Jennifer (JL) Williams
Home address:
16 Well Court, Edinburgh, EH4 3BE, ScotlandTelephone:
07976 504 608Email:
jlwpoetry@gmail.comWebsite:
jlwpoetry.googlepages.comBRAW network:
noLL funded:
yesBiography:
JL Williams studied at Wellesley College with the poet Frank Bidart and on the MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. She has been published in journals including The Red Wheelbarrow, The Wolf, Brand, Poetry Wales, Shearsman and Stand.
Since moving to Edinburgh in 2001 she has been active both as a writer and in the performing arts as a director and producer, most recently of the performance art cabaret Neue Liebe. She was awarded a grant from the Scottish Arts Council for a collaboration entitled chiaroscuro pentimenti with composer Martin Parker and artist Anna Chapman and an Edwin Morgan Travel Bursary to write a collection of poetry on the Aeolian Isles.
About writer's work:
My main interests are in poetic form and structure and classical influences on modern poetry.
I have been studying the work especially of Ezra Pound and C. P. Cavafy and am curious about how they treasure the past while making something new; often by building linguistic, imagistic and/or metaphorical bridges. A good example might be Ezra Pound’s comparison of medieval towers in a village in France to skyscrapers in New York City.
Work in progress includes a collection about love in war whose theme is the love between Achilles and Patroclus in Homer’s Iliad, a collaborative novel by three authors in three voices (each in a different person i.e. first, second, third) speaking from within one body that has just undergone a heart transplant, and a collection of poetry based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
About writer's events and projects:
I am available to give readings and to run residencies and workshops on a variety of poetic forms (including haiku, sestinas, concrete and abstract poetries and free verse). As Writer in Residence at the Words Expo at the Mitchell Library I ran a workshop focusing on narrative in poetry and can use this or other starting points (including classical myths and stories) to help new writers get started with poetry or to help more experienced poets find new ways to explore familiar territory and to restart the creative engines when they feel run down. I can tailor sessions to meet the needs of the writers or curricula involved and am happy to consider working collaboratively on projects with other writers and teaching professionals. Language:
EnglishAge groups:
Teens, Adults
