Monday 23 September 2019

Valerie Witte : part two

How does a poem begin?

I don’t write poems so much as extended series, which generally develop into a full collection. I usually start by selecting one or two source materials. For example, for my book a game of correspondence, I used text from a gothic experimental novel called Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, an encyclopedia of ghosts and demons, and the film Blade Runner (the title of my book comes from the film, as the characters play a game of correspondence chess). I compile language and then fold in material from my own life—observations, dreams, experiences. I continually play with the form and move lines, phrases, words around—sculpting language to create a cohesive whole.

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