TE2/1973/100 DESCRIPTION
Poetry reading. Begins with several seconds of soundless static. At the 11 sec mark, the image cuts to a tall, white-bearded man (Birney) with glasses and a plaid suit mounting a stage to applause from a seated audience. The room (Blythswood Square) is white-washed with square-shaped wooden panelling along its ceiling perimeter. The stage Birney mounts is L-shaped, placed in the corner of the room, and decorated with a small, round and white table with 2 wooden chairs and 2 microphones. The stationary camera is filming off-right from behind a seated audience, sat in chairs so as to mimic and counter the L-shaped position of the stage. Birney addresses the audience in an American accent, eventually taking out a small paperback book to begin reading. At the 22 min, 51 sec mark, a flashing occurs, not unlike a photo camera effect, that lasts sporadically for about 20 seconds. As the poetry reading progresses, Birney removes and returns the glasses to his face at intervals, sits in his chair around the 27 min mark. The film is shot in one, long continuous shot with zooms to focus in on Birney's face and gestures. Ends with Birney standing in profile with a book in his outstretched hand, addressing the audience as he reads. A tracking wave freezes the image and sound mid-sentence, and the footage cuts.
This is the first of a series of poetry readings that took place in Blythswood Square in November 1973. The exact context of the readings is still obscure. Earle Birney, Chris Wallace Crabbe and Adrian Mitchell all read over the span of one week. That particular run also included the American poet, Jim Whyte, in a panel discussion on the subject of writing and writers in schools. It’s possible that the Arts Council initiative on writers in schools in Scotland was the impetus for this programme of readings.