© Maria Stadnicka 2020
poetry
Hierarchies
Artwork © Mark Mawer, 2017
I inherit a house at the edge
of wild forests where I rarely go.
There will come a time when lost,
walking the back streets of memory,
I check every gate for a way out.
Only one door handle fits my palm.
A found story I never thought
I was missing; my home, dark
monument recognises my hand.
God forbid this mistake of certainty,
for it brings familiarity of place,
it reduces everything to beginnings
until I admit that what is gone is taller
than me, louder, and always right.
Ask Jonah. He would say the same:
People see monuments as lessons of hierarchy.
They decide the order of things
according to confining walls.
© Maria Stadnicka, 2020
‘Somnia’ launched in Stroud
‘Somnia’ was launched last night at the Museum in the Park, the Pavilion Garden Room. Beautiful photography from Nikoletta Monyok and it has been a joy to share the evening with the gifted writers Caroline Shaw, David Clarke, Adam Horovitz and Philip Rush. Thank you Uta Baldauf for a memorable performance, and to Caroline Rush, Philip Rush and Fred Chance for making the launch possible. Thank you for the generosity of our host, The Museum in the Park, to painter Mark Mawer for his artwork, Alec Newman and The Knives Forks and Spoons Press. It felt so special because there were so many people who attended, despite the bleak and windy weather on a Thursday evening. ‘Somnia’ THANKS YOU!📖
Photography: © Nikoletta Monyok 2019
Cover art: © Mark Mawer 2019
Publisher: Knives, Forks and Spoons Press, UK
Editor: Alec Newman
Further details, on the ‘reviews’ and ‘books’ pages.
Procrusteana
things I am scared about:
slow internet connection,
forgetting passwords, colour,
stepping off electric staircases
a moment too early;
full stop’s claw which follows
everything we forget to be for each other.
I fear unpronounceable names,
houses where nobody lives;
I fear befriending monsters,
past tense verbs in statements about future.
© Maria Stadnicka 2019
The SHIFT Project / 12th – 16th Oct / St. Laurence Church
The SHIFT Project started with an art installation created by the young Tasmanian artist Robin Watkins-Davies. It developed in a set of events taking place 12th-16th Oct 2019 at St. Laurence Church, Stroud, which bring together contemporary art, music, dance, exhibitions, workshops, presentations, poetry. It supports young people’s mental health, bringing awareness of the artistic potential of our movement. Further details about SHIFT and the oncoming events here.
Maria Stadnicka, October 2019
Falling / 12th Oct / Berlin Zeitgeist / at Atélier
Berliner Zeitgeist Programme / Oct.2019
Thirty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall which marked the end of the Cold War.
Performers: Maria Stadnicka, Brenda Waite, Mike Adcock and Uta Baldauf.
Saturday 12th October at 7.30pm. Atelier, Stroud, Glos., UK.
As part of the Berlin Zeitgeist program, artist Uta Baldauf is putting on a performance event with writer and poet Maria Stadnicka, performer Brenda Waite and musician Mike Adcock to respond to the theme of falling in they own creative practice.
Come along for something unmissable. For tickets and further information click here.
Canine Laws
© Claire Palmer, 2019 ‘International Times’
A dog believes people are dogs as well.
To people, this is of no consequence. Humans
are immune to associations, particularly to
associations with Evil; specially if the root of
their actions is Evil itself.
If a dog keeps running away from home, let
him free. He needs to find where the noise
comes from.
In canine terms, silence is an instrument for
torturing dogs who are no longer useful to
their masters. If asked, people would deny
knowledge of this.
Despite clocks, dogs measure time in
intervals passed between the end of
punishment and the beginning of wound
healing. Once the skin seals up, people
rewind the clocks.
It takes a lifetime to a dog to become
human, and three weeks to a human to
become beast.
© Maria Stadnicka, 2019. Published in International Times, 14/09/19.
