Sunday 12 July 2020

Fred Schmalz : part five

When you require renewal, is there a particular poem or book that you return to? A particular author?

Some books are definitely touchstones for me. I return to Oppen’s daybooks and papers to remind myself that things don’t need to resolve. I return to the copy of Langston Hughes’ later long poem “Ask Your Mama” that my friend Kathy gave me ages ago, to remind myself that poetry is a gift and that it is music. I find Inger Christensen and Etel Adnan and W.S. Merwin and Nicanor Parra and Harryette Mullen incredibly inspiring, even if my writing is not much like theirs. I also seek renewal from my friends who are poets, by their writing and their spirits.

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