Limeydawg, AW Poet Laureate, January-March 2008
1. When did you start writing poetry?
I began writing poetry as an escape from a lousy childhood—probably around 7 or 8. I entered a contest at the time and it was the first time I actually received praise from an adult. After that, I wrote every chance I could until I became a teenager.
2. What other writing do you do regularly?
Unfortunately, I don’t write for a living. I regained my interest for writing only a year ago and I regret the loss of time. I have a trunked novel, the beginnings of an outline for my second novel, and I will be writing my first book review in the next few weeks. It has become a sort of addiction to me. I enjoy the challenge and try not to limit myself to one particular genre/medium/category. When I retire, I would love to teach a creative writing course—but that is more than a few years away.
3. Do you think of yourself primarily as a poet?
No. I don’t like the limitation of the label. Of course, being known as a poet would be a high accolade, but I prefer to think of myself as a writer.
4. Why do you write poetry?
To improve my prose. There is a certain skill that is developed through poetry; a way of gaining clarity in the way words interact to create stronger pictures. Poetry is also a great teacher of what does not work and what to avoid. People who create poetry, even unsuccessful poems, become better writers, in my opinion, simply through the benefit of the exercise.
5. How does writing poetry relate with your other writing?
Again, it improves writing as a whole. I think there are two major benefits. As Haskins pointed out, it helps when compression is needed and economy is warranted. I think, too, that a writer often has to go in the other direction. The show versus tell sometimes require us to paint a picture that describes a simple object in more expressive terminology. I often cite Joel Hutchinson’s short poem “Artichoke” as an example of this. He could have simply said “This is an Artichoke.” Okay, but boring. Instead, he wrote “Oh heart, weighed down by so many wings.”
6. Beyond Absolute Write, what is your publication/performance history?
In all honesty, nothing to date. I have a drawer full of rejection letters, but that’s it. I’m still new to the writing game, and my regular job leaves me little time to write. Still, I’ll get there; I’m nothing if not determined.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia (one of the top J-schools in the nation, btw.) One of my projects this year will be series of columns that I hope to sell to one of the local rags.
“Merlin Rising” will become an e-book at some point this year. I have enough ideas to flesh that out into four or five more books, so my plan is to make that an e-series.
7. How often do you write poems?
I write when an idea strikes me. Lately, they come about every two weeks or so.
8. What goals, if any, do you have for your poetry?
I would like to get enough decent poems together to write a short e-book of poetry. To date, I think I’ve got maybe three, so there is a long way to go.
9. Do you set out to write a poem, does it compel you to write it, or something else?
There is inspiration in every moment. The problem for me is that I’m too busy to be in poetry mode all the time, so I don’t always view the world through the poet’s eyes. Still, when something strikes me as poetic, or even simply worthy of pursuing through poetry, I write it. Lately, I’ve had several instances where an idea that began as a poem ended up as a short story.
10. What formal, semantic, or thematic traits do you prefer to use in your poems?
I like symmetry. I like consistency of meter. I like poems that incorporate internal rhyme, alliteration, consonance etcetera. I love poetry with a well-developed metaphor. Rhymed poetry, for me, is the highest form of the art because it is also the most difficult to pull off.
11. Which usually comes first: Topic/idea, form, words? Other?
For me, to use the sculpting metaphor, it’s truth to materials. That is, the idea comes first, and words are the result of our chiseling on the page.
12. Do you revise? Right away, later on? How do you decide when you've finished with a poem?
I revise much more now that I used to, and still not enough. With everything I write, I try to ask myself if there is a better way of saying a particular thing, or if there is a better word that improves the sonics of the poem, or if there is something I can remove without blurring the picture.
13. How did you come to be interested in poetry?
Before I was introduced to poets, poetry was an escape. The interest blossomed when I read A.E. Housman. The particular poem was “To an Athlete Dying Young.” Housman is the only poet that I can truly say inspires me with all of his work. There are others, such as Neruda, for whom I hold a particular affinity, but mostly I have favorite poems, not poets.
