nar' by Malka Heifetz Tussman
𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗮 𝗛𝗲𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘇 𝗧𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻 (1893 - 1987) was a Ukrainian-American Yiddish poet and teacher who was said to have been a bridge between generations of Yiddish poets from Eastern Europe and American-born Jewish poets.
'Revenge' by Letitia Elizabeth Landon
𝗟𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 (1802 - 1838) was an English poet and novelist who influenced many fellow English writers of her time.
'L'Ardeur' by Anna de Noailles
𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗱𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘀 (1876 - 1933) was a French writer of Romanian and Greek descent, a poet and a socialist feminist.
'The Storm' by Anaïs Nin
𝗔𝗻𝗮ï𝘀 𝗡𝗶𝗻 (1903 - 1977) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica.
'Alone' by Edgar Allan Poe
'To Helen' by Edgar Allan Poe
𝗘𝗱𝗴𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗲 (1809 - 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories.