“Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography” by Tim Cresswell: Summary and Critique

Introduction: “Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography” by Tim Cresswell

“Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography” by Tim Cresswell first appeared in Cultural Geographies in 2014 (Vol. 21, Issue 1, pp. 141–146), originally published online on October 18, 2013. In this reflective piece, Cresswell explores the intersection of geography and poetry, drawing from his personal journey as a geographer who embraced poetic practice. He argues that geography and poetry are mutually enriching disciplines, where geographic concepts such as place, landscape, and mobility influence poetic expression, and poetic sensibilities can deepen geographical understanding. The article underscores the historical engagement of geographers with creative writing, referencing figures like James Wreford-Watson and Simon Armitage, while also highlighting the broader literary tradition of incorporating geography into poetry. Cresswell discusses how poetry allows for a more nuanced and affective engagement with space, challenging the conventional boundaries of academic discourse. His work is significant in literary theory and cultural geography as it advocates for a creative turn in geographical writing, encouraging scholars to embrace artistic methodologies. By bridging the poetic and the geographic, Cresswell calls for a broader appreciation of how literature can shape our spatial imaginaries, making a compelling case for the integration of creative writing within human geography. His reflections not only contribute to the discourse on literary geographies but also encourage geographers to engage in the creation of literary texts as a legitimate scholarly endeavor.

Summary of “Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography” by Tim Cresswell

1. The Intersection of Geography and Poetry: Cresswell (2014) explores the mutual influence of geography and poetry, arguing that both disciplines engage with place, landscape, and mobility. He reflects on his own journey as a geographer who became a poet and how this dual engagement has shaped his academic and creative work. The article challenges the rigid boundaries of academic writing by advocating for a more creative and literary approach to geography (Cresswell, 2014).
2. Personal Journey from Geographer to Poet: The article is partly autobiographical, detailing Cresswell’s gradual transition into poetry. He describes how an encounter at the AAG Annual Meeting in 2008 sparked his realization that creative writing should not be seen as separate from academic geography. His engagement with poetry, from student exercises in “humanistic geography” at University College London to participating in poetry collectives and formal training at Faber Academy, shaped his creative and academic outlook (Cresswell, 2014).
3. The Historical Relationship Between Geography and Poetry: Cresswell traces the tradition of geographers engaging in poetic practice, citing James Wreford-Watson and Jay Appleton as examples of scholars who have bridged the gap between these fields. He also highlights poets like Simon Armitage and Elizabeth Bishop, whose works explicitly engage with geographic themes. This historical perspective underscores the argument that geography and poetry are deeply intertwined (Cresswell, 2014).
4. Poetry as a Method for Understanding Place: One of the central arguments of the article is that poetry provides a unique way to engage with place, landscape, and movement. Cresswell suggests that poetry can express aspects of human experience that traditional academic writing cannot, particularly in terms of emotion, subjectivity, and embodied experience. He draws from his own poetry, such as Desire Lines and Littoral, to illustrate how poetic practice can enhance geographical inquiry (Cresswell, 2014).
5. The Role of Creative Writing in Cultural Geography: Cresswell discusses how the creative turn in cultural geography has legitimized alternative forms of writing, including poetry. He references Donald Meinig’s (1983) essay, Geography as an Art, which called for greater openness to literary creativity within geography. Cresswell aligns with this perspective, advocating for geographers to engage not just in analyzing literature but also in producing it (Meinig, 1983; Cresswell, 2014).
6. The Influence of Poetry on Academic Writing: As a geographer and poet, Cresswell reflects on how writing poetry has influenced his academic prose. He notes that the precision, rhythm, and attention to form required in poetry have subtly shaped his geographical writing. However, he acknowledges the challenges of blending academic rigor with poetic creativity, emphasizing that effective creative writing requires discipline and practice (Cresswell, 2014).
7. Future Directions: Integrating Poetry and Geography: Cresswell sees the future of cultural geography as increasingly interdisciplinary, with more geographers engaging in creative writing. He highlights his role in developing a new Master’s program in Creative Writing: Place, Environment, Writing, which seeks to bring together geographers and writers. This initiative reflects his broader goal of breaking down barriers between disciplines and encouraging geographers to explore creative methodologies (Cresswell, 2014).
8. Conclusion: Cresswell’s article is a powerful argument for the integration of poetry into geographical practice. By reflecting on his own experiences and the historical connections between geography and poetry, he makes a compelling case for creative writing as a legitimate and valuable method within cultural geography. His work challenges geographers to think beyond conventional academic prose and consider the poetic dimensions of place, space, and mobility.

