What poets changed the way you thought about writing?
Bronwen Wallace was an important influence on my notion of what topics women poets could write about. I discovered her work in a grad school seminar class on Canadian feminist poetry, at Carleton University in Ottawa, back in 1995. I was in my early 20s then. Her poetry, so rooted in the everyday world, made me think about how you can find the extraordinary moments in the ‘ordinary’ rhythms of a life. Sometimes, oftentimes really, the most beautiful experiences are ones that are unexpected and quiet. Wallace’s work gave me permission to write about my experiences as a woman. Her narrative lyric poems, especially her collection The Stubborn Particulars of Grace, changed my life. I return to that book often for inspiration and for schooling in how best to write a poem that is rich and alive with narrative detail and imagery.
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