Month: August 2019

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Louise G. Cole

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The Wombwell Rainbow Interviews:

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

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Louise G Cole

Originally from Worcestershire, but now living in rural Ireland, Louise G Cole writes short stories and poems. She won the Hennessy Literary Award for Emerging Poetry in 2018 and was then selected by UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy for publication of a poetry pamphlet in February 2019. In 2015, she was shortlisted for a Hennessy award for a short story, and that year won the HE Bates Short Story Competition and the Hanna Greally Literary Award. In June 2019, one of her short stories won the New Roscommon Writing Award and a story was selected for publication in the Cork Libraries anthology, ‘From the Well’. Louise was one of 12 poets chosen for a Poetry Masterclass with former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins at the John Hewitt International Summer School in July 2019. She has been published in various anthologies, newspapers and literary magazines, including the Irish Independent, the Irish Times, Crannóg, From the Well, Stony Thursday, Skylight 47, Ropes, the Strokestown Poetry Festival Anthology, Poetry Ireland Review and the Ogham Stone. She blogs at https://louisegcolewriter.wordpress.com/ where she explains the ‘G’ in her name is there to avoid unnecessary confusion with an underwear model.

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

I’ve always loved writing, but I only recently (five or six years ago) discovered writing poetry was a way I could put words together for someone else to appreciate. I’m inspired by family, the environment, nature, annoying people in the bank queue, charity shops, grief, flashers, knickers, heck, there’s no end to what has inspired me to write.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

That would be a teacher at primary school, Mr Simance, who read us Charles Causley and Longfellow. And my mother, who could recite verses she learned as a child. She was still word perfect from memory well into her 90s.

3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

It was difficult not to be aware of the older poets when my mother was reciting Keats, Kipling, Wordsworth and the like. And studying involved reading poetry by DH Lawrence, Dylan Thomas, Robert Frost. All men, of course. I didn’t get into older female poets like Emily Dickinson or Christina Rossetti until I’d finished studying.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

Sadly, I don’t have a daily routine, although I do snatch a few minutes at the end of every day to write in a journal, which is a way of unscrambling my thoughts. I always carry a notebook, so whenever I have the chance, I write. I am lucky to get away to a writer’s retreat several times a year, which is productive, non-stop writing for several days at a time – bliss, but not a sustainable pace, way too intense.

5. What motivates you to write?

Writing is a compulsion and after a while you need third party validation that what you are writing is worthy of an audience. The ‘success’ then becomes addictive too – I get a great buzz from hearing complete strangers tell me they’ve enjoyed something I’ve written. That thrill is a great motivation to keep going.

6. What is your work ethic?

In a nutshell, hard work usually pays off. I’m someone who slogs away at trying to get it right. I’m always attending workshops and masterclasses, following the lead of writers whose work I admire. And I’m a dedicated re-writer. My first drafts are only ever that – I can turn out 20 or 30 drafts of a poem or a story before I’m happy.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

Probably not a lot. I was weaned on Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie, but I became a voracious reader of all styles and genres. I believe only by reading widely can a writer experience style and form and thereby find their own voice. I think I’m getting there, writing with my own distinct voice, but it has taken a long time to get to this point.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

Where to start? There hundreds – no thousands – of good writers out there. Some tell a good story, but the style is not to my taste, others write beautifully but haven’t got much to say. Rarely, the stars are in alignment and you get both, substance and form (and I’m talking everything, poetry, fiction, essays and memoir here). I’m always keen to read anything by Anthony Duerr, Jess Kidd and Kevin Barry. Then there’s Billy O’Callaghan, Claire Keegan and Danielle Mclaughlin who write short stories to take my breath away. My tastes in poetry veer to the accessible styles of well-established poets like Billy Collins, Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke, all of whom I’ve been fortunate to work with. Ireland has shedloads of wonderful modern poets I admire – I daren’t name one for fear of missing out others.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

I write because I feel I have to (see above), but also because a looming deadline is a great excuse for getting out of other chores. I mean, I haven’t time to mop the kitchen floor if I’ve a writing project to finish by midnight, have I?

