ANNA SEIDEL
It takes a lifetime to truly discover ourselves, only to recognise that some parts of us have been quietly there from the very beginning; they are so inherent, so intrinsic to who we are, that they emerge from us with a quiet inevitability. And for German-Dutch poet, creative strategist and performance artist Anna Seidel, that elemental side of her, that unrelenting compulsion, is for words. A graduate in business economics and philosophy at Harvard University and the University of St. Gallen, a winner of the A.E. Johann Literature Prize and president of the Oxford University Poetry Society; Anna is also co-founder of the Napkin Poetry Review, a journal and community that promotes contemporary poetry while fostering conversation between arts and science. Her work explores themes around human emotion, intimacy and estrangement, memory and identity; with many published works, she is articulate and instrumental in the preservation and celebration of this literary art.
Words by Leigh Maynard.
Photographed by Edwin S Freyer. Styled by Alton Hetariki. Makeup by Ninni Nummela using CHANEL Coco Mademoiselle Make-up Collection and No.1 de CHANEL Body Serum-In-Mist. Hair by Liz Daxauer at Caren using Less is More. Socials by Boram Lee.
“I think sometimes, similar to artists from different art forms, you involuntarily have to write, because it’s part of your essence,” she explains. “I remember, very vividly, this very first kids' birthday. I wrote a play, and my mom helped me transcribe everything. I started very young and continued with stage plays, and had this phase of short story writing, and then poetry came a little bit later. Still, I think it evolved out of all these experiences into the format that most closely allows me to translate what I want to do. I think poetry is very precise. A single word can already be the starting point for a universe. So having this actual ambiguity with language was fascinating to me, and then eventually basically allowed me to figure out that poetry is my medium in language.”
For Anna, the process of developing her work has a duality: the spark of an idea can come from a single word, as much as it comes through further exploration. “I have this practice where I always carry a little Smythson notebook with me everywhere, and I write a lot when I'm in transit. So the emotions I first bring to paper through this regular, everyday exercise of transcribing my notebook, and understanding and contextualising that feeling; there's a lot of research that goes into it.” That process continues when she works in partnership with artists of other disciplines. “When I work collaboratively, whether it's architecture, fashion design, or photography, there's always an element of research about the other's medium, and this comes together as a recipe. It's the raw emotions that you're procuring and nurturing, and then you have this more in-depth research process that brings it all together. I think it's always a dual connect,” she notes.
Exploring the works of other writers and poets is essential to Anna’s evolution as an artist; whether through different themes or cultural contexts, she shares some of the creatives whose works have inspired her recently. “Currently I am doing a lot of research on Latin American and Caribbean writers. I think this idea of identity is a core theme in my work. How identity is fragmented, or how experiences of exile, transition, and disruption impact your sense of self. I also always find myself back at Raúl Bopp and Joao Gabral de Melo Neto, who are both Brazilian writers and were also diplomats. I find it quite interesting to see and study those authors that have multiple disciplines that inform their writing. When you look into the histories, even T.S. Eliot was a banker, and then you have this double life that, if you know it, you become attentive to, and, I feel, becomes like a structural core of the poems. I would say that Raúl is somebody I'm going back to a lot, but also a lot of contemporary writers like Ada Limón. Reading Uruguayan, Brazilian, and Argentinian poetry, I naturally eventually went to Chile, too. It has something quite magical because there's a very strong connection to nature, and so how you give voice to nature and give a sense of identity also to your surroundings, I found really interesting.”
Through her exploration of other social worlds, Anna notes that it’s interesting to contemplate the power of contextualisation, how the meanings of words and subtexts can have different equanimity or gravity, depending on the tradition, heritage and cultural framework. “Vahni Capildeo is a Caribbean author [I have been reading] from Trinidad and Tobago. I find it interesting how different metaphors and allegorical references become these textured elements of identity and structure. To understand a lot more about the sugarcane context and how words we might even have a neutral association with have such a weighted history in other contexts — coming back to this idea of a single word. ‘Sugarcane’, ‘salt’, or ‘table’ can be neutral in one context but can be very heavy and layered in other political contexts or national identities. With Vahni, it's more the intensity of emotion you can convey with a single word. So, you really make it palpable what weight and sort of personal experience or psychological trauma somebody has gone through, and then how to make an individual experience a collective one. I think those sorts of structural elements I find quite fascinating in these writers.”
Reflecting on the physicality of writing and the deeper layers of creativity it ignites, Anna explains, “Poetry to me, after you perform it, there's an element of voice, of resonance, and the act of writing also gives you a sense of presence that centres yourself. You don't translate the same when you type it out because typing out already creates a layer of distance from the sense of self. I think that writing is like the rawest form of expression, and because it extends through your body directly to the paper, there's no disruption, no distance between you and the world you're creating on paper. I write by hand everything first, and from this daily practice I find the different fragments in my notebooks and map them together, but it always starts with the honesty and intimacy that comes with that.”
