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Last Updated: Jan 29th, 2010 - 08:52:02 |
Interviews
Robyn Sarah Spotlighted
For me, poems usually begin with a phrase I like the sound of. I call these “tinder words”. They come to me from nowhere—sometimes they occur as part of a letter I’m writing or a journal entry, or in conversation; sometimes they just come into my head and I jot them down.
Jan 27, 2010, 11:18
Interviews
Carolyn Zonailo Spotlighted
On the west coast, one measures human life against nature; here one measures the individual's life against history, time, ancestors, generations, and the decades of people who lived here before I ever came to Montreal. The stretch of historical time, those layers of human habitation in this particular locale, bring a different perspective.
Jan 11, 2010, 11:20
Interviews
Mark Abley Spotlighted
Nothing works for me without an initial inspiration, and inspiration can't be forced. After that shard or scrap of inspiration -- an image, a phrase, a memory, a place, whatever -- then the hard work begins. I tend to rewrite a lot. I wish I'd rewritten some of my early poems a lot more. (Mark Abley)
Jan 7, 2010, 12:17
Interviews
Stephen Morrissey Spotlighted
My ambition has always been to write a thematically cohesive book. I remember, in high school, running home at lunch time and listening to the Beatles’ “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” I believe this is one of the first concept or thematic albums. Then, there was also Frank Zappas’s parody of the Beatles’ album, and that was also fun. It was from the Beatles that I had the idea of a thematic book of poems, and I’ve followed this ever since. (Stephen Morrissey)
Jan 5, 2010, 10:07
Interviews
Kaie Kellough Spotlighted
in principle i love to travel, but in practice travel is a pain in the ass cuz it’s expensive & uncomfortable & complicated. in the case of travel i am careful to let the principle guide the practice. travel is important to my writing because it displaces & challenges identity. i have traveled alot within canada, and this makes it hard for me to identify provincially or regionally. i’m not a québecker or a westerner, an albertan or a prairie person. i try to let a broad appreciation of canada’s many solitudes inform my writing, and i can do this because i’ve been from c to c.
Jan 5, 2010, 10:05
Interviews
Brian Campbell Spotlighted
In my 20’s and 30’s I was very inspiration driven, which meant of course that, as I became more self-critical, my production became very sporadic, and eventually – shortly after I arrived here – shut down altogether. (Brian Campbell)
Jan 5, 2010, 10:04
Interviews
Anne Cimon Spotlighted
At the age of twenty-five or so, I enrolled in a women's poetry workshop and this changed my life and my writing as I studied Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Margaret Atwood, Adrienne Rich and Denise Levertov. This workshop led to joining a writers' group and writing poetry seriously from a woman's experience inspired by these other women writers who led the way to a new emotional openness and honest lyrics. (Anne Cimon)
Jan 5, 2010, 10:02
Interviews
Lesley Pasquin Spotlighted
Poems are inspirationally driven for me. I hear a line, in my head or in reality, or read/see something and work from there. I work on structure later, once the words are on the page. I am not fond of form. Once I wrote a sestina that everyone liked but me. I write about intimate details of lives and relationships. A poem is done to me when there is irony, and a way of looking at these issues in a unique manner for both the reader and myself.
Sep 22, 2009, 17:18
Interviews
Michael Mirolla Spotlighted
I think a muse is the accumulation of all the influences that have been filtered in one's imagination. All the writers read and all the people met; all the experiences lived. I tend to be wary of writers who lean their heads towards me and whisper something or other about "their muse." I can forgive Keats or Byron or even Yeats. But come on children.
Sep 22, 2009, 17:18
Interviews
Sharon H Nelson Spotlighted
Writers don’t exist in isolation. Though a writer often works in isolation, writing is not an isolationist activity; writing for publication is other-directed. In addition, and crucially, language is communal. We use language in particular ways that are understood by those to whom we are speaking.
Sep 22, 2009, 17:18
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