Mary J. Oliver : part five

What other poetry books have you been reading lately?

The last two poetry books I've read have been: Censored Poems by Marin Sorescu and The Art of Falling by Kim Moore. They couldn’t be more different; I love Sorescu’s for his fierce and direct confrontational approach. And Kim’s for her connectedness to the female body and her powerful use of repetition. 

Mary J. Oliver : part four

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

My book started off as research, nothing more. As it developed and I became obsessed, it grew into a rambling biography that happened to contain a few poems. No one in their right mind will be as interested in this as I am, I decided. And a poet (Penelope Shuttle) suggested that I recast most of it as poetry, as she felt the poems worked well. The result is a short, beautiful objet (I think), like a jewel; rich, condensed, precise. It took years and years to achieve this. And of course, it's a million miles from perfect. But one day soon the publisher will print it and I won't be able to fiddle-arse around with it any more. 

Mary J. Oliver : part three

How does your work first enter the world? Do you have a social group or writers group that you work ideas and poems with?

Yes, though I spent a decade in a dark room on my own first. I came out with a draft but realized I'd almost forgotten how to speak and I'd lost and all my friends.  But I made new ones in local groups and on courses, who helped me perfect my story - though, of course,  it is far from perfect.

Mary J. Oliver : part two

How do you know when a poem is finished?

I seldom return to a poem without seeing a way of improving it. Usually the improvement is not an improvement, and so the process continues eternally. I have a few poems that do seem perfect and therefore 'finished' but they are very rare beasts. And what is the formula? Indefinable I'm afraid and of course different in every case. Something to do with: the fewest words, the plainest words saying the exact right thing, the music, the shape, the strength, and there being a point in writing it.

Mary J. Oliver : part one

Mary J. Oliver’s background is in the visual arts, teaching and exhibiting in Scotland and England. She switched to writing fulltime ten years ago. Quite a few individual poems accepted by magazines and journals and anthologies, won a few prizes in competitions, so was encouraged to commit to a major project, which has been accepted for publication, 2019, Seren Books, UK. Her debut is a coalescing of prose, poetry, found documents and photographs, and demonstrates her deep awareness of the visual and tangible qualities involved with holding and reading a book.  She has always lived on the west coast of UK, either in Scotland or Cornwall. 

Photo credit: Steve Tanner, Fotgraphics, Cornwall

What are you working on?

I'm finishing a ten year project relating to a hobo's experience in Canada during the Great Depression of the 1930s (my father). It's my cross-genre debut - poetry as memoir, JIM NEAT - The Case of a Young Man Down on His Luck, being published by Seren (UK) in September 2019.