14. What particular poem or poet first attracted you to poetry?
Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young.”
15. What poems, poets, movements or eras have influenced you as a poet: which do you particularly enjoy, admire, or aspire toward?
I don’t think there is one that I enjoy more than others. I enjoy poems from across the span of time, from Robert Southwell to Dylan Thomas and WCW. Lately I’ve found myself looking for poetry in song lyrics. It’s there if you look.
16. What single poem of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read your work?
I'm not sure I'd recommend any, but there are some of my favorites available through the link in my signature.
17. What are your thoughts on poetry today: its function, future, direction, relevance?
Poetry may have developed from people’s ideas to see the world in a memorable way—to describe the mundane in a fashion that gave them an outlet from the desperation of their situation. At least, I imagine that is true. Poetry requires thought and some degree of mastery of the language. I think the modern world makes poetry very difficult because people don’t want to spend the time creating or thinking about what is presented to them.
The future of poetry is song and damned good prose. It’s a tool for developing writing skills and a vehicle for getting people to listen to what a person sings. I don’t believe it’s dead. The number of sites dedicated to poetry show that there is a great interest in the form. The worst thing that is happening to poetry is the MFA degree, and the people in possession of these degrees who attempt to be the gatekeepers of what is and is not poetry. This is why AW is so important. It allows people who may not write a “supposedly” perfect sonnet to have an outlet for their work.
I also happen to believe that every poem has an audience. Look at the niche e-mags that publish poems. There are thousands of them, which seems to me to indicate that poetry is alive and well.
18. What, in your view, makes a written/spoken work a poem?
A strong, well-developed metaphor couched in catchy word-play that paints memorable pictures for the reader.
19. What do you like about your own poetry?
That it evolves, and that I am becoming a better writer through the exercise.
20. What would you say to someone who wants to learn to write poetry well?
Read poetry. Write poetry. Learn to take criticism with a grain of salt. Once you learn what doesn’t work, writing good poetry becomes much easier.
1. When did you start writing poetry?
I began writing poetry as an escape from a lousy childhood—probably around 7 or 8. I entered a contest at the time and it was the first time I actually received praise from an adult. After that, I wrote every chance I could until I became a teenager.
2. What other writing do you do regularly?
Unfortunately, I don’t write for a living. I regained my interest for writing only a year ago and I regret the loss of time. I have a trunked novel, the beginnings of an outline for my second novel, and I will be writing my first book review in the next few weeks. It has become a sort of addiction to me. I enjoy the challenge and try not to limit myself to one particular genre/medium/category. When I retire, I would love to teach a creative writing course—but that is more than a few years away.
3. Do you think of yourself primarily as a poet?
No. I don’t like the limitation of the label. Of course, being known as a poet would be a high accolade, but I prefer to think of myself as a writer.
4. Why do you write poetry?
To improve my prose. There is a certain skill that is developed through poetry; a way of gaining clarity in the way words interact to create stronger pictures. Poetry is also a great teacher of what does not work and what to avoid. People who create poetry, even unsuccessful poems, become better writers, in my opinion, simply through the benefit of the exercise.
5. How does writing poetry relate with your other writing?
Again, it improves writing as a whole. I think there are two major benefits. As Haskins pointed out, it helps when compression is needed and economy is warranted. I think, too, that a writer often has to go in the other direction. The show versus tell sometimes require us to paint a picture that describes a simple object in more expressive terminology. I often cite Joel Hutchinson’s short poem “Artichoke” as an example of this. He could have simply said “This is an Artichoke.” Okay, but boring. Instead, he wrote “Oh heart, weighed down by so many wings.”
6. Beyond Absolute Write, what is your publication/performance history?
In all honesty, nothing to date. I have a drawer full of rejection letters, but that’s it. I’m still new to the writing game, and my regular job leaves me little time to write. Still, I’ll get there; I’m nothing if not determined.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia (one of the top J-schools in the nation, btw.) One of my projects this year will be series of columns that I hope to sell to one of the local rags.
