Jacalyn den Haan : part one

Jacalyn den Haan is a poet and teacher from Langley, BC and currently living in Montreal. Her poetry has appeared in Walled Women, Savant Garde, and EVENT magazines. A chapbook, Selected Leavings, is forthcoming through Cactus Press later this year. 

How important is music to your poetry?

It's essential. I come from a musical family and my first foray into poetry was writing song lyrics when I was six years old. My childhood and adolescence were governed by music – piano, French horn, choir, etc. Music’s in my blood, and I make sure that it finds its way into my poetry as well. 

There’s a whole host of poems in my chapbook Selected Leavings, which will be out this summer through Montreal’s Cactus Press, that are crafted after the rhythm and flow of certain songs. For instance, I listened to Ludovico Einaudi’s “Fly” at least 382 tiemes while writing the first poem of the book.