The Contemporary Poetry and Contemporary Science Project Introduction


The Contemporary Poetry and Contemporary Science Project was set up to explore what poetry and science share as kinds of discovery, exploratory media in which accuracy, imagination and elegance must work unexpectedly together. The project has brought together nine pairs of poets and scientists across the UK and in North America, and in doing so has produced a series of fascinating dialogues between poets and scientists of all disciplines, in the form of poems, commentaries, visual artworks and public events.


The first stage of the project brought together pairs of scientists and poets for lunch, in order to discuss their work, the similarities and differences of their respective practices, and how the fields of poetry and science might relate to one another. The scientists were each to bring to the lunch a ‘provocative object’ relating to their work. Afterwards, the poets each wrote a poem directly or tangentially related to this experience. The scientists read this, and produced a one-page response to the poem and their experience of the project.


The second stage of the project involved the setting up of a series of events at venues across the UK from March to May 2003, featuring an exhibition, as well as poetry readings and discussions between participating poets and scientists. The poems and responses formed the inspiration for a series of artworks produced by well known artists at the DCA in Dundee, Scotland’s largest contemporary arts centre. The exhibition of these artworks, by artists including Will MacLean, Anne Bevan, and Dalziel & Scullion, took place at the DCA Print Gallery from 10th March to 13th April 2003. A series of events featuring poetry readings and discussions took place at the Natural History Museum in London, Cafe Scientifique in Newcastle, The Poetry Society in London, The Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh, the DCA in Dundee, and finally The Poetry House in St Andrews.



Project List