Theoretical Terms/Concepts in “Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography” by Tim Cresswell

Theoretical Term/Concept	Definition/Explanation	Relevance in Cresswell’s Work
Humanistic Geography	A subfield of geography that emphasizes subjective experience, meaning, and creativity in spatial studies.	Cresswell references his early training in humanistic geography, which encouraged creative writing as a way to understand place (Cresswell, 2014).
Place & Landscape	The idea that space is not just a physical entity but also a socially and emotionally constructed site.	Poetry, according to Cresswell, provides a deeper engagement with place by capturing its affective and experiential dimensions (Cresswell, 2014).
Mobility	The movement of people, ideas, and cultural expressions across space and time.	Cresswell’s poetry often reflects themes of movement and migration, illustrating how mobility shapes identity and belonging (Cresswell, 2014).
Creative Turn in Cultural Geography	A movement advocating for more artistic and narrative-driven approaches in geographical writing.	Cresswell argues that poetry should be considered a valid method of geographical inquiry, aligning with the creative turn (Cresswell, 2014).
Poetic Geographies	The idea that poetry can reveal spatial relationships and geographical imagination in ways that traditional academic prose cannot.	Cresswell demonstrates how poets like Simon Armitage and Elizabeth Bishop have used geographical themes in their work (Cresswell, 2014).
Geography as an Art	A perspective that geography, like literature and the arts, is a form of creative expression.	Cresswell builds on Donald Meinig’s (1983) argument that geography should embrace artistic creativity rather than purely analytical methods (Meinig, 1983; Cresswell, 2014).
Embodied Experience	The understanding that place and movement are experienced through the body, not just abstractly analyzed.	Cresswell suggests that poetry allows for a richer, more embodied understanding of place and mobility (Cresswell, 2014).
Psycho-geography	The study of how urban environments affect emotions, behavior, and perception.	Cresswell discusses how contemporary poets engage with urban spaces through a psycho-geographic lens (Cresswell, 2014).
Interdisciplinary Writing	Blending multiple academic and creative disciplines to explore new ways of thinking.	Cresswell’s own career and research advocate for breaking the boundaries between social sciences and literature (Cresswell, 2014).

Contribution of “Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography” by Tim Cresswell to Literary Theory/Theories

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Thus, Cresswell’s work reshapes how we think about literature, geography, and poetic expression as interconnected fields (Cresswell, 2014)

Examples of Critiques Through “Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography” by Tim Cresswell

Literary Work & Author	Critique through Cresswell’s Perspective	Key Concept from Cresswell (2014)
Elizabeth Bishop – Geography III	Bishop’s poems engage deeply with cartographic metaphors, exploring how people relate to place and displacement. Cresswell’s idea of poetic geographies shows that her work uses geography not just as a setting, but as a mode of knowing and being (Cresswell, 2014, p. 144).	Poetry as a Method for Understanding Place
Gillian Wigmore – Soft Geography	Wigmore’s poetry embodies the intimate geographies of home and the body, aligning with Cresswell’s claim that poetry creates a lived sense of place through form and rhythm (Cresswell, 2014, p. 145). Wigmore’s work mirrors Cresswell’s attention to how personal geographies shape identity.	Embodied Experience & Poetics of Place
Kapka Kassabova – Geography for the Lost	Kassabova explores migration, exile, and belonging, which aligns with Cresswell’s idea that poetry reflects human mobility and displacement as central geographic themes (Cresswell, 2014, p. 145). Her poems create a fluid, unstable geography that resists fixed borders.	Mobility & Displacement in Poetic Form
Simon Armitage – Human Geography	Armitage’s poetry integrates urban landscapes and everyday spaces, supporting Cresswell’s view that geographers should not just analyze literature but create it (Cresswell, 2014, p. 142). His use of street-level observation aligns with psychogeography and spatial storytelling.	Poetic Geographies & Literary Urbanism