“Merlin Rising” will become an e-book at some point this year. I have enough ideas to flesh that out into four or five more books, so my plan is to make that an e-series.
7. How often do you write poems?
I write when an idea strikes me. Lately, they come about every two weeks or so.
8. What goals, if any, do you have for your poetry?
I would like to get enough decent poems together to write a short e-book of poetry. To date, I think I’ve got maybe three, so there is a long way to go.
9. Do you set out to write a poem, does it compel you to write it, or something else?
There is inspiration in every moment. The problem for me is that I’m too busy to be in poetry mode all the time, so I don’t always view the world through the poet’s eyes. Still, when something strikes me as poetic, or even simply worthy of pursuing through poetry, I write it. Lately, I’ve had several instances where an idea that began as a poem ended up as a short story.
10. What formal, semantic, or thematic traits do you prefer to use in your poems?
I like symmetry. I like consistency of meter. I like poems that incorporate internal rhyme, alliteration, consonance etcetera. I love poetry with a well-developed metaphor. Rhymed poetry, for me, is the highest form of the art because it is also the most difficult to pull off.
11. Which usually comes first: Topic/idea, form, words? Other?
For me, to use the sculpting metaphor, it’s truth to materials. That is, the idea comes first, and words are the result of our chiseling on the page.
12. Do you revise? Right away, later on? How do you decide when you've finished with a poem?
I revise much more now that I used to, and still not enough. With everything I write, I try to ask myself if there is a better way of saying a particular thing, or if there is a better word that improves the sonics of the poem, or if there is something I can remove without blurring the picture.
13. How did you come to be interested in poetry?
Before I was introduced to poets, poetry was an escape. The interest blossomed when I read A.E. Housman. The particular poem was “To an Athlete Dying Young.” Housman is the only poet that I can truly say inspires me with all of his work. There are others, such as Neruda, for whom I hold a particular affinity, but mostly I have favorite poems, not poets.
14. What particular poem or poet first attracted you to poetry?
Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young.”
15. What poems, poets, movements or eras have influenced you as a poet: which do you particularly enjoy, admire, or aspire toward?
I don’t think there is one that I enjoy more than others. I enjoy poems from across the span of time, from Robert Southwell to Dylan Thomas and WCW. Lately I’ve found myself looking for poetry in song lyrics. It’s there if you look.
16. What single poem of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read your work?
I'm not sure I'd recommend any, but there are some of my favorites available through the link in my signature.
17. What are your thoughts on poetry today: its function, future, direction, relevance?
Poetry may have developed from people’s ideas to see the world in a memorable way—to describe the mundane in a fashion that gave them an outlet from the desperation of their situation. At least, I imagine that is true. Poetry requires thought and some degree of mastery of the language. I think the modern world makes poetry very difficult because people don’t want to spend the time creating or thinking about what is presented to them.
The future of poetry is song and damned good prose. It’s a tool for developing writing skills and a vehicle for getting people to listen to what a person sings. I don’t believe it’s dead. The number of sites dedicated to poetry show that there is a great interest in the form. The worst thing that is happening to poetry is the MFA degree, and the people in possession of these degrees who attempt to be the gatekeepers of what is and is not poetry. This is why AW is so important. It allows people who may not write a “supposedly” perfect sonnet to have an outlet for their work.
I also happen to believe that every poem has an audience. Look at the niche e-mags that publish poems. There are thousands of them, which seems to me to indicate that poetry is alive and well.
18. What, in your view, makes a written/spoken work a poem?
A strong, well-developed metaphor couched in catchy word-play that paints memorable pictures for the reader.
19. What do you like about your own poetry?
That it evolves, and that I am becoming a better writer through the exercise.
20. What would you say to someone who wants to learn to write poetry well?
Read poetry. Write poetry. Learn to take criticism with a grain of salt. Once you learn what doesn’t work, writing good poetry becomes much easier.
