Psycho Poetica
Psycho Poetica is a collaborative multi-media event, which I devised in 2010 for the 50th anniversary of Hitchcock's seminal thriller. Each performance involved 12 poets, 12 new poems, 12 stills from the film and an original score by Oli Barrett of Petrels and Bleeding Heart Narrative.
Since April 2010, Psycho Poetica has been performed at the BFI, the Whitechapel Gallery, the Latitude Festival, the Royal Festival Hall and (using only three poets) at StAnza Poetry International in March 2012. I also performed a one-man version of the show at The Gipsy Hill Tavern in November 2012.
Myself and Isobel Dixon also spoke about Psycho Poetica as keynote speakers at The University of York's conference on adaptation, 'Visible and Invisible Authorships' in September 2012. Due to slightly differing line-ups and changing availability, 16 poets and 18 poems have been involved overall.
The 16 poets involved are/were: Simon Barraclough, Jane Draycott, John Stammers, Annie Freud, Matthew Welton, Isobel Dixon, Roddy Lumsden, Dzifa Benson, Chris McCabe, Luke Heeley, Heather Phillipson, Emily Berry, Richard Price, Liane Strauss, Catherine Smith and Joe Dunthorne. The musicians involved were Oli Barrett, Claryssa Carlyon, Philip Noyce and Simon Trevethick.
In November 2012 the long-awaited Psycho Poetica anthology was published by Sidekick Books and was quickly selected by The Daily Telegraph as one of their poetry books of the month; see here. The anthology contains all 18 poems, stills from the project and is divided into 'The Main Feature' and 'Alternative Takes'. You can buy it from Sidekick Books.