I’ve been thinking about academic extractivism recently, and encountered the work of Dr Max Liboiron via their collaborative project #Collabrary: a methodological experiment for reading with reciprocity. The reflections they shared in this post are drawn from their chapter ‘Exchanging‘ in the book Transmissions: Critical Tactics for Making and Communicating Research. Edited by Kat Jungnickel. MIT Press: 89-108.

I found the language and ideas of Liboiron’s chapter so evocative that I decided to respond – as a response is what the writing calls for – via a found poem. And now, it might be true to say that the ‘original meaning remains intact but,’ as Annie Dillard wrote in her collection of found poetry, Mornings Like This, ‘now it swings between two poles.’

Mine isn’t fully a found poem, as I have inserted my own answers to the questions posed the the ‘Exchanging’ chapter. Here’s the poem, shared with Dr Liboiron’s agreement:

Some links to more information about found poetry:

Found poetry, from the Academy of American Poets

Found poetry glossary from the Poetry Foundation

A list of found poems, compiled by Anthony Wilson