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Pick up a pen, grab a notebook and off you go – write! Stop talking about it and get on with it. Join a writers’ group, but shop around until you get the right fit, a small group of like-minded folk who are supportive and encouraging. Start your own if you have to. And enter writing competitions and submit to magazines and journals to get public validation, there are plenty out there to try. Alongside all that though, develop a thick skin and don’t be discouraged by people trying to put you off. Having said that, if the process creates grief, give up and take up knitting or sky-diving, or something else to fill your time. Writing should be (mostly) fun.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.
I am working on a new poetry collection and I have a book of short stories already out there looking for a publisher. I’m also 100,000 words into a novel I’m enjoying writing for pure escapism. I’ve completed seven novels, the first five being unpublishable drivel, but a satisfying exercise in how (not) to do it. The two others still need some work, but I’m not in a hurry. I’m also involved in leading two local writing groups and we’ve a words and art project under way where we’ve swapped words and images with an art group to give each other inspiration. That culminates in a public exhibition soon, which is very exciting. I’m always keen to do public readings of my work – that’s how you get to connect directly with readers and thankfully, is usually a great experience.

Wombwell Rainbow Book Interviews: “hall of several tortures” By Reuben Woolley

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Dean pasch the hall of several tortures

The title poem of his new collection with Knives Forks and Spoons Press.’this hall of several tortures’ (with thanks to Fran Lock)

A link to Reuben’s earlier Wombwell Rainbow Interview:

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Reuben Woolley

1. What inspired your new book?

I’ve always been fascinated by Science Fantasy starting back in the late 60s with Michael Moorcock, which is where I had my first contact with the idea of the multiverse. This continues years later with Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and later with China de Mïeville. I’ve been reading Stephen Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time’ as well. I’ve often wondered what kind of poetry, if any, would be found on these parallel worlds. I suppose I wanted to have a go at writing it. I’ve also been stimulated by Dean Pasch’s multi-layer photos and was delighted when he agreed to do the cover, one which sums up the idea of the collection so well.

1.1 In the poems you speak of approaching these worlds from an odd angle, an edge. Would this be what some fantasy writers call a “portal”?

Yes. A membrane between the universes. The collection is built up around the multiverse concept. A young woman lives on a parallel world from the (through the membrane) she is somehow able to see and sometimes participate in events on this dystopian world of ours.

1.2. A stranger in a strange world. An observer

Yes. It gives me several layers of separation between me, the poet and the ‘i’ that appears in the poems.

1.3. The fragmentation of syntax conveying the fragmented worlds she is observing.

Ha! That’s my most usual voice. My poetry is very much affected by music: in the topics and images by the Dylan of 1964-66, Roy Harper and Captain Beefheart(also musically); musically by minimalists such as Terry Riley, and Jazz such as Mikes Davis, Kind of Blue, John Coltrane, Blue Train. I followed Coltrane through ‘A Love Supreme’ and into his work in Free Jazz. This is what I try to do in poetry. I like to think I write Free Poetry. Any word or image can go anywhere but only the really good poet can recognise that place and allow the word or image to go there, just as only the very best jazz musicians can play Free Jazz. I want to be that good a poet and it’s what I’m working for. I hope I’ll get there some day.

2. You do have certain phrase such as “she said” that hint this experience is being reported to you.

That’s her on her planet. Reporting to me and I’ve no idea where I am. Lost somewhere in the aether or bouncing off the membrane and rather anonymous.

2.1. Ah. So the writer moves between worlds as well as the participant. Both are like refugees in the others world.

I think a poet lives in the world he or she writes about.

2.2. And that world must have like Free Jazz as many “possibles” to explore. You riff off the meaning and emotion of the phrases.

And the white spaces which are an essential part. Meaning may change from one side of the space to another.

2.3. Mercurial

At times. Slow like Pluto at others. And all mixed up with black holes, dark matter and singularity events (see Hawkings).

2.4.Time squashed, or elongated. You also use “un” as in “earths of undelight”. These remind me of ee cummings use of the term.

I was thinking of the painting by Hieronymus Bosch, ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’. ee cummings has been an influence on me for a long time.

