Kelley Jo Burke : part four

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 work in theatre, which is a collaborative form. I also work in documentary, which again means steady interaction with others. So in my writing I am solitary to the point of misanthropy.

Most poetry I write starts as a part of my pre-writing for a larger project—a play or a documentary. It is an incredibly useful way to walk into the metaphorical language that the project will be rooted in—it also tells me a lot about setting, aural landscape and the dialect of characters.

I start with the phrase, I write ‘til I lose steam. Then I go back and start challenging what I’ve got down. When it seems to have living if by no means complete form, I share it with my one trusted reader. Who has made an art out of giving feedback without triggering my (endless) neuroses.

Jaime Forsythe : part three

How important is music to your poetry?

I sometimes play music (I played flute in a band called Moon) and while that and writing poetry don’t really overlap in practice, they can stem from some of the same impulses. In both cases, maybe I just wish I could sing? I like the precision of recording, and find a similar satisfaction in the process of rewriting and editing. I like the act of making one part of music blend with and speak to the other parts, which I also like about writing poems, but in playing music with others there is this relief: I only have to control one of the parts! I don’t usually listen to music when I write, but lately I’ve been writing to Grouper, which has an oceanic, continuous quality that works for me.

Allie Marini : part four

4. Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

I would hope so – I think if my consideration of it hadn’t changed, I’d still be stuck where I was as a teen or early 20s writer, which would mean my work hadn’t grown, evolved, or improved. I’m not embarrassed by my old work – it was necessary to get me to where I am now – but I’m also glad that I’ve evolved past it. That has less to do with academia or my MFA degree & more to do with active engagement with poetry peers, reading what they’re writing, how they’re doing it, & the constant influence of ideas that you can achieve through poets + social media.

Susan Gillis : part five

How does a poem begin?

In mystery, in observation, and in words. If I’m lucky, if I don’t try to pin it down too soon, if I’ve slept well, or badly, if I’m a little hungry, a little curious, a little patient, it may continue to emerge—it’s like we work together, poem and me, to coax it into being. So much can go wrong!

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda : coda

6.      CODA: The importance of reading poetry aloud in front of an audience. 

Because I stutter, I feel like I have a duty to go out into the world and share my poems by showing promising poets that if I can do it, stand up here read my verses and stuttering through each one, you can succeed to. I was speaking to a poet a few days ago and she is a published poet who had never read her poems aloud. Going out and reading your poems is so important. Yes, it’s frightening but its also empowering for yourself and the audience. I am lucky to be able to spend the valuable hours I have left on the planet doing the thing that I love. Crafting, Writing, Revising and Reading my poetry. My advice to any young poet, go to readings and read your poems on stage in front of a crowd. It is life changing. 

I remember the moment, in the middle of a poetry reading in Burbank, as I read the poem “She Pours Me With Her Eyes” included in my poetry book Flashes & Verses, I felt my voice becoming one with my words. Even though I was terrified, the moment changed everything for me. I discovered my calling in life. A few years later I was accepted into the MFA program at Antioch University Los Angeles. And five years after acquiring my MFA, after having over a hundred poems published, my first full-length poetry collection was published this year. All this happened because I faced my fears and went up behind the microphone and read that poem. My future changed the moment I spoke up and read my poem. For those that have the nerve to question the power of poetry. Poetry saved me and changed my life. What are you waiting for? That poem you are scared to read might just change your life. Step up and let your voice be heard on and off the page. On the stage is where I found my voice. And I am loving the sound.   

Krystal Languell : part four

What poets changed the way you thought about writing?

I am so resistant to change that the impact of certain poets and teachers takes years for me to absorb. It’s a slow process. Workshops I’ve taken with Hoa Nguyen, Ronaldo V. Wilson, and Evie Shockley (all through The Millay Colony) have had a lasting impact on me. Most fundamentally, Ronaldo’s engagement with video loosened my grip on the page in a way I’m still reckoning with. I have some footage of a rollerblading flash mob in Paris I have yet to do something with, and I’m interested in the consequences of the disruption when poets cross genre boundaries or mix media.

 

Emma Bolden : part five

Why is poetry important?

Poetry allows us to speak to each other in a language that’s different and deeper than the ones we use every day. It creates a shared space in which we can not just see but experience the world the way another person sees it. By allowing us to see and hear and feel and experience what others experience in the way that they experience it, poetry reminds us that we are not alone, that we are all human. Perhaps that’s why poetry is most important: it teaches us, and insistently, that other people are people – and, in a time of such unthinkable cruelty, there are few things more important than remembering that.