1. 
   Charlie Jordan
   February 8th, 2009
   

   Naomi, this is such an interesting article, and I have a new word now – homophily:) There’s definitely something in here, I read a buddhist text recently that talked about staying with an experience to see what it is bringing out in you even if you find a person or situation uncomfortable. I went to a yoga class in the New Year, with the angriest yoga teacher I’ve ever seen! He was rude and hostile, cross with all the new students for daring to try his class, belittling us as we did positions, while he preened and stared at himself in the mirror like a peacock, (or more accurately remove the ‘pea’!) I didn’t walk out, despite the temptation, curious to see what good could come from this…. and I know one day I’ll write about a character based on him, which will be fun…and also I met a really cute guy who was equally baffled by the class, but who’s a yoga teacher himself – so now i go to his class which is lovely, and he sometimes reads us a story in the meditation bit at the end of the class….perfect, so it was worth putting up with Mr Angry at first:) Try going outside your comfort zone, and you too may be rewarded, you never know. If not you’ll probably have something to write about at least:)x

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2. 
   Catherine
   February 10th, 2009
   

   Naomi. This is an interesting Q and article. As an avid blogger I have found it quite a challenge to sometimes visit blogs of folk that follow my blog and note that they have followers who are anti-my belief systems e.g. on race or religious ideologies. Something in me feels unable to follow that blog because in my mind they are sanctioning the belief systems of their followers. But is that really true – I ask myself? I think as writers, the most important thing (especially as an aspiring writer) is to find an audience. And, at the early stages of one’s profile as a write – perhaps, ANY audience is better than none at all. Y’know as the old adage goes: beggars can’t be choosers, and all! Still as writers trying to engage with (and, catch up the music industry) in the e-stratosphere there is a need to find a good/right balance between finding an ‘audience’ and keeping the ‘integrity’ of the author and his/her work. Having said all that, thinking about books in the shops – as an author you can’t vet who buys your book. Hence, indeed – your book may well be ‘hanging out with people we don’t like’. And – in the long run – perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing (although, I’m still trying to convince myself of the positives of this way of thinking)!

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   Naomi Wilds Reply:
   February 12th, 2009 at 5:22 pm

   @Catherine, Was it T S Eliot who wrote about poems having independent lives beyond their authors’ control..? Over long periods of time who knows who they are hanging out with and what they’re being used for – does that make it harder to let them go in the first place, or reinforce the need to make them as strong as possible before you send them out there? Blogs have a different lifespan and seem to me (blog novice) about just getting it all out there, much more conversational and more immediate – and also making it more likely to bump – if virtually – into the people who are reading your stuff who may well connect back to you and ask about it. The article author was promoting gristy uncomfortableness as good for us – maybe that means being up for a strong debate when there’s capacity for conversation. Wonder how this translates to performance poetry – do members of the audience come up and disagree with a writer on the grounds of a poem they do or don’t like?

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3. 
   Urchin
   February 13th, 2009
   

   I work with people who mostly think like me. My friends and family are people who mostly think like me. It’s easy to believe that most of the world agrees with me. Then someone comes along who thinks differently – politically, socially – and challenges my views and opinions. It makes me remember why I think as I do and gets my brain working to put together a good argument to support my views. It inspires stories, characters, features ideas, blog posts – the more annoying or offensive the better. So I think Zuckerman is right in a way. But realistically noone is going to consciously want to spend time with people who offend them. I think the blogosphere is a good place to have those relationships. You can be in touch with people you disagree with and who disagree with you, but you don’t have to hang out with them in real life.

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   Naomi Wilds Reply:
   February 20th, 2009 at 2:55 pm

   @Urchin, I sometimes wonder if keeping it virtual means we can stay happily sure we’re right, while tapping away argumentatively with an anonymous idea of a person who disagrees? Or, do we actually engage more with annoying and offensive comments because it’s anonymous? Have you ever changed your mind based on a blogosphere conversation? Or is the pleasure more in formulating the arguments?

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4. 
   Catherine
   February 14th, 2009
   

   Good points you raise. I think I agree with you that the blogging platform is quite unique in terms of the immediate and conversational. As with regards to this question you pose: ‘Wonder how this translates to performance poetry – do members of the audience come up and disagree with a writer on the grounds of a poem they do or don’t like?’ In my mind, I think there is something quite different about performance poetry if compared with let’s say a theatre show. With the latter, there seems to be a passive engagement between troupe and audience (in a theatre performance), while with a performance poem – I think this gives rise to a more active engagement between the poet and the audience. Hence, to an extent, and depending on a number of variables e.g. agenda, content, venue, audience type – one can, maybe even ‘should’, expect members of the audience to come up and voice their opinion (negative or positive) about the poet’s work. After all, is this not part of the reason why performance poets enjoy the interface with audiences – to get an immediate reaction? Not unlike stand-up comedians in many respects? Final point, also – if the audience is part of the creative process i.e. in terms of developing the work further, then this audience interaction/participation could be vital.

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   Naomi Wilds Reply:
   February 20th, 2009 at 3:03 pm

   @Catherine, I’d be interested to know poets experience of this. I’ve experience of storytelling events in which the stories told can be chosen directly in response to how the audience reacts or sometimes what they ask for/want to hear. I’ve also heard performance poets get reactions from audiences as they perform their ‘greatest hits’ or alternatively something new, being heard for the first time. I’d love to go to a poetry, or storytelling, gig where the audience was on a completely equal footing to the artist, so any sense of ‘them’ and ‘us’ was completely broken down. Less reverent and more informed audiences, more informal, small scale than can be achieved in theatre settings maybe. More social. Not just in the sense of knowing what you want and asking for it (or a hook to pull the artist off when they’re not enjoyed), but audiences being able to respond absolutely and actively in the moment to what they’re hearing. Some places develop that sort of atmosphere, but think it can be elusive. Think this blog is potentially doing that with audience comments invited as work is created…

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5. 
   Catherine
   February 14th, 2009
   

   My last comment is in response to Naomi’s thoughts.

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