How do you know when a poem is finished?
I believe that only a minute percentage of my poems are truly finished. I’ve come to accept that some pieces reach a state where there is no benefit in re-writing them if the overall poem is acceptable.
One of the thoughts I have is that poetry is, in a way, a continuous poem that keeps on writing itself. A “Perpetuum mobile” of words, which we should not attempt to stop.
How important is music to your poetry?
I think poetry, in its essence, is subliminal music – music hidden in the way we fit together sounds and meaning. And pauses. And rhythm – acceleration vs. deceleration, and so on.
“Music first and foremost” is Paul Verlaine’s opening line in the poem “Poetic Art.”
What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?
The most difficult part about writing poetry is attempting to change the way you write. To a certain degree, each poet tends to develop a style that becomes his/her literary DNA. But what if it’s time to trade this “voice” for something else? It’s an iffy situation – worth exploring.
Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?
Yes, it has and quite a lot!
My circumstances brought about this change – I moved from writing in my mother tongue to writing in English and French; the process taught me the significant effect cultural substrata have on poetry writing, something I hadn’t given enough thought to earlier.
While poetry is a “universal language,” its value also comes from integrating local cultural contexts with daily activities and moods.
The second change is a change of perspective; in my early years, I favored a lyrical, somewhat “serious” approach to poetry.
Later on, I found myself attracted to humor and irony as means to craft a poetic message.
Sea Glass Circe, her fourth book, was selected for an official launch as part of the 2020 Toronto LitUp!, Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA).
A collection of poems written in French, Variations sans palais, was published with Éditions L’Harmattan (France) in 2020.
Irina’s work has appeared in literary magazines in Canada and the US, such as: Canadian Literature, carte-blanche, Cloud Lake Literary, and Poetry Quarterly.
Why is poetry important?
Poetry has an underestimated benefit: it has a cathartic effect on our psyche. Its healing effect relies on surfacing emotions in an interplay of meditation and the refactoring of words and meaning.
We can gain additional insights about ourselves through the reinterpretation of reality mediated by a poem.
By operating in a realm that’s entirely at the mercy of words, we navigate to greater clarity in how we express ourselves and understand others.
