Vannessa Barnier : part five

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

It certainly has. What I first found to be small, legible trinkets became so much more. Poetry, to me, is not only the written word, but rather a means of relating to each other, both on page and through community. It’s a coming together of words over feelings with other people. I’ve learned that, though there is always the singular experience of reading, it isn’t the only way to experience it, and arguably, not the best way.

Vannessa Barnier : part four

When you require renewal, is there a particular poem or book that you return to? A particular author?

There are three writers who have had the most influence on me: Donald Barthelme, Gary Lutz, and Diane Williams. It’s a combination of DB’s stories and characters, GL’s use of unconventional suffixes and complimentary words, and DW’s obscuring of the every day that have the most influence on my style. My copies of Sixty Stories, I Looked Alive, and Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty are in tatters.

Vannessa Barnier : 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?

I perform my poetry at readings – I find that it’s the best way to get feedback, since it’s in real time, by a room full of people. I write something new for every reading I do – from there, my piece grows from the audible reactions, as well as what people tell me they liked after the reading. I always keep the parts people tell me they liked after the reading. That’s how I know what works: it stuck with them. So I stick with it, too.

Vannessa Barnier : part two

How did you first engage with poetry?

I first engaged with poetry in high school, reading the classics, getting taken by all the usual suspects, etc. I only saw poetry, then, as two-dimensional.

It wasn’t until 2014 when I was taken to my first poetry reading, which was the Art Bar Poetry Series. The mood was wildly open, people were drinking wine very casually, people took the open mic by storm, and there was an older man who would sketch people in the room. The whole experience really shook me and I was hooked ever since.

Vannessa Barnier : part one

Vannessa Barnier is a creative project instigator and facilitator. She is the owner and host of Legible Intelligibles, a summer open mic poetry reading series in the park. On weekends, she is a bookseller at House of Anansi's brick and mortar store. She feels strongly and often.

She currently resides in the west end of Toronto.

https://www.facebook.com/litoronto/

How does a poem begin?

For me, a poem begins with a singular, particular instance. It starts with something said, something witnessed, or a long-form experience that caught on something inside of you like a hook, and you have no choice but to open it up, lay it out and build around it.