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We Want to Show You What We Do

In September 2017, Spittoon embarked on its first national tour across China, visiting Beijing, Chengdu, Suzhou, and Shanghai. Events were filmed throughout — poetry nights, fiction showcases, slams, Spittunes performances — and edited into a 22-minute documentary called That’s What Spittoon Is. The film had its official premiere screening at Camera Stylo on 15th December 2018, preceded by a Spittunes performance from Anthony Tao and Liane Halton and followed by a Q&A with members of the collective.

In Their Own Words

Hannes Knuttson-Hall, Director: “When starting the process I realised quite fast how natural the community had formed. People were simply engaged through a common passion, where poetry was at the heart of it all. The editing part was something of a pain, because the footage lacks intrigue. It was more like a historical document that needed to be written for the next generation to use as reference. It doesn’t try to be something else. It’s a small document of Spittoon.”

Matthew Byrne, Spittoon Founder: “The video is a culmination of everything that we got up to in September 2017. There have been many more months like these that have been just as busy, if not busier, and we’re excited to show people how we work and the diversity of our operations. What’s wonderful about this video is the fact that it exists — I remember for a long time it felt like it wouldn’t, as I traipsed to Hannes’s house last February with freezing hands wondering how the hell to add subtitles.”

Simon Shieh, Editor-in-Chief, Spittoon Literary Magazine: “The Spittoon video captures a feeling that’s so difficult to communicate in any other way, and that’s the feeling of the Spittoon community. Closing your eyes and listening to a poem in a bar at 9pm on a Thursday, talking about writing with strangers and friends, and reading your own for the first time in front of an audience that you trust.”

David Huntington, Managing Web Editor: “When the sun goes down the poets come out. Many more great events that bring people from so many cultures together to listen to each other carefully. Our magazine has found its identity too, and I can’t wait to see Issue 5 come together, bringing more underrepresented Chinese writers into English.”

Hollie Montgomery, Spittoon Slam Organiser: “The video really shows the hard work and effort that all the Spittoon members put into making these events happen. There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes. We continue to push the boundaries of what people thought was capable. I don’t see Spittoon growing stagnant any time soon.”

Spittunes: Anthony Tao and Liane Halton

The evening opened with a Spittunes performance from one of the format’s most celebrated partnerships. Anthony Tao, a writer and editor whose poetry has appeared in Prairie Schooner, Borderlands, Kartika Review, and other publications, performed his poems reimagined musically by Liane Halton on classical guitar. Halton completed her degree in composition and classical guitar at Rhodes University in South Africa before moving to Beijing, where she played in bands including Boss Cuts and Rainbow Machine.

Originally published December 2018 on the Spittoon WeChat channel. The screening took place at Camera Stylo, 64 Dongsi Shiyi Tiao, Dongcheng District, Beijing.