Thursday 13 August 2020

Michael Chang : part three

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

Yeah, of course, it has to be a constant evolution.  I am very concerned, whether in my writing or reading, if I’m moving the ball forward.  One of my other passions is fashion, and fashion collections always hit me differently depending on certain ever-shifting factors like mood, time & place, what my body is yearning for, etc.  Same thing for poetry. 

There are definitely poets that I return to time and again, but I am also always on a path of discovery.  Because I teach, I find myself being a scout for new poets and underrated writers.  It is a constant curation: literally in the sense of reading lists for my classes but also mentally and spiritually for my own poetic practice. 

Right now I am reading New Poets of Native Nations (edited by Heid E. Erdrich), which is an anthology of amazing NDN poets.  Also Foreign Bodies by the inestimable Kimiko Hahn and Banana Palace by the legendary Dana Levin (who has the best author portraits).

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