I understand
you will be making your public poetry reading debut on August 19th.
How does it feel?
This is my first public reading and I have to admit I was
feeling a little intimidated at first, it's one thing to read your
poetry in front of a roomful of friends, but another thing altogether
to read in front of strangers. But then I realized that probably half
the audience will be friends, and the other half will be people who
enjoy poetry, so that takes a lot of the pressure off.
What brought
you to writing poetry?
I've always
written poetry. I can vaguely remember writing a poem in grade 3
about my cat Tobey and how I couldn't sit down without her climbing
into my lap. I don't remember much else about the poem, but I know
it rhymed.
In grade 8 we
had a wonderful teacher who had us writing poetry on a weekly basis.
Then when I was in highschool my cousin in New Brunswick and I used
to send each other our poetry. It's probably just as well that not
much of it survived, a lot of it was pretty bad - full of teenaged
angst and unrequited love.
I write a lot
of other things besides poetry, but poetry is always there for me
when the other words just won't come.
You write
many interesting forms. How did that come about?
About
a year ago I took part in the PAD challenge, which was to write
a Poem A Day during the month of April (National Poetry Month).
One of the prompts we were given was to write a sestina. I'd never
heard of this form before, and at the time I thought it was the
most difficult form ever devised. I started wondering how many other
forms were out there that I'd never heard of and started doing some
research. When I saw all the forms out there I'd never seen before
I challenged myself to learn a new form each week until I run out
of forms. Along the way I've learned the sestina is far from the
most difficult form ever created.
How would
you describe your work?
I'd have to describe my work as eclectic. I work in a variety of
forms, some rhyming, some not, and a wide range of subject matter.
Working with
different approaches, do you favour one over the others?
I started
out with a strong sense of rhyme and rhythm, so I think that will
always be my mental default. It's pretty much hard wired into my
brain. Of all the forms I've worked with, I think the Japanese forms
with their strict syllable counts are my favourite. They say so
much in so few words - it's so beautiful.
So, What
is poetry?
Poetry
is words from your heart. Whether it's a form or free verse, a structure
or unstructured, it's a thought or feeling that can be expressed
in no other way.
Who are your
favourite poets?
There's
so many of them! Keats, Byron, Shelley, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Blake,
Spenser, Coleridge, Longfellow . . .
Will you
be reading any new work on the 19th?
This is
my first reading so most of what I'm reading will seem new to the
audience. I think there'll be a couple of poems the rest of the
CPW hasn't heard before.
What are
you reading these days?
I'm a
voracious reader, I've always got several books on the go. I've
been reading Not A Muse for a while now, just a few poems a day
to make it last, and I just started reading Dante's Inferno, it's
a little slow going. I also read copious amounts of paranormal romance
and contemporary novels. I'm just starting the Sookie Stackhouse
series because I can't wait until season three of True Blood comes
out to see what happened to vampire Bill.
You are a
fairly new, recent member of the CPW. Your thoughts on that.
I love the CPW! From the very first meeting everyone was warm and
welcoming - they made me feel right at home. You have no idea how
great it is to be part of a group that does so much for the creativity
of our town, from the monthly poetry readings to the annual Poetry'z
Own Weekend.
Anything
you'd like to add?
I really
can't think of anything, other than to thank you for featuring me
as this month's poet.
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