Paula Claire's Statement:
My aims as OXFORD PROFESSOR OF POETRY
would be
1. to provide a comprehensive update on the hidden mass of innovative 20th-century poetic forms, showing their relationship with time-honoured styles. I believe all organisms evolve, whether living creatues or human artforms: that proves they are vigorous and healthy. Everyone interested in the arts is pro-actively guided by our cultural institutions to understand and appreciate the numerous developments in art and sculpture, dance, theatre and music over the last hundred years; but the comparable adventurous spirit in poetry is still not widely recognized.
I wish to explain the variety of innovations that I as poet, influenced early on by that major pioneer Oxford graduate Gerard Manley Hopkins, have been exploring since the 1960s along with many poets I have met at festivals and exhibitions, here and abroad; corresponded with internationally. This di-vers-ity, represented by sound poetry, visual poetry and concrete poetry, is traceable to ancient forms in cultures world-wide but manifested anew through the radical achievements of the Futurists and Dadaists in the early 20th century, forebears of the new movements since then. These modern often non-linear forms focus on WORDS and the elementary particles of their component sounds and signs, leading to a better understanding of language and its evolution, crucial to the maintenance of its power and accuracy. I have exchanged my Little Press publications with poets world-wide to assemble The Paula Claire Archive of Sound and Visual Poetry Oxford, now containing over 5,000 items, unique in Britain, initially opened during the Oxford Poetry Festival, 1980. I have used this teaching tool in colleges and universities (in Oxford at the University Department of Continuing Education, Oxford Brookes and our Community College) to illustrate the spectrum of fresh forms of expression that frequently transcend categorization.
2. to demonstrate the revitalization of the tradition of group speaking of poetry a constant feature of my work since my first poetry event in 1969. I term group utterance 'responsive' and 'interactive voices,' depending on how complex my poems are. Furthermore, my philosophy of presenting my poetry, created for specific occasions in a great variety of places -- the countryside, extraordinary buildings, shopping malls, museums, gardens and historic settings as well as arts centres, schools and colleges -- I would like to share with students by working in Oxford city and county with participants of all ages, videoed and archived.
3. to encourage the uses of modern technology, aural and visual in the service of poetry. Recordings, including mine, express the range of electronic techniques and sound effects contemporary studios offer, enabling the utterance of poetry and its relationship with music to be leading-edge both in the studio and at actual performances. I would also promote understanding of the contribution computer graphics, photography and film could make to a more vivid presentation of poetry books and DVDs, and the internet's potential in developing on-line styles and a wider appreciation of poetry.
Her Website HERE
Who is eligible to vote?
All former student members who have taken an Oxford degree are eligible to vote in this election. Current student members who already hold a degree from this University (eg: BA, BSc) are also eligible to vote; but members who have not yet taken a degree are not eligible to vote. It is no longer a requirement for voters to hold the degree of MA but it is essential that at least one degree has actually been conferred (either in person or in absentia) in advance of the election date. Persons holding honorary degrees are not eligible to vote, with the exception of former student members who have had a degree conferred as above. Members of congregation are entitled to vote regardless of whether they hold a degree from this University.
Register to vote HERE
Tuesday 4 May, 2010 tagged 