2.5. Another example, as in Free Jazz of phrases that hint at other art outside of the poems, delightful surprises for the reader or listener that deepen the work as a whole.

Thank you. I am affected by many kinds of music and also painting and photography. I look for creative imagination in all art. Hockney leaves me cold, for example but Miro and the later abstract painters really get me going.

2.6. How must the reader out loud read the white space, as a pause or run straight on into the next word?

The white space is the same as for music: silence. The greater the space, the longer the silence. They also give the reader/listener time to think, rethink and participate creatively.

2.7.Profound messages about grief and loneliness are conveyed in plain language, no wondering off into Latinisms. It is all breath and bone, and all the more powerful to me because of this.

I’ve been accused of ‘being difficult’! This is certainly not because of the vocabulary. I don’t want readers to need a dictionary by their sides. I haven’t studied poetry since my A-Level days. My speciality is in Applied Linguistics: I play with grammar and I may use an adjective as a noun or an adverb, for example. A useful question would be the Wittgensteinian, ‘why this word here and now’. I play with the words and the grammar.

It gives me a new/different way of looking at things in our shared world.

3.

Reuben Woolley lost words
A good example- I’m going to read the first poem, dedicated to Fran Lock, the title poem for the collection and ‘time comes counting / one two zero’ which is dedicated to Antony Owen.

4. One final question: How did you know when this book was finished?

I submitted it to Alec Newman at Knives Forks and Spoons Press last year, a little before my current book, ‘some time we are heroes’ came out with The Corrupt Press. I was bowled over when he accepted it as the quality of the poets that KFS accepts is tremendous. I’ve just been further surprised that, along with other KFS poets, I’ll have a poem up as part of Blackpool Illuminations.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Andres Rojas

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Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Andres Rojas

Andres Rojas
was born in Cuba and arrived in the United States at age 13. He is the author of the chapbook Looking For What Isn’t There (Paper Nautilus Debut Series winner) and of the audio chapbook The Season of the Dead (EAT Poems). His poetry has been featured in the Best New Poets series and has most recently appeared or is forthcoming in, among others, AGNI, Barrow Street, Colorado Review, Massachusetts Review, New England Review, and Poetry Northwest.
Website: Teoppoet Poetteop https://teoppoet.wordpress.com/
Free Audio Chapbook: The Season of the Dead  http://www.eatwords.net/eat-poems-13/
Chapbook, Looking For What Isn’t There, available from Paper Nautilus Press
https://readpapernautilus.blogspot.com/2019/04/andres-rojass-looking-for-what-isnt.html

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

I loved reading as a child and wanted to create that magic myself, but I wasn’t really drawn to poetry.  When my mother, sister, and me came to the United States to join my father who was already living here, he shared the poems he was writing with me. I was 13, and I tried my hand at some poems too, which my father promptly shot down. I believe he told me to quit trying, that I wasn’t a real poet, or words to that effect. I believed him.  Much later, when I began to read poetry seriously in 11th and 12th grade, I was struck by the forcefulness of the art form and how quickly and poignantly it could get to the heart of an emotion or a moment. So I think what inspired me to write poetry was reading great poetry. I then wanted to try and duplicate the power and elegance of the poems I was discovering.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I grew up reading poetry (in Spanish) in Cuba, formally I think starting in 5th grade, but the first class that opened up poetry for me was my 11th grade English class in the U.S. There, I encountered T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” I had never seen a poem do things like that before. I remember also being in awe of Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” and of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and “Hamlet” when we covered them in 12th grade.  In college, I began to take creative writing classes, so the people who introduced me to writing poetry were Marilyn DeSimone and Kevin Bezner at Florida Community College in Jacksonville.