Anna’s work also explores how modern life fragments attention and human intimacy. She elaborates on the importance of craftsmanship and the preservation of traditional penmanship techniques. “I think craftsmanship is even more important in the time that we live in now. Because what you will never be able to replace is human ingenuity and creativity. So, having the vision and the essence of world-building, being able to write a single word, or to shape a vision of reality that we want to live in through words that will never be replaceable by complex machines, where there is also a rejigging or readjustment of what is already there. And you can recycle ideas. But the individuality that we also have as human beings will never be replaced in that. If anything, it challenges us to lean more into our own creativity. And it is more of an opportunity and call to action, and you can shape and envision a path of direction versus trying to fall into the institutionalised contexts. This will be what differentiates us in the long term.”
Anna has offered a platform for emerging and established voices through the Napkin Poetry Review, and she sheds light on its inception and its inclusive lens. “The Napkin Poetry Review started first as a journal and kind of experience platform during COVID, together with a fellow student of mine when we were in the Oxford Master's. And then COVID hit, and we wanted to test how we could still reach people. And also reach out of the echo chamber of being sort of in this university literary context where you talk to the niche audience that's already engaged, and see how poetry can also exist off the page. So, then it started with interviewing professors, scientists, physicists, and engineers, seeing how they use poetry to inform their thinking and decision-making, and how it inspires them within their field of work. It continued with online workshops, and later, when it was possible again, physical poetry dinners all over the world. Now it's nearly 5,000 poets all over the world who are part of the community. I even have teenage boys from East London sending me rap text voiceovers, and wanting feedback and being very vulnerable, all the way to 80-year-old retirees in Brazil. Poetry is now the way to connect to the world. That was where it started and what it has morphed into.”
Anna is encouraged by the global reception that poetry has gained, the conversations that the craft invites, and the positive effect it can have across industries. “To see that you had this hypothesis of, ‘I do believe poetry actually has a lot more readers and interested audiences and can do so much in the world’, and it’s continued impact is great, (because I came from the angle of being an economist, and more of a business and finance route as well). It is a very important real-world tool, whether it be politics or science, that can inform how we conduct ourselves, how we reflect. And that sort of poetry basically is not a ‘nice to have’, but a ‘must have.’”
While Anna enjoys the space and reflection that poetry offers, it also keeps her incredibly busy. “I have quite a few writing projects coming up. I just finished writing a new collection. And then I work together with artists and museums more now, showcasing poetry as performance art. So, I have a few projects coming up. And workshops and collaborations. Lots of poetry dinner travels. And sometimes it's in collaboration with places like hotel settings or some brands or for different design fair contexts. And I would bring the poetry to life in those rooms.”
Musing on what her discipline offers people that other forms of media cannot, Anna reflects on its power for arbitration: “At the core, poetry is the most honest. And it can be like medicine for the soul. It allows you to connect to people when other forms of language fail. I've seen this in the past when I did poetry nights around political themes or politically charged themes, and poetry would share an emotion that made it relatable again, a way you could see beyond the artefacts and the ideology of language because it can potentially be misused or misconstrued to create a certain reality or paint a picture you want. It allows you to hold nuance and ambiguity so that multiple realities can co-exist at the same time. Poetry might be the most powerful way of using language when all other forms of language and expression fail. There's a neuroscientific aspect to this because what poetry uniquely allows us to do is something called sharpening and levelling. So, over time, as we grow up and become adults, we have set beliefs, and then we confirm every new piece of information to those set beliefs. And that often makes you prone to confirmation bias. But the only way we can get out of that mindset is through this strategy called sharpening, and that sharpening technique disappears as we grow up because only as children do we have this imaginative, expansive thinking. We come up with ideas, or we also abstract. This idea of abstracting things and living with metaphors we lose over time. It's very hard to get back into that. There are a lot of studies on how it improves your decision-making behaviour and your consistency of thinking, and also how you deal with ambiguous or risk contexts if you train your brain in creative writing, and particularly poetry. Poetry is like a superpower tool.”
Poetry holds as much power as it does fragility and beauty; it can evoke memories and empathy; its nuances offer a form of expression when regular words fail us. It can change perceptions and give a voice to those who have been silenced. It is cathartic and celebratory; it connects us, helps us understand ideas about identity, heritage, and selfhood; it asks us to slow down, reflect, and take time to notice; and at its core, it asks us to stay curious. Through Anna's masterful articulation and advocacy, this craft isn’t merely preserved; it flourishes. Her work through words fosters community and understanding, and starts conversations. Through her exploration and commitment to instilling a love of her craft, through every metaphor, simile, and refrain, Anna Seidel shows us that poetry is not only a tool to reflect on the world, but one that can shape it.
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