On and off the page: Words, Music and Voice in Yeats and Stein

William Butler Yeats and Gertrude Stein both invite "reading" in unconventional ways. The two were near-contemporaries; both left a very few recordings in which they read their own works; each had a distinctive approach to the "performance" of their writings.

Yeats wrote explicitly about the proper oral presentation of his poetry, and his texts on this subject will be presented and discussed; Stein's approach was more implicit and must be inferred. This workshop explores a practical (re)creation of their texts.

Participants are urged to bring one or more plucked instruments (such as harp, guitar or pizzicato strings) that can also be used percussively (by drumming on the body of the instrument, perhaps). The first part of the workshop will be devoted to experiencing and discussing extant "realisations" of both authors' writings. In the second part, small groups of participants will devise their own versions of texts that will be provided, sharing them with the whole in a final, brief "showing."

A Writers at York event.  Writers at York offers a lively programme of public readings and workshops, and aims to celebrate and explore the work of emerging and established contemporary writers.

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