Tracy Hamon : part five

How does a poem begin?
 
A poem can begin anywhere, but no matter where it starts, for me, it always starts with metaphor. It may start with a title, a thought, a phrase, a few words, a conversation, or even research. I start writing to the idea/image of the metaphor and see where it goes. I also like writing with pen and paper to begin with—it slows my mind and the words can begin to gather into something cohesive. I often won’t switch to the computer until I have a rough draft and the need to break the lines and to shape the poem. 

Tracy Hamon : part four

How important is music to your poetry?

Music and the sound of a line are really important to my writing. I’m obsessive about line breaks, the sound of the word at the end of the line, the cadence of the line, the rhythm of it, and so on. The musicality of a poem, to me anyway, is how I hold the poem in my head. Each word has a sound and when you string them together, they create music.

Tracy Hamon : part three

What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?

I don’t find writing poetry difficult—I find the process of editing and shaping the language of the poem to be the most challenging. Sometimes it’s a section of a poem that isn’t working, or a line, or worse, one word. The final editing process is always something I procrastinate. As of late, I try to think about the poem as being naked, and I need to try on different words/phrases (or remove them) so that I can change or cloth it. Sometimes I feel there’s nothing wrong with being naked.

Tracy Hamon : part two

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

For the most part, my work enters the world without much supervision. I work on my poetry in retreats settings (the SWG Writers/Artists Retreats), and have attended Sage Hill Poetry Colloquium. I used to belong to numerous writing groups but kind of worked my way out of them until recently. Now I belong to the Poets out of the Vault and we meet on a regular basis to discuss our work. Most of the poets in the group are established poets, so this helps give me perspective on my writing, but mainly the group motivates me to keep bringing new work to meetings.

Tracy Hamon : part one

Tracy Hamon was born in Regina, Saskatchewan and holds an MA in English from the University of Regina. She is a poet and an arts administrator with the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild. Her first book of poetry This Is Not Eden was released in April 2005 and was a finalist for two Saskatchewan Book Awards. Her second book Interruptions in Glass was shortlisted for two Saskatchewan Book Awards in 2010 and, prior to being published, the manuscript won the 2005 City of Regina Writing Award. Her third collection Red Curls won the Drs. Morris and Jacqui Shumiatcher Regina Book Award in 2015.

Photo credit: Shelley Banks

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

When I was first writing, I read and wrote as much poetry as I could. I used to attend almost every book launch I could and every writing event/workshop. Now that I work for a writing organization, I don’t have so much time or energy to do any of those things. I have slowed in my consumption of books and events, but I still try to keep abreast with the poetry world and what’s happening. When I reread books that inspired me at the start of my writing, I understand them from a different perspective (or I just finally understand them) and I find I’m encouraged in my own work, again.