Red River: Listening to a Polluted River

The Red River in West Cornwall has been described as the most 'unnatural' or 'modified' river in the UK. No part of its 7.5mile length has been untouched by the effects of the Cornish tin-mining industry. Although little more than a stream, the river has played an important role in the industrial revolution in Cornwall and the development of hard-rock mining around the world. This significance has been recognised by the designation of the area through which it flows as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It continues to be a source of innovation by necessitating the development of new techniques to reduce pollution from the heavy-metal laden mine water that feed into its course.

Despite these contaminants, the Red River contains a genetically-unique population of brown trout that has evolved to survive its toxic environment. These fish are as much artefacts of the industrial revolution as Cornish engine-houses. In a poem they may operate, along with the river itself, as multi-dimensional metonyms for our complex interaction with the environment. This combination of natural, industrial and post-industrial history makes the Red River a rich subject for an eco-poetic and critical exploration of the human/nature interrelationship. The fellowship will test the ability of creative writing as 'practice-as-research' to create knew knowledge that reveals the complexity of this interrelationship through combining critical textual research, fieldwork, poetic composition and socially-engaged research practices.

There is a growing understanding that we need to confront the mess we're making of our environment. Beach cleans, environmental activism, media campaigns and legislation have drawn attention to the impact our addiction to plastic has had on the world's oceans and rivers. Through working with local communities and partners the fellowship will offer poetry as a gathering place for the social meaning generated by individuals and communities involved in changing their environment. The project will address both visible and invisible pollution connected with the Red River, and visible and invisible feelings about the wider landscape; it will address the conspicuous history of EU-funded signboards, as well as the invisible and ephemeral histories of those who live along its contaminated banks. Set alongside more celebrated rivers like the Dart and the Severn, the Red River may come to operate as an exemplary 'shadow site' counterpointing, through the complex human/nature interaction it embodies, ideas of the wild, sublime and picturesque.

The catchment area for this practice-as-research investigation will be mapped through research into archaeological reports, SSSI statements, historical documents, the literature of rivers, eco-poetics, acoustic ecology, visits to local community groups and schools, interviews with subject experts in aquatic ecology and mining, field-walking and river surveying. It will borrow the ecological concept of the 'ecotone', or meeting place of biomes, as a conceptual instrument for both reading the marginal environments of the Red River and as a metaphor for the way texts shape and are altered by close observation of ecological objects. The fellowship will result in a book length poem, a sound installation, and a scholarly article derived from the knowledge generated through practice-as-research. Findings will be presented at conferences, literary events, in art galleries and heritage sites. The fellowship will demonstrate leadership in developing new methodologies for socially-engaged research and conducting trans-disciplinary arts/science collaborations. These findings will be shared at discipline-specific conferences and online. It will co-produce educational materials for schools and curate a 'Parliament of Waste' event bringing together local people, politicians, artists and experts to debate the environmental impact of pollution and waste on health and wellbeing.

There will be five overlapping areas of impact: 1) Collaboration, 2) Education, 3) Publication, 4) Exhibition, 5) Communications and Media.

1. Collaboration

Collaboration is central to this project and is epitomised by the co-production of a 'creative commons' event that challenges the boundaries of agency between researcher and audience for research. With CAST, KEAP, PML, MECN, NCNW & ESI and others, I will co-produce an artist/scientist/activist/public knowledge-exchange gathering under the title: 'The Parliament of Waste'. It will focus on attitudes to rubbish and waste and will attract an audience of 100 active participants for a day of workshops, debates, walks, feasting on rubbish, science presentations and pop-up exhibitions. It will take place at the Heartlands site in Camborne near the Red River. The event will be recorded and extracts made available as podcasts, short films and live-streamed. The networking opportunities the event will provide, and the process of collaboration necessary to make it successful, will establish new partnerships and facilitate new exchanges of knowledge.

2. Education

In collaboration with the Arts Council-funded (ACE) education charity Kernow Education Arts Partnership (KEAP), I will deliver a minimum of four creative-writing and sound-walk workshops for local schools along the Red River, and a follow-up session at each school to edit work for presentation at 'The Parliament of Waste'. The education materials developed as a result of these workshops will be made available as downloadable resources from KEAP and the Poetry Society, and other partner and supporting organisations. This work will be promoted to organisations working with citizen scientists and other forms of environmental activities such as the beach cleans organised by RAME Beach Care and outdoor learning run by Devon County Council Waste Education. I will also deliver two creative-writing walks for adults along the Red River and work with participants to develop their writing towards publication. These will build upon techniques I developed during commissions for Hull2017 City of Culture.

3. Publication

The Red River poem will be book-length and published by Valley Press (confirmed) or another publisher. After the exhibition tour, an audio version of the poem will be made available as a download. Literature Works, the South West's ACE-funded literature development organisation, will advise on the promotion of Red River to festivals and arts venues in the South West region and across the UK. I will offer three 'free' readings to festivals, each accompanied by a creative-writing workshop exploring the poem's techniques and themes. The resulting work will be gathered, along with other participant writing from other elements of the project, into an online anthology. My scholarly article on the poetics of polluted rivers and 'toxic discourse' will be published in PMLA, ISLE or Green Words. The poem will be entered for relevant literary prizes.

4. Exhibition

Teresa Gleadowe, the artistic director of Cornubian Arts and Science Trust (CAST), Lara Goodband, Curator of Contemporary at The RAMM, Ann Barlow, Director at Tate St Ives, will advise on the development of an installation/live performance version of Red River for performance at CAST and other venues. Subject to agreement, these may include Newlyn Exchange, the National Trust's Godolphin House, Hestercombe, the Eden Project and Tate St Ives.

5. Communications & Media

I will consult with my producer at the BBC, Richard Taylor, to develop a programme pitch for BBC4 TV about the Red River. My programme 'Through the Lens of Larkin' for BBC4 TV had viewing figures of 174,500 and was shown 'live' as part of the BBC's Contains Strong Language Festival, Hull2017 City of Culture. Media work and press releases through EoU press office around my Landfill poetry collection led to and interview and reading on BBCR4 Today programme on the 07.40 slot.