In The Geometric Kingdom, Rupert Loydell and Maria Stadnicka write about loss, grief and mourning, and explore how memory, faith and ritual facilitate the relationship between the living and the dead.
Publisher: Knives, Forks and Spoons Press, UK.
Editor: Alec Newman
‘Loydell is mining themes that resonate with our times, leading to collaborations with a talented array of fellow poets, allowing for a synergistic pulse of varied views. He and his fellow travelers ask difficult questions and offer open-ended answers through the time-tested holy triad of ethos, logos, and pathos.’
– Joey Madia, X-Peri
‘Stadnicka’s poetics is one of craftmanship, wherein she carefully walks the tightrope of surreal poetic metaphor and the gritty realism of investigative journalism and broadcasting. Drawing on her experiences in both, Stadnicka’s writing culminates into a distinctly inventive literary landscape.’
I am seven and have committed a crime. And I am going to prison where my brother won’t visit for fear of being locked up as well. Someone says that if you stare at the classroom walls long enough, Mister Williams can’t read your thoughts because God, hidden in the plaster, has built a shield around your body which makes you invisible.
I trust God to wake me up with a packed lunch I can carry to school, but at break-time all I hear is rumbling and heartbeats. Grandfather warned me that when you get upset your heart grows a claw which pokes at your ribcage until you pass out. And to avoid passing out, I’ve stolen a girl’s lunchbox. I am a thief who will go to prison and die hungry.
Earlier in the week, a few anglo-american media agencies mentioned the ‘quartet of despotism’ in reference to the international reaction to the election results in the US. It could have been a slip of the tongue, or maybe a warning sign that things are not over until are over.
Yesterday, The Guardian, The Independent [yes, I know] picked it up again and included Timothy Snyder’s analysis on the current developments. It reminded me of a talk Snyder gave in Amsterdam in 2017, in which he looked at the contributing factors to the current state of affairs. I’ve only just ‘re-found’ it: ‘Can history save us from ourselves?
The talk is long and if you are short for time, begin with minute six and listen for about 45 minutes.
The fact that The Independent, currently owned by the former KGB officer Alexander Lebedev, has picked this up too, is in itself worthy of further attention.
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It has been an inspiring collaboration with the composer Andrew Heath. There are more surprises coming but for now a short clip as I was reading ‘The Garden Reveals Itself’, included in Andrew’s latest album The Alchemist’s Muse.
“The Alchemist’s Muse continues Andrew Heath’s exploration of minimalism, textures and sonic artefacts like radio static and mechanical noises. Andrew’s work is process-led – he places exquisite clusters of piano notes and guitar drones among warm layers of electronics and treated field recordings, manipulating the results with both analogue tape machines and digital software.
I leave you to decide who or what are the alchemist and their muse.”
There is also this text… that I will use to create a post at the same time… and is about the actual track.
The Garden Reveals Itself (night mix)
The Garden Reveals Itself (night mix), is a completely different version of the same title from Andrew’s album, ‘Evenfall’. Of course, again the title refers to the poem by Maria Stadnika however, here on ‘The Alchemist’s Muse’, the work is warmer, darker and far more intimate as Maria whispers her words directly into your ears.
“I have long admired the work of Romanian born poet, Maria Stadnika and we collaborated together on ‘The Garden Reveals Itself’ from my earlier album, ‘Evenfall’. When I recorded Maria, I also asked her to create a whispered version of her poem. I love the sound and thought of a very intimate voice so close to you. As I was working on the music for this track, it occurred to me that it had a very close, warm sound. As though you were wrapped in blankets in the deep, still dark of night. It was an obvious next step to merge the two and create a ‘night mix’ for her stunning piece.”
The Alchemist’s Muse is available as a CD as well as download here.
‘At Eye Level’ / 30 Sep 2020 / Art book and art exhibition
At Eye Level is a book, it is also an exhibition, it is also a meeting place for four friends. The book opens dialogue and collaboration between poet, painter, printer and photographer which gravitates towards interdependent yet autonomous responses to each other’s particular focus within the political space.
