Hello everybody, welcome back to the Waterstones vlog, it's Will here. I'm not
alone, it's... I think this might be a Waterstones vlog first I'm here with an
author. This is Jen Campbell and Jen and I have known each other for many years
but I'm talking to you today about something completely different which I'm
very excited about, your debut poetry collection which is here,
The Girl Aquarium. Let's start off immediately by saying that you have
written nonfiction, you have written fiction, you've written children's
fiction and now a poetry collection. Is there anything you can't do?!
Yes, there are lots of things that I can't do!
Let's talk about... because I wonder with those different forms of writing when it comes
to writing poetry, who is Jen Campbell the poet?
Who even is she?
What is it about the... what is it that you're expressing with your poetry
which is different to the other writing?
Well, poetry's the thing that I've written
the longest. It's the thing I've written since I was tiny, since I could physically hold a pen. I used to have those
you know, those compendiums of like childhood treasury poems. I really
loved Colin McNaughton, he made me. laugh a lot and I had a brilliant - I was going
to say English teacher but, no, just teacher cuz it was primary school so he taught
everything; but he was really passionate about English, called Mr. Binns in year
six. So when I was like ten. And I remember during break he taught me how
to write haiku. There's no haiku in this book. He went out of his way to
encourage children and the things that they loved which is really....
I know, teachers like that you really remember.
Poetry's the thing that I've written the longest and when I was a teenager obviously I went
through the stage of writing lots of Emo angsty poetry and all of that
stuff. So I think the reason that it's different for me is because normally
it's even though it is part of my job it feels like it's not because poetry is
not something that is in high demand normally and because they're small
contained things I can write them in between doing all of the other things.
When I come back to poetry I really feel like - not to sound ridiculous -
I'm coming back to myself, but because it's the thing that I've been writing
longest and it feels... the thing that makes the most sense for me.
Okay that's interesting because you were saying that
if you're writing poems in between stuff but there is a real consistency to
this collection with some of the themes that you talk about. One of
those things is that there are a few poems in here which are very much
about the human body, about physicality, and one that really stuck with me was a
poem which talks about the sort of the villain in storytelling, who so often is
physically deformed in some way or who has scarring or something like that.
I know that this is something that you've spoken about before. Let's talk
about that because I think it's a really interesting topic and why is that sort
of so important as a theme?
Well it's something that's important to me, so you're right
there is one poem - I'm just going to put my tea down because I
feel like I'm gonna I'm gonna spill it - there is one poem in the collection
which focuses on that in particular and about the representation of- well, to be honest
the whole collection's about the representation of body but that
particular representation that you mentioned, of films showing villains as
being disfigured in some kind of way, it's a trope that I think that lots of
people don't notice until it's pointed out to them. And then once you
notice, you see it everywhere, every James Bond villain, everything. I mean they released as
we're filming this, the new Lion King trailer yesterday. And in that obviously
the villain is Scar, he's just called Scar because he has a scar. But in the
new version they've made him look more disfigured than he was in the original
cartoon. I find it interesting when we're progressing in so many other different
directions, it seems to be one that people really cling to as like a
literary tradition tradition. And I just hit the microphone, I'm really sorry!
And I find it so bizarre. But yeah, it's particularly important to me because I
was born with a condition which means that I'm missing fingers so it's
something that I'm always being not really sensitive to, but hyper-aware of,
because when you see yourself represented you're like, oh!
Either that's the representation that I've seen growing up and continue to see
or what we might deem 'inspiration porn' you know where someone is lauded as
this perfect person you're supposed to feel sorry for
or feel you're supposed to feel good about yourself because you emphasize
with someone who's different. So those are the two kind of extremes.
But yeah the themes in this collection do deal with, the poems in this
collection to deal with body quite a lot.
