‘Poetics in Commons’ explores the potential of literature and art to create and reinvent shared spaces, ways of living and forms of social and ecological cooperation. It asks for critical and practice-led responses that reflect the connections between writing, making and ‘commoning’ (the practice of doing and being in common) in order to address a set of increasingly urgent questions. How can creative expression help us to resist the privatisation of knowledge, language, public space and ‘natural’ resources? How might writing or art that engages with the commons offer a bridge between the utopian and the material, and allow us to re-imagine politics, everyday life, and ecological relations to the extra-human? In other words, can we conceive of a poetics of commoning?

The symposium will be part of a two-day series of activities held in collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University’s Roland Barthes Reading Group. Other events include a special ‘un-masterclass’, hosted by the RBRG and run by Anne Boyer, that explores the potential of collective reading and knowledge sharing. The un-masterclass is an experiment in reading and writing in common. There will also be evening readings and performances by poets and artists.

We want the symposium to remain free for those in need, but we have only a very small amount of funding. We are hoping to common our scarce collective resources: instead of charging for tickets, we are therefore accepting donations to cover refreshments (suggested donation £5, but less or more is also fine). You can send these to poeticsincommons@gmail.com via PayPal if you have a PayPal account. You can also contribute in other ways, such as bringing home-baked goods and snacks for the (ample) coffee breaks.

Our full programme is available here.