Sun Beats is a collaboration between English students Sarah Cave and Anna Cathenka, a group created to bring people together through their love of poetry.
This week, Sun Beats held their first poetry night at the performance centre which consisted of contemporary poets and their work which was a response to the subject of Ecology. The red tinted performance area and the smell of freshly brewed coffee only intensified the excitement and mood for the evening. The first event welcomed poets: Nancy Campbell, Isabel Galleymore, Sophie Herxheimer, and Nathan Thompson, who all performed a number of their poems, which expressed their outlook and relationship with the natural world.
Nancy Campbell kicked off the night, reading a selection of her poems, which were inspired by ancient mythology and her life in Greenland, discussing the relationship between land and sea. Her extended knowledge of many legends and myths was reflected brilliantly within her words. One poem in particular retold the audience of her search for a tea light, which we then found out later to be a metaphor for the creation of the sun. Nancy Campbell is a natural storyteller, whose poetry contains powerful allusions and endless amounts of imagery.
“They are not men, the boats will disappear again” – Nancy Campbell
Sophie Herxheimer, the artist and poet, began her performance by reading parts of her descriptive book ‘The Listening Forest’. This contained beautifully drawn pictures of trees and plants accompanied by poems. These poems were inspired by the experiences of people during their time spent in the woods. Herxheimer is a unique poet, whose poetry opens up the possibilities of many interpretations. Sophie introduced the audience to the history of her grandmother, a German-Jewish refugee who had moved abroad and faced with a culture, alien to her own. Inspired by the experiences of others, Herxheimer portrays these stories both visually, through her art, and audibly, through applying different accents. Sophie Herxheimer poetry was exciting and stunning, but the unique connection formed with her audience was created through her presence on stage.
“Her poem is breathing us alive.” – ‘Disturbing Mother’, Sophie Herxheimer
Whilst all the poets created poetry that reflected on the relationship between man and nature, Isabel Galleymore distinctly focuses on this subject, and compares the human world with that of the natural world. Isabel Galleymore writes with fluidity and ease whilst also addressing extremely important issues. This includes current affairs such as global warming. Similar to Campbell, Isabel used her knowledge of animals to create poetry, which highlights the situations through gentle rhythm and beautiful language.
“The sting of the first protects the other” – ‘Bond’, Isabel Galleymore
The final poet of the evening, Nathan Thompson, who in the past has collaborated with other poets from Falmouth University. Nathan chose to focus completely on his poetry, leaving out information on his life. Thompson provided two quotations that alluded to the themes within his poems. Heavily rich in metaphors and details, Thompson’s poetry blended together various topics, including time, place and emotion. The sequence ‘A Short Trip to Emptiness’ was a wonderful way to end the readings for the evening, leaving the audience with much to think about in relation to our emotional relationship with nature, as well as the physical.
“In the mist, we’ve been here forever drinking tears from Hawthorns” – Nathan Thompson
The Sun Beats event was a huge success. The audience clearly connected with the poetry presented and later were inspired to perform their own, as people were invited to take to the stage. When talking to Sarah, I asked why she and Anna chose to create such a collective. In response, she exclaimed that their mutual love for ecology and poetry went hand in hand and therefore deserved to be explored and shared.
The night was a triumph and the Sun Beats duo assured me that there would be more events to follow. Keep your eyes peeled for Sun Beats Two!