Organized by former fellow Mara-Daria Cojocaru, PhD, Brutiful was an event introducing the general public to poetry co-produced by humans and companion dogs.
While there has been a heightened awareness of animals in poetry, most poetry is still exclusively for humans. Multispecies poetry shows that co-evolution between humans and dogs need not stop at culture, and it can help humans appreciate the ways in which “their best animal friends” perceive the world differently. Such multi-species poetry combines layers of human language with visual and olfactory elements; think of, say, an erasure poem that uses a piebald pattern, or of an acrostic written on a dog walk including a scent signature.
The event presented multispecies poetry that was produced by dog-human teams from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and the US between June and September of 2022. The final showing took place at the National Poetry Library in London, England on 22 February 2023.