Different Out Loud

Going West Festival announces a brand-new approach to celebrating live poetry with Different Out Loud, a collection of thoughtful video collaborations between Aotearoa poets and filmmakers. Themed around the word ‘coastal’, these integrated pieces by some of our best poets and finest screen artists will air online from 12 April 2021.

The Kaupapa for Different Out Loud was to create poetry on the theme of ‘coastal’ or ‘littoral’, shot within the Waitākere Ranges Local Board area. Four of these videos are true collaborations, in which poets and filmmakers have worked together to develop integrated pieces, where the words and pictures depend on each other for their fullest meaning. Collaborations are between poet Grace Iwashita-Taylor and director Ursula Grace; poet Hera Lindsay Bird and director Luke McPake; poet Murray Edmond and director Luke McPake; and poet Serie Barford and director Anna Marbrook.

‘We thought of them as music videos: creative little operas, each one creating its own poetic world. Part of the kaupapa was to acknowledge our papakainga: te wao nui a Tiriwa (more commonly known as the Waitākere Ranges).’ – James Littlewood

Different Out Loud marks a turning point in the development of Going West as a literary organisation, as they embark on a journey of commissioning and publishing brand new, original work. These newly commissioned films represent a natural extension of Going West’s kaupapa to explore the wider realms of literary discussion, oratory and performance. Going West has a long involvement in poetry and now, in this stay-at-home world of pandemic alert levels, they have embarked on a new way of doing poetry for a wider audience. These selected videos are just the beginning, with miniature documentaries, a book and an entirely reworked and covid-adaptable live programme to come.

‘We’re super proud to be commissioning new work to add to the canon of Aotearoa poetry, and our sneak-peaks at the work in progress has literally put a tear in our eye.’ – James Littlewood

Different Out Loud will breathe life into a new favourite with the original production of Allen Curnow’s classic, existential, west Auckland treatise, The Loop in Lone Kauri Road, in a collaboration between director Adam Jones and westy actor, Mark Mitchenson.

‘Everything is different this year, and Going West is no exception. Different Out Loud is our celebration of doing things differently. And, because we know how much our audience loves coming to Titirangi, perched high in the Waitākere ranges, we decided to connect all these video-poems to this place in some way. So, all the location shots in these works are shot somewhere in the Waitākere Ranges Local Board area (and we thank the Board and Auckland Council for their support of this project).’