QUALITY TIME

Peter Scalpello’s Cultural Highlights.

In our regular post, the poet Peter Scalpello recommends Eloghosa Osunde, Missouri Williams, Petite Maman, two of their favourite podcasts and much, much more…

What’s the last good book you’ve read?

There are so many! I’m currently pacing myself through the two-volume retrospective of Etel Adnan’s writing, which is blowing my mind. Adnan was a poet, essayist and visual artist, and To look at the sea is to become what one is is a highly passionate and philosophical anthology of work from a visionary, life-affirming artist. I’m also loving Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde, a rich novel of queer Lagos, and Census by Jesse Ball, which urged a re-read and remains as astounding now as when I first read it. The poetry collections that I keep returning to so far this year are Some Integrity by Padraig Regan and At Least This I Know by Andrés N. Ordorica, and the hybrid texts small white monkeys by Sophie Collins and Melissa Febos’s Body Work. 

What are you looking forward to reading?

I’m looking forward to reading humungous novel The Books of Jacob by the mighty Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft, when I feel brave enough to make the commitment. I’m intimidated by its size, but I will read it! I must! Also on the to-be-read pile are The Whale Tattoo by Jon Ransom, The Doloriad by Missouri Williams and Best Barbarian by Roger Reeves. I relish my time spent with We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics, edited by Andrea Abi-Karam and Kay Gabriel, and I’m craving a re-read of Ban en Banlieue by Bhanu Kapil. In forthcoming titles, I’m very excited for the new interdisciplinary collection by Renee Gladman, Plans for Sentences, The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón and the first collections of poetry from Kemi Alabi and Jay Gao; Against Heaven and Imperium respectively.

One more question about books before we move on: Tell us about a favourite book, and why should we read it.

My perspective on the limits of language and narrative was thoroughly challenged by the ingenuity of Clarice Lispector and Água Viva, which I first read a few years ago. It’s since pre-occupied my thinking around the possibilities of writing and the dynamic experience of articulating the self. Also, Autobiography of Red, the verse novel by Anne Carson, continues to inspire and educate me with each reading for its pure inventiveness, audacity, and revelry of language and relationships. Fourth Person Singular by Nuar Alsadir, Time Is the Thing a Body Moves Through by T Fleischmann and To After That (Toaf) by Renee Gladman are favourites that will inform what I write next.

Have you seen a good film recently?

My partner and I watched Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman on MUBI a few weeks ago, on the couch on a Sunday evening. I find it very difficult to write childhood narrative that feels authentic while also emotive, and uncommon to see this rendered effortlessly in film, but Petite Maman excels in its performance and revelation of the wonder of childhood relationships and imagination; it’s a subtly cathartic watch for its relative briefness. Another film that recently moved me with recollections of childhood, albeit for vastly different reasons, is Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, depicting the legacy of a family escaping war-torn Afghanistan. The animated documentary is poignant in its visual, themes and sound.

how about a favourite film or TV programme? (and why should we watch it?)

Riffing on the theme of childhood, and grief; it feels like a predictable recommendation, but I’ve never quite experienced a film that’s enhanced my worldview and sense of aesthetic awe as did Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. It remains beautiful in every sense, and the nostalgia deepens with age. It also proves as a comforting watch for the adult in personal crisis.

Tell us about a place we might enjoy visiting.

I recently visited Glasgow, the city where I grew up, and was reminded (in the miraculous sunshine) of the atmospheric scope of the Necropolis in the east end of the city. A Victorian cemetery, it offers hopeful views over Glasgow and yonder, from atop the burials of fifty-thousand bodies. Quite the morbid and, yet, inspiring landmark. The Voids by Ryan O’Connor makes an ideal accompaniment to your visit.

Can you recommend a podcast, an audiobook or something to listen to on the radio?

The podcast which has had the greatest impact on me in recent years is The Log Books, a big-hearted series unearthing stories from Britain’s LGBT+ history, collected from the literal log book entries made by call handlers at Switchboard, the LGBT+ helpline, as documented through the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. I believe that what makes the series so profound is its conversational exploration of evolving gender and sexual marginalisation in this country, through queer storytelling; drawing links between the past and present issues faced by our communities. Similarly, the podcast Bottoming engages in generous discussions around LGBTQ+ mental health issues and serves as an earnest reminder of the value of community to queer wellbeing.

… and Anything else you want to recommend?

I’m keen for the Surrealism Beyond Borders exhibition currently at Tate Britain – not necessarily a recommendation as I haven’t managed to make it down there yet, but tripping out at the Tate seems like a cultural highlight to me.

one more question! Tell us about a good record.

I’m a big fan of ’90s and ’00s R&B, and it seems like connoisseur of the genre Jazmine Sullivan is finally receiving due recognition. Her debut-perfect album, Fearless, is one that I return to constantly, reminding me of early teenage years and MP3 players. ‘Need U Bad’ is still one of my favourite songs ever, and ‘I’m scared to move on, so I live in the past’ was the deepest lyric I could comprehend at fourteen.

PETER SCALPELLO is a queer poet and sexual health therapist from Glasgow. Their work has appeared in Five Dials, fourteen poems, Gutter, harana poetry, perverse, and Under the Radar, among other literary magazines, prizes and anthologies. Peter’s first collection, Limbic, is published by Cipher Press and is available to order here.