Experiments in Equations and Other Angles: An Anthology

riments in Equations is a mathematical experiment of language and form. Utilising various mathematic methods, from angles to algebra, Equations explores how two opposing mediums – Literature and Maths – can coincide and create new forms and frameworks in how we can tell stories, and to explore how we read them. Equations is a product of the Oulipo: a French avant-garde movement that focused on constraining or limiting the tools we have to write, e.g. omitting certain letters from the alphabet, writing in dialects, and re-writing old texts in new, strange ways. This provokes a new form of structure and writing, which reevaluates our relationship with language, and how stories are told; by changing how we write, we gain new perspectives, and with new perspectives, new worlds emerge. This anthology lightly experiments with some of these Oulipian styles, such as an infinite poem, and rewriting Hamlet’s “To Be or Not to Be” speech with the letter A. In the final segment, I instead focus on my own Gypsy heritage, using Anglo-Romani dialect to manipulate the opening to The Great Gatsby; this is great fun to read aloud, but it also keeps alive a dialect and language that is becoming increasingly rare.