Jen has spoken about these themes
on her own channel. I'm presuming that almost anybody watching this video
will already know of your amazing presence on YouTube but if you don't
there will be links obviously below to Jen's channel. She not only talks
brilliantly about these kind of things and about the themes around that but she
does you know she talks about books, she talks about poetry, she talks about the book world,
there's just a compendium of delights there so do check out her
channel if you haven't already and subscribe and all that stuff. Getting
back to to The Girl Aquarium. About halfway through the book a new voice, I
suppose, appears, or rather an accent, a very clear accent. Because the
poems are written in, I'm gonna say North East dialect but I'm worried about
getting it wrong, can you tell me more?
It's Geordie. My parents will be cross because it should
be Mackem because we're from Sunderland but I always just say Geordie because I think
more people have heard of Geordie than they have of Mackem. But in the Northeast
the rivalry between Sunderland and Newcastle is intense.
It's real.
It is really real and I did have a Sunderland season ticket for a long time.
The rivalry is big. So yes their accent is Geordie and I think maybe there
are six poems I think, I should know, let's say six it sounds like a good
number. Six poems in the collection that are in Geordie dialect and I have such
fun playing with that accent. It's the accent I grew up with. You have
probably heard I've lost it somewhere along the way. So I grew up in the
Northeast, in a small village by the sea until I was 18 and then I went to
Edinburgh University and then I moved down to London after that and
it's just gone, it flew way. But when I go home I do
find my not slipping back into it but making myself but the back on. If I'm
getting on a bus, must speak in the Geordie accent. But I think it's a
really fun thing to play with. I find it an interesting prism to tell memory
stories through, it's almost like a secret language and because a lot of the
collection deals with queerness - I find it almost Polari-esque in a way.
And it's I think a way of harking back to my
I was gonna say my previous self, I haven't been through many different lives but you
know we all have lots of different selves within us and the little Geordie lass
inside me, it's a way of giving her voice to experiment with memories to do with
with the sea and Northeast mythology.
If you wouldn't mind, just to finish off,
reading a poem from the collection?
Yes, sure, I absolutely can. I don't read much in dialect either
but a good person to reach for if you would like to is Liz Berry.
Because she does dialect amazingly.
She's a Brummie, right, so she writes these incredible
poems in dialect and again you can absolutely hear that accent when you're
reading the poems on the page but if you can, and you certainly can if you
search on YouTube, there are videos of her reading her own stuff. She has got
the most mesmerizing voice - it's like a lullaby - so you just feel
yourself kind of being drawn in as she's speaking, she's really quiet and precise,
it's just wonderful.
That's the kind of hypnotizing power isn't it, of
someone who knows that they can hold your attention whilst speaking so quietly.
She's great. Her collection is called Black Country.
And she has a new collection out called the Republic for Motherhood which is a
little chapbook, but that's not in dialect but Black Country is.
So this one is called Netted. I feel the pressure now!
I know, sorry, I feel like I should leave!
Netted And then they caught us.
Eyes shoutin like they was radio Me hair aal up in their fists
like a cloud. It's long now. Down t'ma navel – cause then aal
the black is like a cave what I sit in. What I can sing in. W'voices hidin
in aal the corners like I'm radio too.
And then the caught us – me 'n' Caitlin we was dancing our way yem
Fairgrounds in wor eyes blazing out like dancin lions
and me stomach a stinkin jellyfish
aal zip-zappin around.
And then the caught us when we was whisperin.
And their fingers got me mouth. The hiccoughs of the ocean
aal drippin down for blouse.
And the sounds was gannin manic like we was trapped underground.
And then they caught us. Said we was danger.
Said our queer souls was as well – Lookin at us like w'fishes
what swam but should've drowned. Yet, I think me soul's a lighthouse
and I cling t'Caitlin's arm. Our voices singin
from aal the corners like we's mermaids in the dark.
Fabulous, Jen thank you so much. It's just a pleasure to talk to you about a
different aspect to your writing that I've never spoken to you about, so thank you.
So there we go, there was a vlog with a difference, with an author. We might do
this again; let us know what you thought in the comments, but in the meantime do
check out The Girl Aquarium by Jen Campbell.
And you must check out her channels as well because there's lots of amazing
stuff on there and you will also discover that she has written many, many
books so there's lots for you to dive into, so there we go.
Thank you very much
That's a pleasure Jen, see you soon, bye.
you