3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

Once I started to write poetry in college, I was awestruck by the work of Adrianne Rich, Carolyn Forche, and Sharon Olds, particularly Rich; I remember wishing I could write anywhere near as well as she did. I was lucky to meet and have my poems workshopped by Stanley Plumly, Philip Levine, and Donald Justice while in community college. I then went on to work with Debora Greger, Michael Hofmann, Donald Justice, William Logan, and Joan New as an undergraduate at the University of Florida, in Gainesville. I was keenly aware of the quality of their work and of how far I had to go to write at their level, and that there was no guarantee I ever would. They were unfailingly generous in their support and encouragement, but I knew I was in the shadow of giants. I was also aware of the work being done by, among others, Amy Clampitt, Louise Gluck, Mark Strand and Seamus Heaney, so … talk about dominating presences.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I am always on the lookout for interesting images and phrases, which I jot down in my journal, writing notebook, or iPhone. I try to sit down and write at least once per day, though I revise existing poems several times during the day, whenever I get a chance. Most of my starting drafts don’t go anywhere, but now and then the exercise takes on a life of its own (it seems), and I end up with a reasonable first draft. Generally speaking, it takes me about two or three days to get a few lines down that seem to work together, and then about a week to get a more-or-less complete first draft. Then I revise for months (literally), just chipping away at words, smoothing the lines out, trying to use every opportunity to make the images interesting for me and for future readers.

5. What motivates you to write?

The sheer joy of creating something new in the world that challenged me to the utmost to get it done. Writing poetry is the most difficult thing I do on a regular basis, and the satisfaction of trying to do it right is huge. Very seldomly, I do end up with a poem I really like, and those moments are incredible. Sometimes I recite those poems to myself as I go about the day and just revel in the experience.

6. What is your work ethic?

If I don’t become a better writer, it will not be for lack of trying. I’d like my tombstone to read “He Never Gave Up.”

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

I think it was Elizabeth Bishop who said you learn more from the classics than from your contemporaries. However, poetry is evolving in so many exciting ways that the people changing poetry today are a greater influence on me than the canonized poets. It’s as if poets today are imagining new ways to do poetry with each poem they write, and it is fascinating to watch and learn from them.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

There are so many! In more or less chronological order of my becoming aware of them, I continue to love Louise Gluck and Sharon Olds. I love the work being done by Ross Gay, Eduardo Corral, Ada Limon, D.A. Powell, Natlie Diaz, Rebecca Hazelton, Sandra Simonds, Maggie Smith, Jenny Xie, Terrence Hayes, and Ilya Kaminsky. I am also loving and keeping an eye on some emerging poets who are already doing interesting things and have great promise: Leila Chatti, Eloisa Amezcua, Roy Guzman, Paige Lewis … I could go on and on. What I love about these poets is how they make the art form theirs, how imaginative they are not just in writing poems but in expanding what a poem can be and what poetry can do.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

Writing is something I do reasonably well, and I feel I have the potential to get better at it if I keep trying. I need to do creative things to feel satisfied, and writing poetry seems to be the creative thing I’m best at.  Writing poetry challenges me while not remaining frustratingly impossible. Almost impossible, yes, but sometimes I strike a little gold.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

You become a writer by writing and by keeping on writing even when nothing you produce seems to have much merit. I would say, don’t worry about not being as “good” as some writer you admire, but rather work on being the best writer you can be right now. If you keep writing, you will get better. You become a writer the moment you commit to writing. The goal is to become the best writer you can be, and this is a slow, gradual process.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I am working on my second chapbook, which I hope to merge with my first published chapbook and turn into a full-length book. I am also working on collecting all my finished poems since 1991, titled “Uncollected,” which I hope to publish eventually.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Ngozi Olivia Osuoha

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Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Ngozi Olivia Osuoha

is a Nigerian poet/writer/thinker/hymnist. A graduate of Estate Management with experience in Banking and Broadcasting. She has featured in over sixty international anthologies, published over two hundred and fifty poems/articles in over twenty countries, some of her poems have also been translated into and published in Russian, Romania, Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, Khloe, amongst others.. She has published ten books of poetry.

Her Facebook site is https://www.facebook.com/ngoziolivia.osuoha.3
Her Twitter is @OsuohaNgozi
Her WordPress Is ngozioliviaosuoha.wordpress.com

The Amazon link to all of her books: https://www.amazon.com/Ngozi-Olivia-Osuoha-Books/s?k=Ngozi+Olivia+Osuoha&rh=n%3A283155&fbclid=IwAR2KYxeBU27XbOYcLxwVZ2Yh2U-H-XJjvuzDBbMOi9LwdQeI5xsmhjdD0TI

The Interview

1, When and why did you start writing poetry?

