Another season is upon us! At the SpokenWeb Podcast, we continue to bring you episodes that journey into literary history and explore our contemporary responses to it. This season, researchers from across the SpokenWeb community - and a few special guests - produce audio stories that creatively engage with literary recordings in the SpokenWeb archives and put this archival history into context. We will dive deep into clips of preserved sound, reflect on the power of poetic performance, and consider how sound studies can inform our understandings of history and literature. We will look closely at both the individuals and communities that have shaped our literary world. We will consider how our podcast episodes can be a form of scholarship. We will listen closely together. This podcast is for everyone who holds a love for literature, sound, archives, or history - and for all those who love learning something new by listening. We hope you’ve enjoyed our past episodes, and we can’t wait to share this new season with you - coming to your podcast feeds on October 4, 2021!
We would love to hear your reactions and ideas to our stories. If you appreciate the podcast, leave us a rating and a comment on Apple Podcasts or say hi on our social media @SpokenWebCanada.
Trailer Producers:
Judith Burr & Hannah McGregor
Clips Featured:
KPFA recording of Robert Hogg reading at Berkeley Poetry Conference, 1965, from S2E10 “Robert Hogg and the Widening Circle of Return”
Mavis Gallant, SFU, 1984, from S2E9 “Mavis Gallant Part 2: The Paratexts of ‘Grippes and Poche’ at SFU”
Mathieu Aubin, in S2E2 “Lesbian Liberation Across Media: A Sonic Screening”
“Listen to Black Womxn”, by jamilah malika, and Katherine McLeod in S2E8 “Talking about Talking”
Penn Kemp, from S2E3 “Sounds of Trance Formation: An Interview with Penn Kemp”
Wisdom Agorde, from S2E4 “Drum Codes Pt 1: The Language of Talking Drums”
Klara du Plessis, from S2E1 “Deep Curation: Experimenting with the Poetry Reading as Practice”
Stacey Copeland, from S2E5 “Cylinder Talks - Pedagogy in Literary Sound Studies”
Treena Chambers, from S2E7 “Listening Ethically to the SpokenWeb”
Music:
“Slapstick” by Moon Juice from Blue Dot Sessions
00:03
Hannah McGregor:
[Start Music: Upbeat Instrumental] What is it about a voice –.
00:07
Audio Recording, KPFA recording of Robert Hogg reading at Berkeley Poetry Conference, 1965, from S2E10 “Robert Hogg and the Widening Circle of Return”:
...and the voice said, "walk" –.
00:07
Hannah McGregor:
– that can bring Canada's literary past back here into the present?
00:13
Audio Recording, Mavis Gallant, SFU, 1984, from S2E9 “Mavis Gallant, Part 2: The Paratexts of ‘Grippes and Poche’ at SFU”:
[Sound Effect: Tape Clicking Into Recorder] You see I'm a fetishist, the watch has to be there and not there.
00:15
Hannah McGregor:
What might have been forgotten if no one had pressed record or listened to these voices in the archives?
00:24
Mathieu Aubin, in S2E2 “Lesbian Liberation Across Media: A Sonic Screening”:
[Sounds of a printing press] Like a cacaophony of lesbian liberation print sounds.
00:27
Hannah McGregor:
On the SpokenWeb Podcast, our producer researchers have investigated the stories behind the sounds [Audio Recording: Intake of breath] we've saved. [Audio Recording: Intake of breath].
00:36
Audio Recording, “Listen to Black Womxn”, by jamilah malika, from S2E8 “Talking about talking”:
[Audio Recording: Intake of breath, repeated] Listen to Black women/ As a Black woman.
00:39
Hannah McGregor:
We've immersed you in the mystique and –
00:41
Penn Kemp, from S2E3 “Sounds of Trance Formation: An Interview with Penn Kemp”:
[Underlaid sound] [Repetitive non-verbal sounds as sound poem is performed].
00:41
Hannah McGregor:
– joy of Penn Kemp sound poems.
00:43
Penn Kemp, from S2E3 “Sounds of Trance Formation: An Interview with Penn Kemp”:
–can I hear you please? [End Music: Upbeat strings and cello]
00:46
Hannah McGregor:
We've grappled with questions of sonic communication in our episode, Drum Codes.
00:51
Wisdom Agorde, from S2E4 “Drum Codes Pt 1”:
The talking drum travels several kilometres. [Audio Recording: Talking Drum] [Start Music: SpokenWeb Instrumental]
00:57
Hannah McGregor:
With the deep curation of poetry readings –
01:00
Klara du Plessis, from S2E1 “Deep Curation”:
[Audio Effect: Voice Echo] I wanted to really curate a poetry reading.
01:02
Hannah McGregor:
– with teaching audible history in "Cylinder Talks"–
01:05
Stacey Copeland, from S2E5 “Cylinder Talks - Pedagogy in Literary Sound Studies” :
Inviting students to engage in audio production.
01:08
Hannah McGregor:
– and, with the ethics of listening.
01:10
Treena Chambers, from S2E7 “Listening Ethically to the SpokenWeb”:
You don't go into it with a preconceived agenda and you can enjoy it for just for the sake of listening.
01:19
Hannah McGregor:
Now in season three of the SpokenWeb Podcast, we continue this audible research and storytelling. We have new stories to look forward to, more histories of Canadian writers and poets, more on the technologies of talking drums, and more explorations of the places that preserving sonic history can take us as tools of memory, teaching, and wonder. Whether you're a lover of literature or a sound studies scholar, this podcast has something to share with you. We hope you'll subscribe and join us for season three of the SpokenWeb Podcast coming to your podcast feeds on October 4th. [End Music: SpokenWeb Instrumental Music]