The Weird Transformists

The weird transformists apply the New Weird to poetry but are not restricted to sci-fi topics.

The weird transformists do not see the poem as a fixed object but one that can be manipulated in a multiplicity of ways.

The weird transformists know each poem has a different way of telling the time, which might not be the actual time.

The weird transformists do not write about bees unless the bees are going to the pub, getting hypnotherapy sessions or dressing up to look like wolves.

The weird transformists do not write another damn poem about how magical Paris is in the spring with its wine and cigarettes and girls and baguettes. They write about a Paris that’s exploding on Mars or a Paris that is in fact Coventry.

The weird transformists will write what they hate if they must. They will definitely read what they hate on a regular basis and gain new ideas from it.

The weird transformists do not dress their poem in whatever old clothes they’ve found lying on the floor, they give it a form.

The weird transformists do not keep poems that catch the bus every morning at the same time. They believe in free-range poems.

The weird transformists will write fair-trade poetry but are too grumpy to be hippies.

The weird transformists will only plagiarize from themselves. They reserve the right to upcycle other people’s poems so long as the after  or before label is applied.

The weird transformists can write poems about Strictly Come Dancing as easily as they can about Keynesian economics applied to the Moomins.

The weird transformists would never call themselves weird transformists. Unless they were. Or weren’t. Is that a bird behind you?

Claire Trévien is the Anglo-Breton author of the pamphlet Low-Tide Lottery (Salt), and The Shipwrecked House (Penned in the Margins), which is longlisted in this year’s Guardian First Book Award. Her poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies including the Forward Book of Poetry 2014 and Best British Poetry 2012. She edits Sabotage Reviews, co-edits Verse Kraken, and co-organizes Penning Perfumes.