God is the primary inspiration, but He spreads it across the world at large, the society, environment, people,…

1.1. How did God inspire you to write poetry?

Every gift comes from above, I believe it was God that gave me the gift/talent.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

Introduction?? It is natural. I don’t think anybody actually did

3. How aware are and were you of the dominating presence of older poets traditional and contemporary?

The older poets played their role, so are the young and younger playing theirs. Every man to their duty post.

3.1. What role did older poets play?

I answered accordingly.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I don’t really have writing routine. I write anytime, anyhow, anywhere,.. Depending.

5. What motivates you to write?

Passion, legacy, quest for a better society.

6. What is your work ethic?

Work ethic?? In terms of writing, maybe none, apart from doing decent work.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

I can’t recall vividly because I offered geography in Senior secondary. The bit I did in junior secondary might not have shaped my writing.

7.1. What shaped your writing?

Education, society, happenings around the world

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

Chinua Achebe, THINGS FALL APART, because generally all over the world, things have fallen apart indeed.

8.1.  Who of today’s living writers do you admire the most, and why?
I admire my Facebook friends and publishers. My author-friends and poet-friends are wonderful.
I belong to different Facebook writing groups, they are wonderful
9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

Writing is a burden, a divine mandate, you cannot run away from it.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

If you were called to be one, you will definitely be one.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

Before the end of August, I hope to release my eleventh book. There are other anthologies I featured in, that would be out then.
There are so many works to be God, God willing.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Jill Abram

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Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Jill Abram

Jill Abram

is Director of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, a collective encouraging craft, community and development. She grew up in Manchester, travelled the world and now lives in Brixton. She regularly performs her poems in London and occasionally beyond, including Ledbury Poetry Festival, Paris and USA.  Publications include The Rialto, Magma, Under The Radar, The High Window and Ink Sweat &Tears. Jill produces and presents a variety of poetry events and she created and curates the Stablemates reading series.

jillabram.co.uk

The Interview

  1. When and why did you start writing poetry?

I’ve always put pen to paper but when I gathered my poems together to take on my first Arvon course, it was a very thin portfolio! That course in 2007 kicked things off and I came back wanting to do more. I’m not very good at self motivation so looked for some external discipline. Someone told me about Poetry School and I thought their monthly Saturday Sessions with Jane Draycott would suit me. They did and I attended those for 5 years (on and off) until Jane stopped leading them, when a group of us carried on meeting monthly to workshop poems and became Tideway Poets.

In 2008 I started performing my poems and took some performance workshops. One of these was led by Malika Booker and she subsequently invited me to join her collective, Malika’s Poetry Kitchen. This has been the greatest influence on my practice, learning to craft, to turn the inner editor off when writing and make editing a separate process, and to read read read!

I never took English Lit at school, though I did quite well in Lang, so wasn’t brought up with the canon. My early influences were Edward Lear, AA Milne and Lewis Carroll, ie so called nonsense verse, so I used to write mainly with rhyme and meter. I still haven’t read many “dead poets” but have immersed myself in contemporary poetry and love going to hear poets read their own work.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

My earliest memories of poetry are from Infants/Junior school:
When I was 4/5, I took part in the top class’ end of term play – I was a child in bed as my “mum” narrated Hiawatha and the rest of her class acted out the story. (I had one line – when she mentioned the warriors, I had to say, “Gosh, I bet they were fierce!”)
A year or two later, I narrated The Jumblies while the rest of my class (in green balaclavas and blue gloves) performed the actions. I have a book of Edward Lear which my mum gave me wen I was very young – maybe it was around this time.
I also remember my whole class learning “You Are Old, Father William” together with Mr Gee in Junior 2 (year 5).

I don’t remember who introduced me to adult poetry, but some of the books I bought before the time I was writing seriously are by Lemn Sissay, Henry Normal, Maya Angelou and Edna St Vincent Millay.

3.  How aware are and were you of the dominating presence of older poets traditional and contemporary?

It depends where you go – my first performances were at slams and they were youth dominated, the classes and courses I did were attended by an older demographic (and more women than men).

