Contra, ballads of archways and back exits, Beth Wilkinson
Beth Wilkinson's Contra, ballads of archways and back exits is a collection of song, poems and prose, a reconfiguration in the violence of cleanliness to erase shame and guilt of experiencing sexuality as a nine year old girl. Beth explores the transaction shared in her experiences as an adult, where desires are dismissed and subverted: "I developed a fascination with jealousy and betrayal, becoming aroused by the feeling of it and I desired abandonment. I wanted to be musically in tune but my experience of sex disrupted my natural rhythm. How do I reclaim my natural rhythm? And all I could think about is how I wanted to be so intimate with dirt that there was no separation between him and me, enmeshing with another physically to take away my suffering. But all what was left, when all was done, was the violence of cleanliness. One really long shower.”
The collection is deeply influenced by the trobairitz – women who composed lyric poetry in Occitan during the 12th and 13th century, such as Castelloza, Beatriz de Dia, Lombarda, Marie de Ventadorn, Azalais de Porcairagues who give us a medieval female perspective on love, desire, marriage, relationships and passion, rather than just women being expressed as objects of the male poets’ affection. These courtly, noblewomen explore freedom, desire, power and vulnerability – they sing about longing, disappointment, at times also demanding emotional equality, and loyalty. In many ways, they subvert the male lover and he becomes passive, the one who must serve and submit to the woman. A reversal back and forth of power dynamics, a contra of sort is needed.
Launch Event:
Parsonage Gardens, located just off Deansgate, remnants of medieval Manchester far gone, but we could imagine green land. The performance will take place just before the gardens closes at 8:30. Often gardens like these are locked at night, and all what can be left as a respite at night is an alleyway or a back exit.
We hope you can join us in Parsonage Gardens on Saturday the 17th October, 2026. 7:30pm sharp, if you are late then you will find a locked garden with no performance.
Book Information:
Publication release date: Saturday, 17th October, 2026 (Pre-order available)
First Edition.
Print run of 30
70mm x 125mm: 60pp
Section sewn hardback book + loose poem objects + song download
Book production by Lucy Wilkinson
Artwork by Beth Wilkinson
ISBN: 978-1-9194857-7-5
£20.84