Poetry & Chemistry as Form

Very pleased to presenting at a virtual event This event sponsored by the Indisciplinary Poetics Research Cluster at the University of Bristol. Please book via eventbrite here!: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-chemistry-as-form-tickets-151937716801?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

What emerges when poetic form is built from science? Poet Miranda Lynn Barnes and chemist/poet Stephen Paul Wren discuss their collaboration.

About this Event

What emerges when poetic form is built from science? In a current collaboration, Miranda Lynn Barnes has been working with medicinal chemist and poet Stephen Paul Wren to explore this question. Examining the form and structures of chemical compounds such as geranyl pyrophosphate and limonene, indole-3-acetic acid and tryptophan, and chemical processes such as those in photosynthesis, they have created new poetic forms inspired by chemistry. With a particular focus on plant chemistry, themes from the poets’ own engagement with the natural world have begun to transpire in the poems. Exploring this common ground has led to unexpected new insights and ideas around form and process. Join Miranda and Stephen for a brief presentation on their collaboration, a reading of some of the resulting poems, and an audience Q&A.

Miranda Lynn Barnes is a poet from the US, now resident in the UK. Miranda’s poems often engage with science, particularly astronomy and physics, and have appeared in New Welsh Reader, Shearsman, Tears in the Fence, Under the Radar, and Lighthouse, among other journals and anthologies. Miranda taught creative writing for five years at Bath Spa University, where she now serves as Research Publications Librarian. Her debut pamphlet, Blue Dot Aubade, was published in October 2020 with V. Press. Find Miranda on Twitter @LuminousJune, or read more about her work at https://mirandalynnbarnes.wordpress.com/.

Stephen Paul Wren was educated at Cambridge and worked as a chemist in industry for many years. He transitioned back into academia at Oxford University (St Hilda’s College) before joining Kingston University in September 2018 where he works as a Senior lecturer. Stephen recently co-authored a pamphlet of poems with Sam Illingworth entitled A Celestial Crown of Sonnets, out from Penteract Press in March 2021. Stephen’s poetry can be read on his website and you can find him on Twitter @Stephen34343631.

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