I heard a statistic a few years ago that 90% of published poetry books were by dead people and 9 of the other 10% were by Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney, so how has that changed now..? The recent surge in poetry book sales has, to a large extent, been down to a few poets – eg Rupi Kaur accounts for at least 1m of the £12m increase.

In terms of the “establishment” where experience counts, naturally you are right, but I see a lot of talented and successful young poets – and think of all the schemes and prizes for young poets. The poetry underdogs are those who came late to writing so of course are older.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

Hahahahahahaha!

Sorry for laughing in your face- I don’t have one. In fact I have no routines in my life (a long career of unpredictable/irregular hours working)!

5. What motivates you to write?

Usually external stimuli – a workshop, a deadline. A successful workshop (for me) is when one of two things happens: either I come up with something I would never have come to on my own, or I find a way to express something that has been stuck in there for a while. I don’t give myself the headspace often enough to allow inspiration in, but sometimes I see something that really clicks and triggers something off.

For example:
A couple of years ago, I saw news footage of refugees walking through Hungary and it reminded me of a scene from a film when Jews were being exiled from their village about a century earlier – which is the history of my forebears. I wanted to write a poem connecting them and the result was Like A Fiddler On The Roof, published in Tears in the Fence Issue 67
Home

I want to write more about migrants and refugees, linking recent/current stories with those from the Jewish diaspora over centuries. Not just the Holocaust, which is still in living memory for some, and survivors bore witness so that we should “never forget” – but despite that, there are so many parallels in the way people are being mistreated now and the rise of the far right again.

6. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

I’m not sure they do.

7. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

Top of the list has to be Malika Booker – I’m biased of course, because she founded Malika’s Poetry Kitchen (a collective focusing on craft, community and development since 2001) from which I have gained so much. She invited me to join in 2009 and I started running it a year later, so I’ve been its Director for half of its existence now! (We’re celebrating our 20th anniversary in 2021 with an anthology to be published by Corsair, which will include poems from alumni past and present, and a series of events so watch this space!) But MPK is exactly one of the reasons for her being my number 1 – not only is she a fine writer, dedicating herself to her craft, and great performer but she gives so much back. She’s mentored so many poets, often voluntarily, and has given so much help and encouragement to others – often, but not exclusively, to young poets of colour, no doubt remembering the difficulties she had when starting out as a black poet with few role models and rejected by the establishment. I can barely even start to list all that she has done to enable others and am delighted to see her recognised in the September edition of British Vogue in the “Leaders and Proteges” section (with one of her protégés, Theresa Lola).

8. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

I can’t draw – not even a straight line with a ruler – or sing/play an instrument. I guess I write because I can. I’m a big show off so writing poetry means I have something to perform and, with open mics/slams, you can do that without needing an invitation, passing an audition, or having to commit to fixed rehearsals, which can be tricky with my job. (Please note that I do now get asked to read so I hope that is some indicator of quality!) Outside of Poetry World, I often feel no one listens to me so at least I can express myself through my writing – and it turns out some people even read/listen to it!

9. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Just do it!. Put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard or whatever) – you can get a lot of joy and satisfaction from doing it even if you’re no good.

If you want to be a good writer, the first  – and only essential – other thing is to read read read! Read stuff you don’t like as well as stuff you do. You have to be aware of all the possibilities before you know what suits you.

You can do courses and classes, you will be exposed to loads of other poets as well as techniques and ways of writing, and (perhaps more importantly) make poetry friends. If you don’t have much money to spare, many organisations offer bursaries/grants etc. and there are MOOCs and other free online resources. But you can invite a few pals for nothing to share work – online makes so much possible even if you can’t get to meet face to face. And thanks to the Poetry Society there may be a local Stanza group you can just turn up to. If you’re lucky enough to live near one of the poetry libraries you can borrow books for free.

