Tasting Notes on YouTube

Thanks to my new YouTube channel, I’ve managed to upload the poetry film of Tasting Notes that we made back in 2013. The pamphlet might be out of print, but at least this gives the poems themselves a new lease of life…!

The Oscars

I was absolutely delighted this morning to find out an animated film that was produced in Extremadura, Buñuel in the Labryinth of the Turtles, is on Spain's International Feature Film shortlist for the Oscars alongside work from Almodóvar and Amenábar (see the news here in Hollywood Reporter).

I'm especially pleased for its producer and my friend, José María Fernández de Vega, who runs The Glow, the production company behind this exciting project that's taken a hell of a lot of graft to come to fruition. When he made my poetry film, Tasting Notes, back in 2013, I already knew how talented he was and how fortunate I was to work alongside him, but this tremendous accolade is a fresh reminder.

As a consequence, I'm afraid I can't resist the temptation to share Tasting Notes with you once more. Here it is again, just in time for the start of our grape harvest in southern Spain...


Tasting Notes - a poetry film by Matthew Stewart from Matthew Stewart on Vimeo.

Poetry loops at StAnza

As mentioned in my post a few weeks ago, poems from Tasting Notes will be present at StAnza with Poem in a Bottle. At the same time, the film version of Tasting Notes has also been included in Poetry Loops. Extra background information about the short poetry films that are to be shown is now up at the StAnza blog here. Apart from my work, there will be excellent pieces from the likes of Alastair Cook, Edward O'Donnelly and Alessandro Tedde.


Poetry Loops will be showing in the Conference Room at the Byre Theatre from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Thursday 6th March to Sunday 9th March. It's all free and no ticket is required, so you can just drop in and watch a film or two whenever you like, recharging your batteries for the StAnza experience!.

Here it is!

Tasting Notes - a poetry film by Matthew Stewart from Matthew Stewart on Vimeo.

The online premiere

After several months of graft, I'm pleased to be able to announce that the online premiere of Tasting Notes, a poetry film, will be on Wednesday 2nd October. The absence of a red carpet won't stop me being pretty excited!

What is a poetry film?

Ahead of the online première of Tasting Notes, a poetry film, here's something of a declaration of intent!

So, just what is a "poetry film"? Well, I believe it's capable of bringing about connections and creating metaphors that neither the verbal nor the visual form would produce alone.

In other words, a poetry film is able to give a concrete image to a set of words that were previously limitless in visual terms, enriching poems by driving the verse in question towards a tangible experience. However, this need not be a hindrance, as those very words strengthen and specify the inital generic power of the images employed, enabling the viewer to set off on a new journey.

This, at least, is my aim with Tasting Notes. The poems are already highly visual, but very few of my readers have had the opportunity to see Extremadura, its wineries and vineyards for themselves. The film intends to give them that vicarious chance.

Tasting Notes, a poetry film

To a certain extent, the title of this post is self-explanatory. I'm lucky enough to have some very generous friends down here in Extremadura who've been working with me over the last few months to create a professionally produced film version of Tasting Notes.

I'll be providing some background info over the next few days as to how we've gone about things and with what poetic intentions. All this will be followed by an online première in mid-September. Busy (and very exciting) times!