Grace : part one

Grace is a settler living in Ontario on the traditional and Treaty territory of the Anishinabek people, now known as the Chippewa Tri-Council comprised of the Beausoleil, Rama, and Georgina Island First Nations. Her debut collection of poetry, The Language We Were Never Taught to Speak, is published by Guernica Editions and a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Her work can be found in Grain Magazine, Contemporary Verse 2, Frontier Poetry, Arc Poetry, and elsewhere. Find her on social media at @thrillandgrace.

What poets changed the way you thought about writing?

There are so, so many! Amber Dawn’s collection of glosas really opened my eyes to the magic of form beyond sonnets, and how poets can have all these conversations with each other—sometimes even crossing space and time—by getting their poems to talk to each other!

Reading Chrystos for the first time was also amazing because it completely up-ended what I was taught in high school, and even university, when we studied poems. The subject matter, her tone of voice, her humour and brilliance… It had a huge impact on me in terms of showing the power of poems to not only teach you, but also make you feel things. Uncomfortable things, happy things. It definitely expanded my own approach to writing when I was first starting out.

Allison Thung : part one

Allison Thung is a poet and project manager from Singapore. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in ANMLY, Emerge Literary Journal, Lumiere Review, Juniper, Brave Voices Magazine, Roi Fainéant Press, and elsewhere. Find her on Twitter @poetrybyallison or at www.allisonthung.com.

What are you working on?

I’m putting together my first chapbook, with the goal to start sending it out by January of next year, if not sooner. I’m excited, but also semi-terrified, because my poetry is inherently very personal, and having so many pieces in such proximity to each other, conversing with one another, inspires different sentiments depending on the kind of day I’m having. 

Frances Klein : part three

What do you feel poetry can accomplish that other forms can’t?

The compact nature of poetry allows readers to really focus on details of the language, both the individual word choice and the images created. I also find the use of line and line breaks in poetry so interesting; you have an incredible amount of power to control where the reader’s attention goes.

Matthew M. C. Smith : coda

How important is music to your poetry?

It’s a huge catalyst. I’ve written before about being a Jim Morrison and Doors fan and I started writing under their influence, particularly their very first album. I listen to a wide variety of music ranging from John Taverner to Muse, Nirvana, Duran Duran, OMD and Fleetwood Mac. I don’t write directly from the inspiration of lyrics but music often gets me into that mediative poetic state – not a trance exactly – but in that heightened emotional state, which kickstarts writing. 

Emily Osborne : part one

Emily Osborne’s poetry, fiction and Old Norse-to-English verse translations have appeared in journals such as Vallum, CV2, Canthius, The Polyglot, The Literary Review of Canada, and Barren Magazine. Her debut book of poetry, Safety Razor, is forthcoming from Gordon Hill Press (Spring 2023). She is the author of the chapbook Biometrical (Anstruther Press) and winner of The Malahat Review’s Far Horizons Award for Poetry. Emily has a PhD in Old Norse Literature from the University of Cambridge. She lives on Bowen Island, BC, with her husband and two young sons.

How did you first engage with poetry?

My childhood home was filled with poetry books, thanks to my mother who had done graduate degrees in modern American poetry and Sylvia Plath. I remember being six and trying to muddle my way through verse that was totally abstruse and yet which seemed desperately important for me to understand. And yet, the first times I concretely remember writing poetry began in emotional responses to aesthetic experiences that seemed inexplicable in language. How could these feelings be communicated? I think many people first create visual or verbal art because of this instinct that a feeling, thought or experience requires an altered form of language or visualization in which to exist and be given to others, even if this instinct is unconscious. I was also lucky to have early experiences with literary criticism, which came from the late Fred Cogswell, who was a close family friend. I would send my poems to him and he would write back with annotated comments and suggestions. As an adult I look back and think of his phenomenal kindness in doing this, considering how busy he was with The Fiddlehead and teaching and everything else life throws at us. His legacy inspires me. 

Katerina Canyon : part ten

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

Lately, for me, it is all about Audre Lorde. I have her complete collection. I'm re-reading The First Cities right now. One of my favorite poems in that collection is "Echo." It is a poem about being stuck, about the desire for renewal.

john compton : part three

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

yes. my poetry has grown and the knowledge of what i understand with poetry has grown. when i first began writing poetry i knew very little of what i was doing or what poetry was. i enjoyed the words. now that i have been writing poetry for over 20 years i not only enjoy the words, but the look of the words, the sounds, the definition. i enjoy creating an expense ecosystem with few lines. i enjoy the manipulate of creating. the abstract and metaphor.