In Defence of the Kenneth White House of Artists and Writers
KENNETH WHITE . ECRIVAIN BRITANNIQUE . MORLAIX . FINISTERE . 13 SEPTEMBRE 1981 .
White was a poet and writer originally from the Gorbals, Glasgow. He set up the Jargon Group in 1964 which explored a mix of social and cultural forces including Nietzsche, Whitman, Taoism and anarchism. He was later part of Project Sigma dedicated to “conflagrate a million minds”. Project Sigma was a loose coalition of of experimental writers in Europe and America including William Burroughs and Alexander Trocchi.
Between 1968 and 1989 his work was written in English but published in French and other languages. Since then his work with the International Institute of Geopoetics has seen a resurgence of interest and is now culminating in a collected works being published in English.
“Geopoetics is strictly of this world. Its background lies neither in myth, metaphysics, or religion. It is out to begin again, from the ground up. Taking geology as ground-level, it is a new way of being human and of living a human life on this earth. Geopoetics concentrates elements from science, philosophy and poetry scattered across the world and gathers together minds on the edge of the various disciplines and looking for new space.”
– Cairns Craig, 2021
Now his legacy is at stake with a combination of incompetence, bureaucracy and ignorance. White had envisaged a legacy of his work, in the form of a gift to his home in Trébeurden, Côtes-d’Armor – bequeathing his house and remarkable library of books to become the “Kenneth White House of Artists and Writers” managed by the International Institute of Geopoetics. He even donated this to his municipality, with a sum of 100,000 euros.
“An internationally renowned Scottish writer who bequeathed his library to the French town where he lived for more than 40 years on the proviso that his former home be retained as ‘a place of inspiration, a place of life and thought’ has had his wishes overturned by the local municipality.””The Trébeurden Council in the Côtes-d’Armor department of Brittany in north western France now has plans to sell the house along with the vast collection of books it currently contains. At a meeting in January this year, Trébeurden’s mayor Bénédicte Boiron declared that, “The most likely future of the house will be a sale…. A complete inventory will be carried out. Books can’t stay in the house.”
White’s work is part of world culture and world poetry, but also an essential part of Franco-Scottish culture and literature and a unique and remarkable contibution that must be defended and preserved. In a world gone mad with philistinism and suffering ecological and literary devastation, White’s work is more essential than ever.
https://www.change.org/…/non-%C3%A0-la-vente-de-la…
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There seems no justice at all about how the local Council is acting and it makes you wonder about their motivation given they were donated a house and €100,000 by the person they now seem to be deliberately disrespecting. Talk of ‘clerical errors’ is absurd – you right errors, not ignore them, especially egregious and vital ones like this, that is unless you have some motivation to do so. Surely the sale of one house cannot be why they are doing what is so obviously morally wrong?
From what I can see, the Geopoeticians have removed the copyright statement from their website (that I noted last time) yet stipulate it on their online journal:
“Copyright. The Scottish Centre for Geopoetics and Contributors. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical (including photography), or any other information storage and retrieval system, without
written permission.”
https://www.geopoetics.org.uk/online-journal/
It’s hardly a radical break from the Western thinking and practice they seem keen to pose as critical of. But, y’know, poets.
The Guardian reported recently on how Nigeria is burying its history under a mountain in Svalbard (in the cultural preservation sense). That seems an appropriately collective approach. The world would get so cluttered if we insisted on leaving personal monuments to ourselves in buildings that otherwise might be lived in. But, y’know, poets.
There’s digitisation, there are book banks, there’s creative commons. But, y’know, poets.
This is really not ‘expressing yourselves differently’. But, y’know…
That is all very well but not the point here and your hatred of poets is clouding your thinking on what is a case of basic justice and could apply to anyone. His dying wishes should be honoured.
It is clear and known that he did not leave his house and €100,000 to the local council to do what they will with without following White’s conditions. By doing so, the council is essentially using the money under false pretences. The detail of why this has happened is vague but there is clearly more to be told about this ‘clerical error’ and how White’s crucial stipulations got lost. If you ask me it looks deliberate, a form of fraud.
Talk of poets’ attitudes to copyright is irrelevant.
@Niemand, more of a possibly affected disdain for poets rather than hate? Adding balance? I hardly begrudge anyone trying to follow in the footsteps of Homer, whether that person existed or not, but poetical attitudes to property, intellectual or moral or material, are a common theme of geopoetical copyright stipulations and the attempt to leave a shrine filled your books under property law to your neighbourhood.
There is an obvious common concern with control, legacy, ownership and sharing only on asymmetrical power-relation terms.
You will of course be familiar with what that member of The Animals (Eric Burdon?) said about being challenged by Nina Simone over cultural appropriation: https://americansongwriter.com/the-story-behind-dont-let-me-be-misunderstood-by-the-animals-and-the-confrontation-between-eric-burdon-and-nina-simone/
Poets steal right, left and centre. When they jealously hoard their work, this makes them hypocrites.
The question of to what extent individuals should be able to impose their will on later generations is an interesting philosophical one. I’m against monuments for practical and political reasons, unless they can be virtual and virtually cost-free (why not just a website, maintained by friends, family and colleagues?).
But if poets were willing to properly collaborate and come together (like the people of Nigeria) to safeguard their work in a collective endeavour, good for them. But, y’know, poets. Herding cats and all that.