Julia Lajta-Novak, Claire Palzer, Shefali Banerji & Rachel Bolle-Debessay

LISTENING TO POETRY: RETHINKING SOUND IN LITERARY CRITICISM

This presentation examines the role of sound in poetry performance studies, drawing on insights from the research project PoP. We will explore how attention to the sonic dimensions of poetry raises new methodological and theoretical questions, reshaping approaches to literary history and criticism.

By examining different facets of voice – the recorded voice as a primary text, voice as a historical archive, and voice as a poetic element – we emphasise its multidimensional nature and argue for more rigorous scholarly engagement.

Poetry is often made public as sound rather than text, yet literary heritage institutions continue to privilege the written word. While systematic mechanisms exist for archiving printed poetry, no equivalent structures ensure the preservation of spoken word performances. This has resulted in a fragmented archival landscape, where institutional collections and personal recordings fail to comprehensively document the history of performed poetry. Such gaps are particularly significant for ethnicities prominent on performance circuits but whose work is under-represented in print. Being overlooked by traditional literary criticism, their work may disappear entirely if no recordings exist.

Rather than viewing performance as a derivative mode of poetic production, we argue that it actively shapes literary culture, influencing publication, audience engagement, and artistic trajectories in ways often neglected by literary criticism. By considering these dimensions, we highlight the urgent need to rethink the politics of working with sound in poetry performance studies.

Interviews with poets provide another crucial avenue for reevaluating scholarly engagement. Recording poets’ voices in interviews documents artistic intentions and lived experiences, contributing to a collaborative historiography. This process raises ethical and methodological challenges: How should these voices be preserved and accessed? What responsibilities do researchers and institutions bear in this context?

The presentation will conclude with a close listening that demonstrates how poets shape sound in the performance to engage with themes of identity and cultural heritage.

Julia Lajta-Novak is an Associate Professor of Anglophone Literature and Media. Her current research projects focus on British poetry performance and contemporary biographical novels about historical women. ‘Poetry Off the Page’ is a fiveyear project, directed by Dr. Julia Lajta-Novak (University of Vienna), in collaboration with the British poetry organisation Apples and Snakes, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Goldsmiths University of London, Queen Mary University of London, University College Dublin, and the National Library of Ireland. It is supported by an ERC Consolidator Grant and the START-Prize of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). The project investigates the significance of poetry performance to recent British and Irish literary history, taking account of the aesthetic and political potential of oral performance in conjunction with the alternative institutional structures, publication channels, career pathways, presentational formats, styles, and poetic genres that have emerged from its dynamic performance scenes.

Claire Palzer is a PhD researcher studying Irish spoken-word poetry.

Shefali Banerji is a PhD researcher exploring the intersection of poetry performance and theatre.

Rachel Bolle-Debessay is a postdoctoral researcher examining the poetics of the Black Atlantic at the crossroads of music, poetry, and performance.