Criticism Against “Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography” by Tim Cresswell

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Representative Quotations from “Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography” by Tim Cresswell with Explanation

Quotation	Explanation
“Could geographers actually create literature as well as borrow from it?” (p. 142)	Cresswell challenges the conventional relationship between geography and literature, suggesting that geographers should not only analyze texts but also contribute to literary creation. This aligns with the creative turn in cultural geography.
“Geography will deserve to be called an art only when a substantial number of geographers become artists” (p. 142).	This reflects the influence of Donald Meinig’s Geography as an Art (1983). Cresswell argues that geography should embrace artistic methods, including poetry, as a legitimate mode of inquiry.
“Poetry allows for a more embodied, affective engagement with geography than traditional academic writing” (p. 143).	Cresswell emphasizes that poetry captures the emotional and sensory aspects of place, movement, and landscape in ways that conventional geographic writing often cannot.
“The lines of a poem, like the paths people walk, create ‘desire lines’ across the imagined landscapes of words” (p. 144).	This metaphor connects poetic structure with human mobility, showing how poetry can map both real and imagined spaces. It draws from cultural geography’s focus on everyday spatial practices.
“There is a creative turn in cultural geography at the moment that might be finally fulfilling some of the expectations that Meinig and others were then developing” (p. 142).	Cresswell places his argument within a larger academic movement, reinforcing that creative methods are gaining legitimacy in human geography.
“We are launching a new Master’s course called ‘Creative Writing: Place, Environment, Writing’… to introduce creative writers to the geographies of place, landscape, mobility” (p. 145).	This illustrates the practical application of his ideas, showing how academia is integrating literary creativity with geographic scholarship.
“My poetry is led by geographical themes and I still think through my poems a little too much in advance in the way a trained academic might” (p. 145).	Cresswell acknowledges the tension between academic analysis and poetic spontaneity, reflecting the challenges of interdisciplinary work.
“Psycho-geographies of Iain Sinclair and others have received slots on the evening news and in the popular press” (p. 145).	He highlights the popularization of psychogeography, reinforcing that literary geography is becoming culturally relevant beyond academia.
“In Geography for the Lost, Kapka Kassabova mobilizes geography to illuminate a world of displacement and migration” (p. 144).	Cresswell demonstrates how literature can express themes of movement, exile, and belonging, key concerns in cultural geography.
“I hope and believe I am on that road and am willing to risk failure” (p. 146).	This personal reflection underscores the experimental nature of creative geography, emphasizing uncertainty and exploration as part of academic inquiry.

Suggested Readings: “Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography” by Tim Cresswell

1. Cresswell, Tim. “Geographies of poetry/poetries of geography.” cultural geographies 21.1 (2014): 141-146.
2. Cresswell, Tim. “Geographies of Poetry/Poetries of Geography.” Cultural Geographies, vol. 21, no. 1, 2014, pp. 141–46. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26168548. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
3. Engelmann, Sasha. “Toward a Poetics of Air: Sequencing and Surfacing Breath.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, vol. 40, no. 3, 2015, pp. 430–44. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24582996. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
4. Griffiths, Hywel M. “Three Poems on Flood Histories in Rural Ireland.” Cultural Geographies, vol. 25, no. 2, 2018, pp. 369–74. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26402646. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.