The Poetic Lens, with Gordon Meade

For this episode we had the honour of hosting the wonderful poet, Gordon Meade. Gordon is a Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow and the author of numerous books, including Singing Seals, The Private Zoo, and most recently, Zoospeak which features the photography work of Canadian photojournalist and animal activist Jo-Anne McArthur. Gordon also delivers creative writing courses to vulnerable young people in a variety of settings.

We talk about Zoospeak, Gordon’s newest project called Exposed Animal Elegies, and how his life led him to speaking for animals through poetry. Gordon also kindly read three of the poems from Zoospeak, offering us the opportunity to hear them as they were meant to be heard.

3:46 Brown Bear, Germany, 2008 – p26
8:49 Macaque, Laos, 2011 – p52
18:48 Lynx, Denmark, 2016 – p94

We highly recommend viewing the video format for this episode so that you can experience the vivid imagery of Jo-Anne McArthur’s photographs alongside Gordon’s words. You can also find a link to the book *Zoospeak: Poems and Photography* below.

Meet the episode hosts:
Tiamat Warda – www.tiamatwarda.com | @TiamatWarda
Rebecca Madrid – www.rebecca-madrid.com | @RebeccaLMadrid  

https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poet/gordon-meade
https://joannemcarthur.com
https://weanimalsmedia.org 

Gordon’s work:
– *Zoospeak: Poems and Photography* (Enthusiastic Press, 2020) ISBN 1916113044 https://www.enthusiasticpress.co.uk/post/zoospeak
– *The Private Zoo* (Arrowhead Press, 2008) ISBN 1904852106
– *The Singing Seals* (Chapman Publishing, 1991) ISBN 0906772338

The Shifting Lens podcast brings together a team of anthrozoologists critically seeking to shift the lenses through which we view our multi-species world.

SUBSCRIBE:| RSS | Spotify

FOLLOW: Facebook