Kim Goldberg : part two

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

Creative expression is empowering and inspiring. One of my books, Red Zone, is a poetic chronicle of homelessness in downtown Nanaimo, BC, where I live. People have grown somewhat apathetic to the systemic problem of homelessness because they feel helpless to do anything about it when they are reading headline after headline, statistic after statistic. But I found that by documenting it creatively, poetically, instead of journalistically, people became very interested in discussing and devising strategies to address homelessness locally. In other words, creative energy inspires people to tap into their own creative energy, to think differently, solve problems. Creative energy is ultimately energy of hope (regardless of the subject) because creativity is the counterweight to inertia.