What poets changed the way you thought about writing?
In no particular order, Nas, Samiya Bashir, Lupe Fiasco, Wole Soyinka, Ab-Soul, John Keats, Noname, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Big K.R.I.T, Ross Gay, OutKast, Kagayi Ngobi, 3-Card, Nayyirah Waheed, Jaden Smith, Isabel Allende, Sam Beam, Fatima Asghar, Moses Sumney, Safia Elhillo, Future, Rabindranath Tegore, Lily Allen, James Baldwin, Mike Shinoda, Whitney French, Chester Bennington and I could honestly continue listing poets for pages so I’m going to stop here 😊
Sunday, 21 October 2018
Saturday, 20 October 2018
Peter Norman : part three
How does a poem begin?
This has changed over the years. Originally, I would set out to write a poem about a specific thing — a personal experience or observation; a particular topic or theme. Then, as I learned more about prosody, I’d try out various forms for the challenge of it. Later, poems tended to arise from a phrase that came to mind and stuck there because it had a pleasing and/or exciting sound; I’d build out from that original bundle of words, whatever form or subject might happen to transpire.
In recent years, I’ve found these sound-nuggets less forthcoming, or at least less intriguing. So I play around with challenges and restrictions — for example, my next book (coming out this fall) consists of poems that use the line-ending words of other people’s poems. Inspired by cooking shows like MasterChef, I sometimes set myself “pressure tests”: I spin a Wheel of Fortune–style virtual wheel (wheeldecide.com) that I’ve loaded up with various challenges (compose a poem that does x or adheres to form y). Then I have half an hour to do the best I can with whatever the wheel assigns. I pretend that Gordon Ramsay and his ilk are waiting to deliver withering assessments of my effort.
This has changed over the years. Originally, I would set out to write a poem about a specific thing — a personal experience or observation; a particular topic or theme. Then, as I learned more about prosody, I’d try out various forms for the challenge of it. Later, poems tended to arise from a phrase that came to mind and stuck there because it had a pleasing and/or exciting sound; I’d build out from that original bundle of words, whatever form or subject might happen to transpire.
In recent years, I’ve found these sound-nuggets less forthcoming, or at least less intriguing. So I play around with challenges and restrictions — for example, my next book (coming out this fall) consists of poems that use the line-ending words of other people’s poems. Inspired by cooking shows like MasterChef, I sometimes set myself “pressure tests”: I spin a Wheel of Fortune–style virtual wheel (wheeldecide.com) that I’ve loaded up with various challenges (compose a poem that does x or adheres to form y). Then I have half an hour to do the best I can with whatever the wheel assigns. I pretend that Gordon Ramsay and his ilk are waiting to deliver withering assessments of my effort.
Friday, 19 October 2018
Linda Frank : part two
How did you first engage with poetry?
I seemed to have had a love of words and poetry since about the second grade. My parents actually saved my early poems which I apparently made into a book of sorts. I loved reading poetry in the readers we had in primary school. In high school I discovered Leonard Cohen’s poetry and then his music and that changed how I thought about the written word.
I seemed to have had a love of words and poetry since about the second grade. My parents actually saved my early poems which I apparently made into a book of sorts. I loved reading poetry in the readers we had in primary school. In high school I discovered Leonard Cohen’s poetry and then his music and that changed how I thought about the written word.
Jennifer L. Knox : part eleven
How important is music to your poetry?
Can one exist without the other?
Can one exist without the other?
Thursday, 18 October 2018
Jennifer Zilm : part two
How did you first engage with poetry?
On epic road trips through B.C. between Terrace and Greater Vancouver when I was three years old I heard Bob Dylan’s line “ten thousand miles in the mouth of graveyard” and I still can’t see clear cut patches on mountains without shaking.
On epic road trips through B.C. between Terrace and Greater Vancouver when I was three years old I heard Bob Dylan’s line “ten thousand miles in the mouth of graveyard” and I still can’t see clear cut patches on mountains without shaking.
Wednesday, 17 October 2018
Crystal Stone : part two
How do you know when a poem is finished?
I don’t. A poem is never really finished, but good enough to share. If you hold onto your words too long, they sometimes lose timeliness. And one of my goals is to write about current events, to touch people in the moments they need a poem. There are so many rapid changes happening right now in our country and they need a poet’s response.
I don’t. A poem is never really finished, but good enough to share. If you hold onto your words too long, they sometimes lose timeliness. And one of my goals is to write about current events, to touch people in the moments they need a poem. There are so many rapid changes happening right now in our country and they need a poet’s response.
M. Wright : part two
How do you know when a poem is finished?
When I’ve reread a poem and feel I’ve had a conversation with myself, that reading it is a true act of stepping into myself, I feel it is finished. My extraordinary wife gets the final say as to a poem’s fate however. She knows me and my poems far better than I.
When I’ve reread a poem and feel I’ve had a conversation with myself, that reading it is a true act of stepping into myself, I feel it is finished. My extraordinary wife gets the final say as to a poem’s fate however. She knows me and my poems far better than I.
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