ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Magdalen Green

"All our art is but water drawn from the well of the people. 

Let us give it back to them in a cup of gold,  

so in drinking they may recognize themselves."      Garcia Lorca

This is the web home of a research project being carried out as part of an ongoing exploration into creative gifts both given and received by poets and songwriters from the city of Dundee. Songs of the City attempts to re-situate the words of Dundee's poets back into the landscape of the town and to re-materialise their words for you, the community, to unexpectedly find and reflect upon.

In the widest sense this project aims to stimulate thoughts and conversations about what it means to draw ones inspiration from this particular place and to identify a sense of place and local identity through works of poetry, art or music. The idea behind the project stems from an ancient belief in something called the Genius Loci or the spirit of place. Many artists and writers down through the years have stated their belief that the work they produce comes not from them but through them, received as a gift from the muse or the genius of the place.

Here, we are attempting to give back some of these creative gifts by manifesting the works in the landscape of the city from whence they came. We are mapping the poetic landscape of the town and recognizing how 'ordinary' places have also become inspirational places through the words of Dundee's poets and writers. If you should happen to find one of these poetry plates, please accept its musings as a gift from the writer and the 'genius'. Perhaps it may make you stop and wonder for a moment about the culture and creative heritage that surrounds you now and about the people who have penned the words you have stumbled upon. Maybe you will reflect upon your own potential gifts as part of that cultural pool.

In the tradition of these ancient beliefs it is important to honour ones received inspirations and to give back something to the genius by way of thanks. And so it is with these small literary interventions, passages once received and put to paper by some of Dundee's inspired sons and daughters.

We hope you will find and receive them as they are intended, in the spirit of a gift.

Please leave comments or writing of your own if you have the inclination.

Each Poem is presented on a photo etched lithographic plate and is attached to a discreet location in the city. Each positioned plate will have an entry on this blog and will consist of:

• A map and GPS co-ordinates which can be used to find the precise location of the plate.
• Some photographs of the plate in situ as a visual aid to finding it.
• A transcript of the poem

NB: Many thanks are due to Andy Jackson and Bill Herbert for their excellent Dundee poetry anthology 'Whaleback City' from which many of the works were sourced.

We would also like to acknowledge the 'The Gift' by Lewis Hyde as an inspirational starting point for this project.