Poet and Artist in Residence at Poetry in Aldeburgh, November 2018
Exhibition and workshop at The Lookout
Visual, stitch works and a collectively written litany prompted by coastal encounters. 48 writers drawn from past Coast to Coast to Coast issues, wrote in response to a prompt – the resultant 48 lines were developed into project of 48 stitched works and a printed litany.
Curator’s Introduction:
In response to Maria’s prompt, on or as close as possible to 31 August 2018, at 8 pm, poets drafted a poem at their chosen coast; each draft was given location, date and time as a title, and poets sent a few lines to Maria representing the essence of their writing.
One line of text was selected from each poet to create a litany of the coast around the UK and Ireland and beyond. The litany, thanks to collaboration with Tony Chambers, has resulted in a graphics piece, and beautiful concertina journals. Each line of the litany has also been translated into abstract works resulting in the 48 stitched pieces on display.
The artworks are depicted in the order of the litany: the journey around the coast starts at the Pier Head in Liverpool, tours the coast of Northern Ireland, travels around Ireland including Galway, Kerry, Cork, and Wicklow before travelling to Wales, Somerset, Cornwall, along the south coast west to east and north up the east coast to Whitby and beyond to Scotland, east to west from Aberdeen to Loch Fyne, over to the Isle of Arran before returning to Southport and Crosby in Merseyside. It was a pleasure to include four poets located outside of the UK at the time of writing (South of France, Geneva, Turkey, and California).
Featured poets: Maria Isakova Bennett, Olive Broderick, Moyra Donaldson, Emma McKervey, Therese Kieran, Stephanie Conn, Pam Thompson, Attracta Fahy, Karen J McDonnell, Daragh Breen, Annette Skade, Michael Ray, John Mee, Michael Sheehan, Nessa O’Mahony, Breda Wall Ryan, David Coldwell, Jean Atkin, Katharine Towers, Ama Bolton, Katrina Naomi, Rebecca Gethin, Isabel Bermudez, Robin Houghton, Abegail Morley, Jane Lovell, Andrea Robinson, Martin Bewick, Jane Wheeler, Carole Bromley, Carole Bromley, Sandra Burnett, John Foggin, Julie Hogg, Pippa Little, Sussanah V Evans, Marjorie Lotfi Gill, Finola Scott, John Glenday, Mandy Macdonald, Martin Malone, Mark Russell, Michael Brown and Maria Isakova Bennett, Will Daunt, Jeffa Kay, Sharon Black, Ruth Aylett, Janet Hatherley, Charles Lauder
A SMALL SELECTION OF THE 48 PIECES, INCLUDING LINES FROM THE LITANY OF POETS’ WRITING
