Creative workshop: Multilingual poems by Elizabeth Gibson

 Hello!

 This is Elizabeth, and I have a workshop for you on multilingual poetry. Do you need to be multilingual to take part? No! If you speak just one language you can still join in.

 I speak several languages, and have long incorporated them in my work. See this poem which is based around the Mandarin Chinese names for planets.

 For me, comparing words in different languages is fascinating. The last thing I would think to call Mercury is Water Star, yet I find the name beautiful and apt.

 The Mandarin Chinese for water is "Shui", pronounced "Shway", which always seemed just right to me, though I couldn't put my finger on why. In trying to suss out why I like it, I wrote this poem.

 And it doesn't have to be Mandarin! I also speak French, Spanish, Catalan and bits and pieces of other languages. I find the relationship between the foreign (to me) languages and English, and between each other, can provide the basis for some powerful writing.

 So, how do you get started writing a language poem?


If you speak more than one language

 If you speak more than one language, ask yourself some questions. How do the two languages differ, and how are they the same? Do you speak them in different circumstances (with your friends, with your family, at school) and does that affect your relationship with the languages?

 How does each language feel in your mouth, in your ear, in your heart? How does it look written down? The answers to all of these questions can provide the basis for a poem.

 An exercise you could do if you speak at least three languages is choose an object, state its name in each language you speak, and then discuss what you think about the variation in the names, and what it might tell you about the culture the name comes from.


If you speak one language

 If you speak only one language, you can still write multilingual poetry. Choose a word or phrase and look it up on a reliable dictionary or translator in another language. Focus on that one foreign word and think what is means to you. Read it, listen to it if possible, say it aloud. Then write a poem.

 If you are monolingual and are reading this, statistically the odds are high that your language is English. English is made up of so many other languages: French, Latin, German and more. Why not choose an English word and find out its origins, and write about it?


 I really hope you enjoyed this workshop and found it useful. Why not send your multilingual poems to Miracle? The information can be found on the submissions tab at the top of the page.

 Please bare in mind that poems sent to us must be principally in English, though of course you can include some foreign words, as that is the point of this workshop! However, please make it clear what they mean.

 Thank you, and we look forward to hearing from you!

 Elizabeth Gibson
 Blog Editor and Fiction Editor at Miracle

Meet the team: Elizabeth Gibson

Interview (with myself!)

Could you briefly introduce yourself?

My name is Elizabeth Gibson and I am from Wigan in the north of England. I currently live in Perpignan, France, where I teach English.

What sort of writing do you do?

I write poetry, which I regularly post on my blog and my professional Facebook page. I am working separately on two poetry collections at the moment. One is a "concept collection", so to speak, with a strong theme. The other is simply a collection of my best poems, although there will be loose links between the poems because there are many common themes to my work. Nature, life, death, travel and love all feature heavily.

I finished my first novel in 2013. It is contemporary YA, set largely in France, and is inspired by my love of French culture. It also investigates different forms of love. I hope to have it published some day.

I also write for The Mancunion student newspaper and The Cuckoo Review, and I have blogged for Manchester Literature Festival and Manchester Cornerhouse.

What does writing mean to you?

For me, writing is like magic - it allows you to do all kinds of things you can't in real life. I can transform into another person, or an animal, or anything, in fact; I can travel to places I've never been; I can go back and forward in time. I also find writing therapeutic - it is a great way to relax. I often write at the end of the day as a way of winding down.

How did you get into writing?

I don't remember any particular moment where I began to like writing; it has always been there. From as young as seven or eight I wrote poems and my brother and I would write stories together. As a kid, if anyone asked me what I wanted to be, I would say a writer without hesitation.

Who or what inspires you?

I mentioned some of my inspirations above: nature, travel, etc. Other things include my family and friends, memories, and language - as someone who speaks several languages - English, French and Spanish and some Catalan and Mandarin -, I find them fascinating to write in and about.

What are your current projects?

My two poetry collections, my novel, working on the Miracle Blog as Editor and on the print magazine as Fiction Editor. I have several other novels partly finished, so I hope to complete them.

What are your plans for the future?

Combining writing and teaching to inspire as many people as possible to know that when you can imagine, you have everything.

What advice do you have for writers?

Don't feel the need to conform to current "trends" in writing. I have been alarmed and annoyed at the lazy way in which certain people in the industry write off particular ways of writing as not being "in" at the moment. The whole point of writing is to create something NEW. So be you, and ignore anyone who tells you how to write.

What do you look for in submissions?

Three things: originality, beauty and, most importantly, honesty. You can tell when a piece of writing comes straight from the heart and when it is just the writer stringing fancy words together. I wouldn't dream of publishing the latter.

A selection of my work (click on the images to make them larger)


Silence

Oranges

A girl I know

If I could capture your laugh

Astronomy