Sounding Words: Poetry, Voice, and the Power of Sound

Welcome to the fourth class of the Versopolis Traineeship, an initiative dedicated to expanding the horizons of poetry through interdisciplinary exploration. This session, Sounding Words, invites participants to reconnect with poetry’s origins in oral tradition, emphasizing the essential role of sound, rhythm and vocal expression in poetic creation.

Led by Jaka Škapin – a transdisciplinary artist, composer and vocal improviser – this class explores the dynamic interplay between voice, movement and the poetic unconscious. Through an engaging combination of lecture, practice and guided improvisation, participants will discover how sound is not merely a vessel for words but a creative force in itself.

At the heart of this session is the idea that poetry begins as sound before it becomes text. The workshop encourages poets to listen deeply, to move as they sing, and to embrace the expressive potential of the voice. How do we transition from raw sound to language? How can the act of vocalisation unlock deeper layers of meaning, emotion and subconscious thought? By engaging with vocal improvisation, participants will experiment with the tension between structure and spontaneity, learning to shape words through sonic intuition.

Through hands-on exercises, poets will explore the body as an instrument of poetic expression, learning how movement and voice intertwine to create a fuller, more embodied form of poetry. The workshop delves into the relationship between sound and meaning, inviting participants to experiment with vocal improvisation and the ways in which sonic elements shape the emotional and conceptual layers of a poem. Listening is at the core of this practice. Poets will develop techniques to listen actively, attuning themselves to both external and internal rhythms, allowing the voice to emerge organically as a guide in creative discovery. Finally, the session introduces practical methods to enhance poetic impact through voice and sound, empowering poets to move beyond the written word and embrace the full spectrum of oral expression.

Join us in this immersive journey into sound as poetry – where voice becomes a tool for deeper creative discovery, allowing us to break beyond the written word and into the resonance of poetic expression itself.

Further Reading:

• Vocal Improvisation Resources: https://thewellvocal.com/resources/
• Kosovel: Intergals: https://litteraeslovenicae.si/knjiga/integrals/
• Jaka’s solo theatre performance combining vocal improvisation and language in a ritual of challenging patriarchal masculinity from within: https://youtu.be/FTVQbO6-oho?si=fShqQKMYyQf9SsIr