Sacha Archer : part four

How did you first engage with poetry?

I guess it was authors like Shell Silverstein, Denis Lee, and Dr. Seuss. But the first book of poetry that I bought was Sylvia Plath’s Ariel. I don’t remember what prompted me to buy it, but I do remember that I decided to check out a little used book store in Dundas (the town, not the street) where I lived at the time. I looked through the poetry section and randomly chose that book. I took it home and read it—and re-read it and read it again. That book changed my life. The darkness in it—the voice that I didn’t expect in the least. From that book I knew I wanted to be a poet. That was some time ago…