I have an idea for a project. It’s not ready to be revealed yet as I haven’t really figured it out past the vaguest of vague notions but I think it could work.
What I need is a piece of text. It could be a poem, a speech, a passage from a novel – anything at all as long as it’s about or evokes Birmingham. I’m thinking 4 or 5 paragraphs / stanzas – long enough to last a couple of minutes when read out.
Any ideas?
Artist Hannah Hull wrote a poen for Digbeth: http://digbeth.org/2009/11/the-funeral-of-the-site-2/
There’s a fine set of paragraphs in William Hutton’s 1816 account of his life. Pages 41-42
What about song lyrics? There’s “I can’t find Old Brummagem” which is very old; the Art Gallery have a copy and recording on display.
Roy Fisher. I’ll get you some links in a bit.
I’d suggest The Rotters Club by Jonathan Coe – classic 1970s Birmingham. It has loads of evocative passages.
However, not sure how to gather a text selection for you. I can’t find a version online, so I guess it’s reading it again and copying down extracts.
Hanuman suggested this Lunar Society passage on Twitter:
http://twitpic.com/rlv9z
Sir,
Might I recommend, as dp did above, Roy Fisher – Birmingham River? You can easily find it at poetryarchive.org
Also, I have a document (from intyweb) by one E. M. Rudland in which he, if I understand it correctly, wrote ballads/ poems about the people and events of the Birmingham/ W Mids past… http://tinyurl.com/yfjqjpj
… also, if at All appropriate would really like to get involved/ help?
Jon Bounds recommended this to me when looking for similar:
http://www.archive.org/stream/balladsofoldbirm00rudl#page/n11/mode/2up
There’s a passage in the Lestrygonians chapter of Joyce’s Ulysses that namechecks Brum:
Paying game. Torry and Alexander last year. Polygamy. His wife will put the stopper on that. Where was that ad some Birmingham firm the luminous crucifix? Our Saviour. Wake up in the dead of night and see him on the wall, hanging. Pepper’s ghost idea. Iron nails ran in.
Alternatively, there’s the Beckett-like spoken word intro to the epic (but overlooked) Dexy’s Midnight Runners classic ‘This is What She’s Like’:
Alright Bill?
Alright.
Come in. Where you been?
Oh round and about you know? Nowhere special.
Oh what you been down Bearwood?
Yeah, that’s right. I looked in down there.
What the Little Nibble? Yeah, that’s it.
Seen anybody down there, any mutual friends or acquaintances or anything down there?
No not really, there was no one about.
I’m not being much help, am I?
A late entry… Dexys motion seconded. I also love this from Living (1929) by Henry Green:
“She lay, above town, with Jones. Autumn. Light from sky grew dark over town.
She half opened eyelids from her eyes, showing whites. She saw in feeling. She saw in every house was woman with her child. In all streets, in clumps, were children.
Here factories were and more there, in clumps. She saw in her feeling, she saw men working there, all the men, and girls and the two were divided, men from women. Racketing noise burst on her. They worked there with speed. And then over all town sound of hooters broke out. Men and women thickly came from, now together mixed, and they went like tongues along licking the streets.
Then children went into houses from streets along with these men and girls. Women gave them to eat. Were only sparrows now in street. But on roads ceaselessly cars came in from country, or they went out into it, in, out.
Smell of food pressed in on her. All were eating. All was black with smoke, here even, by her, cows went soot-covered and the sheep grey. She saw milk taken out from them, grey the surface of it. Yes, and blackbird fled across that town flying crying and made noise like noise made by ratchet.”
Going with Dexy’s too.