Poet Voice Episode 13: Repetition, Anaphora, and Deep Listening
By: Cassidy McFadzean
In today’s podcast I discuss the Ampersand Review Writing series workshop that I gave on the topic of repetition and anaphora in poetry. I also discuss the Deep Listening class that I’m taking, and the Year of Deep Listening text scores which can double as poetry prompts, or exercises for honing a poetic sensibility in listening deeply to the world around us. I read a few Deep Listening scores from the book version of A Year of Deep Listening including Deep Listening founder Pauline Oliveros’ own text score: “Take a walk at night. Walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears.”
Writing Prompt: Visit a busy place such as the Square One Mall, the Sheridan student commons, or your favourite restaurant. Listen to the sounds in this environment, imagining that your ears are picking up bit of sound around you, no matter how quiet or loud. Write down as many of the ambient noises, bits of conversation, and sound patterns that you can observe in this space. Then, write a poem or prose piece incorporating as many of these sound components as you like.