The title At Eye Level references both measuring and aligning (theodolite eye) but also our unique human viewpoint with it’s near and far focus – both minutiae and overview.
The exhibition takes place at The Lansdown Art Gallery / Lansdown Hall, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 1BB.
Opening times: Wed. 30 Sep: 9am – 8pm and Thu. 1st Oct – Mon. 5th Oct: 9am – 5pm.
The art gallery is ‘COVID-safe’ and it has in place the current health and safety requirements to protect the public from spreading or contacting COVID-19. Hand sanitiser will be provided and please ensure that you wear a face mask or face covering if you visit the exhibition. Thank you.
Mark Mawer is a painter based in Goodwick, Pembrokeshire. Over the past forty years he has exhibited regularly in the UK and abroad, and has work in private collections. He worked as a lecturer at Stroud School of Art and on the BA Hons Visual Arts at Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education. He retired from teaching in 2013 but continues to work from his studio on the West Wales Coast.
Andrew Morrison is a book artist and letterpress printer who makes hand-made, limited edition books. His work is in many national collections including The British Library, the Tate, the Southbank and British Council special collections. He has lectured widely in the UK, most recently at the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham. His workshop is currently based near Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Further information about his work can be accessed at www.andrewmorrisonbooks.uk.
John Stadnicki is a photographer and lecturer at SGS College (previously Stroud School of Art, Lansdown). He has been seriously involved in photography since 1981 and completed his MFA in Documentary Photography at the University of Wales in 2008. His photography reveals and reflects the human unease in the socio-political landscape. John still uses film in most of his work.
Maria Stadnicka is a writer, editor and freelance journalist based in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. She is currently a PhD researcher at University of the West of England, Bristol. Her writing explores social identity, cultural theory and the ethics of memory. She is the author of Somnia (2020, KFS Press, UK), The Unmoving (2018, Broken Sleep Books, UK), Imperfect (2017, Yew Tree Press, UK) and the forthcoming poetry-documentary collection Buried Gods Metal Prophets (2021, Guillemot Press, UK). She recently performed her work at Edinburgh Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, Oxford University, Tears in the Fence Poetry Festival. Further information about her work can be accessed at http://www.mariastadnicka.com
Note: During opening times the gallery will follow the safety guidance on social distancing in public spaces.
You are cordially invited to join us on Tuesday 25th August at 7.30pm for a poetry reading like no other: Kelvin Corcoran with The Republic of Song (Parlor Press, 2020), Aidan Semmens with There Will Be Singing (Shearsman, 2020), Maria Stadnicka with Somnia (Knives, Forks and Spoons, 2020).
There Will Be Singing: Aidan Semmens’s fifth collection of poems moves from the range of the world to the deeply personal, always placing the detail in historical context. Employing a variety of poetic techniques, he moves from the moral ambiguities of empire to the run-in to Brexit; from a reworking, forty years on, of the poem for which he was awarded the Cambridge University Chancellor’s Medal, to the breakdown of language suffered by his mother after an ultimately fatal stroke.
“There’s an exuberance of the poet in full stride. Typically, the phrasing and imagery are seductive and of the physical world being lived. Learning is carried lightly, erudition not pushed at the reader but drawn into the lyricism.” —Kelvin Corcoran
Somnia: included among the best books to read during pandemic by The TelegraphArts critics, Somnia is a series of dark, surreal fables, often set in war-torn state – (Tristam Fane Saunders, The Telegraph). ‘Stadnicka’s poetics is one of craftmanship, wherein she carefully walks the tightrope of surreal poetic metaphor and the gritty realism of investigative journalism and broadcasting’ (Bryony Hughes, Stride); Somnia is accomplished and timely, built on acute observation and drawn without judgement. The poems focus on the darker sides of humanity, the intrusion on every day lives by the political forces and show solidarity with those simply trying to protect family and survive’ (Emma Lee, The Journal).
The reading will take place on the Zoom platform and it is free. Email mariastadnicka@yahoo.co.uk for the link and password.