Who are the Tits? They are Cat Chong, Laura Hellon, E.P Jenkins, Briony Hughes, Martina Krajňáková, Chloë Proctor, Tanicia Pratt, Tese Uhomoibhi, Sophie Shepherd, and Ariana Benson. They describe themselves as an international community of poets working and performing across the UK, internationally and digitally. They are interested in innovative, feminist and ecological writing and poetics. Their presence in the poetry world, both as individual poets and as a collective, is refreshing, inspiring and unmistakeable. They are currently offering a mentorship and publication scheme in partnership with Broken Sleep Books to BAME and Working-Class creative writers impacted by the recent A-level algorithm fiasco.
The collective are all students or alumni of Royal Holloway where they met through the MA in poetic practice course. They have already published an inaugural anthology, Harpies (2019), described by one reviewer as demonstrating a ‘hunger and initiative to experiment and innovate’ (Nikki Dudley, 2019). This gave us a taste of things to come. For their latest Rewilding project, they put out a call for entries with an ecological focus in any creative form suitable for print production, and the resulting anthology is now eagerly awaited by many readers who have been following its progress. Poets for the Planet are thrilled to have had the opportunity to review the anthology. Our review will be published here on the blog, following the interview with the CTC below.
Further information about the Crested Tit Collective is available on https://ctcpoetry.wordpress.com or https://www.crestedtitcollective.com
Information about the mentorship scheme is available here: http://tinyurl.com/CTCmentorship
Why did you choose the Crested Tit as your emblem?
Honestly, the Crested Tit was originally a place-holder – but then it stuck. We noticed that there is something interesting about the shock response the collective receives when we state what ‘CTC’ stands for – especially as the Crested Tit is such a common UK bird. We have even had our Instagram account banned for ‘provocative’ content!
I am interested and inspired by the fact that you describe yourselves as a Collective but could you explain a bit more about what being a Collective means to you and why you chose that form of organisation?
The CTC was born from a desire to support one-another and grow as an artistic community. We started as a small handful of wide-eyed MA students who were keen to promote and uplift each other’s work and have since grown and established ourselves in the poetry community. We have no defined roles within the collective as a whole, and each member has an equal say regarding projects and directions for the CTC.
I understand you have already worked on a previous anthology. What did you enjoy about that project, and are there any lessons you will take forward to working on the Rewilding project?
Our Harpies Anthology was the first ‘official’ group publication and a really exciting way to celebrate the variety of work we produced whilst on the Poetic Practice MA at Royal Holloway. We created an anthology that disrupts and challenges how we think about poetry, and this is something that we intend bring forward and apply to ideas of the environment. I suppose we aren’t interested in traditional nature poetry (sorry Wordsworth!) but are instead excited about how we can rewrite and reconsider ecopoetry for this moment of ecological crisis.
Tell me about the Rewilding project. How did it come about and what is its scope?
In spring 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown, we brought together a number of poets from all over the globe to celebrate Earth Day through a community reading of Juliana Spahr’s ‘Unnamed Dragonfly Species’ – including Spahr herself. Whilst a large proportion of the footage was filmed on outdoor spaces – Briony and Laura, for example, filmed their portions of the text during their allocated daily walk across Chobham Common, whilst Cat filmed their extract during the Singaporean sunrise – we were all too aware that viewers were likely to access the video from their computer or smartphone from an indoor space. We realised, at this point, the possibility of ‘rewilding’ the site of the home, the town, the city: the spaces of isolation.
The Rewilding project grew from this point onwards. During a period of social and environmental isolation, where access to the ‘outdoors’ was extremely limited for many people, we hoped to create something driven by community and ecology. The anthology itself is not limited to ‘poetry on the page’. Contributors have explored the idea of ‘Rewilding’ through visual art, hand-crafted book works, dance scores, photography, essays and more.
Do you have a particular vision, aim or hope for this project? Is it important to you that it includes a diversity of voices, particularly those that are under-represented in this field (BAME/BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disability etc)? Have you taken any particular steps to encourage this diversity?
As a collective primarily made up of LGBT+, BAME, working class and disabled womxn, we know all too well the challenges under-represented writers face within the space of publishing and poetry. During our submissions period, we specifically reached out and called for submissions from writers of diverse backgrounds. As a collective, we do not believe that white, heterosexual, cisgender, able-bodied men should be the voice of authority in nature poetry (once again, sorry Wordsworth!).
You have launched a mentorship and publication scheme, in partnership with Broken Sleep Books, for young BAME and Working-Class creative writers affected by the recent A-Level algorithm fiasco. What prompted you to do this?
Watching the students get their results, their rejections, seeing their disappointment and stress, we felt so shocked and helpless. Many of us are in education either as current students, tutors, and teachers meaning we are in a position that could be of some assistance. So many of us and our friends have been victims of the already biased education system and could not stand by and watch the hard working students of the UK suffer academically even more.
How will this scheme benefit successful applicants?
Firstly, the goal is to help them rebuild their confidence! They have received a massive blow from the failed algorithm so we want them to feel confident and comfortable in an academic setting, as well as in their creative practice. Secondly, we would like to help them develop their writing practice. This may in the form of helping them prepare for or reapply to university, opening up their creative outlets and perspectives, or honing a talent in a particular field, like performance poetry or digital poetics. There will be opportunities available to them like workshopping, group work, live readings, and eventually publishing with the amazing Broken Sleep Books. We are so excited to see what they bring to the table!
As a collective, how has your interest in the environment impacted on your understanding of racism and issues of social justice?
It is undeniable that while environmental damage affects us all it has a disproportionate impact on ethnic minority and socially disadvantaged groups. We cannot begin to tackle the issue of climate change without also addressing social injustice and inequalities. We are a diverse and inclusive group and want to ensure that we stand up for everybody in our wonderful community. As we all come together to protect and respect the planet we must also demand that all who live upon the earth are protected and respected in the same way.
Who are some of the writers (or artists/musicians/thinkers) you admire (either as a collective or an individuals)?
Juliana Spahr, CAConrad, Redell Olsen, Claudia Rankine, Astrida Neimanis, Robert Hampson, Will Harris, Maggie Nelson, Vahni Capildeo, Dodie Bellamy, Janelle Monáe, Eileen Myles, Susan Howe, Caroline Bergvall, Kathleen Fraser, Nisha Ramayya, Prue Bussey-Chamberlain, M. NourbeSe Philip, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Mary Jean Chan, Eley Williams, Rebecca Tamás, Aaron Kent, Barbra Guest, Donna Haraway, Allen Fisher, Sianne Ngai, Astrida Neimanis, J.R Carpenter, Luce Irigaray, Eliane Radigue, Nina Simone, David Lynch, John Cage…
What would you like CTC to be remembered for?
Hopefully, the CTC will be remembered as a group that encouraged and embraced inclusivity. We strive to be accessible for everyone who wants to enjoy and take part in experimental poetics, particularly those who are from under represented backgrounds. Our goal is to use the privileges that we already have to uplift and support communities that do not have those same societal privileges. We also want to be remembered as a group of creatives that love creativity, exploration, and joy. Ultimately, we’re all very playful: we like to disrupt and experiment with language as art and that really feeds into the world around us/our politics/our belief structures…
Do you have a message for the readers of the Poets for the Planet blog?
Read more, waste less! Embrace differences, stand up for social injustice and use your voice creativity. Above all, don’t be afraid to make a mess. To be honest, if they are reading Poets for the Planet they are already on the right track!