Durham Plastic Arts
Whisper Ring
Wednesday October 8
Durham Plastic Arts are a northern-based group who believe that the arts should be a feature in everybody's lives. Their ultimate aim is to create a kind of literary Glastonbury on the outskirts of Durham where creative writing can be accessed by all. With the often small number of people that attend literature events in the city, it looks like the group have a big job ahead of them but with the group's shared enthusiasm and passion for the arts, who knows what the future may hold for Durham?
The afternoon's events were based on ideas about the formation of poetry in the mind. Using a 'Chinese whispers' method, lines of poetry were whispered around a circle of people and the end result (often hilarious) was written down. At certain times during the whispering, the ringleader, Ira Lightman would ring a bell and instead of the current whisper being passed on to the next person in the circle, it was texted, using a mobile phone, across the ring of people, adding an extra element of miscommunication through the new technology of the phone.
The first poem passed around the circle was John Ashbery's They Dream Only of America, and this was used as a warm-up exercise. Below is the first section of the poem. Pass your cursor over the original text, line by line, to see how it was transformed.
They dream only of America
To be lost among the thirteen million pillars of grass:
'This honey is delicious
Though it burns the throat'
And hiding from darkness in barns
They can be grown-ups now
And the murderer's ash tray is more easily-
The lake a lilac cube.
To see the original poem again, use your browser's Refresh button 
Then we moved on. Again, pass your cursor over the original text, line by line, to see how this H.P. Lovecraft poem was transformed:
Come hither, my lads, with your tankards of ale,
And drink to the present before it shall fail;
Pile each on your platter a mountain of beef,
For 'tis eating and drinking that bring us relief:
So fill up your glass, for life will soon pass;
When you're dead ye'll ne'er drink to your king or your lass!
Anacreon had a red nose so they say;
But what's a red nose if ye're happy and gay?
Gad split me! I'd rather be red whilst I'm here,
Than white as a lily - and dead half a year!
So Betty, my miss, come and give me a kiss;
In hell there's no innkeeper's daughter like this!
Young Harry, propp'd up just as straight as he's able,
Will soon lose his wig and slip under the table,
But fill up your goblets and pass 'em around -
Better under the table than under the ground!
So revel and chaff as ye thirstily quaff:
Under six feet of dirt 'tis less easy to laugh!
The fiend strike me blue! I'm scarce able to walk,
And damn me if I can't stand upright or talk!
Here, landlord, bid Betty to summon a chair;
I'll try home for a while, for my wife is not there!
So lend me a hand; I'm not able to stand,
But I'm gay whilst I linger on top of the land!
To see the original poem again, use your browser's Refresh button
Also, Alec Finlay, the Archwhisperer picked a selection of the most poetic lines that came out of the afternoon:
It seems to him to come to America
Tony lost her mum in a whisper of grass
These are delicious
Fawn and pansies - a little
I'm hiding from darkness in poems
They can be growing up and change
Have you heard?
And the murders ashtray is easily heard
The lake a lilac cube.
Altogether, a very entertaining afternoon which demonstrated the amazing power of the mind and the thought that, as Durham Plastic Arts hope, perhaps there is a poet in every one of us.
Durham Plastic Arts are:
Ira Lightman
Alec Finlay
Marie Lightman
Matthew Poole
Jo Dale
Guest reviewer: Bea Colley
