Photo by Ian ten Seldam

Only heads and tongues loll. Apart from one’s time, what can be bided? And how broad is a swathe? Cordite Poetry Review is excited to work with the next generation of Aden Rolfe poetics over the course of 2015. Following JJ Gibson’s affordances for actions – a teapot affords being tipped and poured – Object Study looks at what different objects offer in terms of language. How does the essential nature of a thing contribute to its name? In what ways does language create or obfuscate categories in response to these essences? Does your interpretation of an object afford different modes of categorising? Potential of these questions in their capacity for play and transformation will be explored: ‘Meridian’, published in Cordite’s ‘No Theme III’ issue, is an example of what Rolfe’s thinking, but not the exemplar. Exploration of the poetic essay form will also be in the mix with this project (whatever shape that may take).

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.