Judson Hamilton : part five

What do you feel poetry can accomplish that other forms can’t?

One thing I really like about poetry is how flexible it is; how it can envelop any subject or stylistic bent you may want to throw at it. And it is the only form I know of that can make sense without making sense. Which truly makes it invaluable.

Judson Hamilton : part four

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

I came back around to poetry when I was in my mid-20s, quite by accident,  and realized what an open form it was. Before that I hadn’t given the thought of poetry with a capital ‘P’ much thought. And to be honest, I still don’t.

Judson Hamilton : part three

How do you know when a poem is finished?

When there is nothing left to fix, and I feel satisfied with the result.

Judson Hamilton : part two

How does a poem begin?

These days it begins as a series of notes in my phone that then get dumped either directly on the computer or into a notebook and reworked. I have a tendency to group them by tone or voice or their shapes and then once I’ve accumulated enough first drafts in a folder I’ll pull them out and cycle through them nipping and tucking along the way.

Judson Hamilton : part one

Judson Hamilton lives in Wrocław, Poland. His most recent publications are a book of poems called The New Make-Believe and a short story collection called Gross in Feather, Loud in Voice both out from Dostoyevsky Wannabe. He’s a contributor at Queen Mob’s Teahouse. Twitter: @judson_hamilton

How did you first engage with poetry?

As a reader, my earliest memories of poetry are intrinsically linked with the work of Shel Silverstein whom I adored as a child (and someone whose work I am now revisiting with my own children). Later there were the usual suspects as imbibed through the academic syllabi of high school and college.

I’ve always enjoyed writing poetry much more than reading it though. I’m not sure why that is.