10. Tell me about the writing projects you’re involved in at the moment,

I’m working on my submission for the MPK anthology, a sequence about my chronic health condition and the refugee poems I mentioned earlier, although I have been far from prolific lately. I had mentoring with Mimi Khalvati last year which led to a manuscript for my debut collection and I’m waiting to hear from a publisher about that. I’m applying for ACE funding to continue my Stablemates event series (in which I interview three poets from one press, then they read) and want to do more of those in London and at Festivals further afield. I’m also trying to build my career as producer/presenter so if anyone needs a poetry event (reading/interview/panel/launch etc.) organising/hosting etc. – look no further!

 

“The Painter, The Poet And The Portrait” So honoured and privileged to have a poem and portrait featured among so many brilliantly talented writers, and Andrew’s art inspires and energises, much like his personality. Many thanks to the shining lights of Paul Dyson and Ian Parks for their hard graft with Andrew to get this through. I’m stoked.

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Brochure https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/62766015/brochure via @yumpucom

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Evrah Rose

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Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Evrah Rose

is an injustice driven poet and spoken word performer. Hailing from Wrexham, North Wales, Evrah delves in to taboo subject matter, unafraid and unapologetically. Using a mix of her own experiences and perspectives of others, Evrah confronts issues such as rape, mental health, addiction and domestic violence to evoke conversation. Evrah began writing poetry when she was just 9 years old to enable herself to rationalise her experiences. As a result, she became socially conscious and passionate about breaking silence.

Just this year Evrah was commissioned by the BBC to write and create spoken word films and has had her work publicised by BBC 2, 3, 4 and BBC Wales. Evrah has headlined various spoken word events around the North West and has also performed at including Apple’s and Snakes DiVerse #7. As a music lover, Evrah combines both music and poetry to create a contrast that both stimulates and inspires and has subsequently been aired by BBC Radio Wales as part of BBC Introducing.

Evrah’s work is a fusion of no nonsense realism, social injustice and hard hitting truths offering her audience a thought provoking experience that leaves them awakened.

 

Find Her Here:

Evrah Rose

The Interview

1. What inspired you  to write poetry?

I started writing at 8. It began as an alternative way to express the painful experiences I was going through. Although very much a secret, it enabled me to rationalise what I was going through and became a therapy.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I was taught poetry at school, typical boring lessons, I guess I took what they taught me and created my own style.

3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

I think when it comes to poetry there is that elitist ideology that seems to rule curriculum and poetry focussed groups etc older poets have their place, of course, they have led the way and individually revolutionised poetry in their own way. However, it is time to focus on the here and now. The talented writers breaking barriers and using literature for change.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I write most days, if I am not writing, I am thinking about my next idea. Usually it involves a certain type of instrumental music, depending on my taste and mood that day and the subject I may want to write about.

5. What motivates you to write?

People motivate me to write. The world and everything that happens within it.

6. What is your work ethic?

Nothing worth having comes without hard work.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

It was mostly rap that influenced me growing up. Lyricists like Tupac Shakur and Eminem were massive influences in my upbringing.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

Without doubt I admire George the Poet, he doesn’t sugar coat topics and his lyricism and skill is second to none. If we were talking music, right now I believe Stormzy is incredible.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

Writing has been my parent, my best friend and my role model. It has been there through tough times and seen me flourish. I can’t imagine a day without it. It’s what I breathe and live for.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Just write. Write and read. Keep going and you will develop your own flavour and skills. Work hard and anything is achievable.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

Right now I am working with Wrexham Afc to develop a chronology of the football season. I am also working with the BBC but that’s all I can reveal right now…

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Michael Pettinger

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Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

am honoured and privileged that the following poets, local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.
The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

mick

Michael Pettinger

The Interview

1. What were the circumstances under which you began to write poetry?

I’d written rants to post on Facebook but never thought of using them as poetry.
I’d gone to a meeting at Mexborough Resource Centre to get involved with a local short film around 2014.

There I met Paul Dyson, who advised me there was an open mic night at the Concertina Club across the road and that I could just listen if I wanted, but if I felt comfortable, I could say my rants.

After visiting the first “Pitman’s Poets” hosted by Tony Goodwin and being allowed up to say my rants it helped inspire me in to writing in different styles similar to the ones I’d heard at the Pitman’s as there were some brilliant poets.

I also attended Read To Write with Ian Parks and Write On Mexborough with Steve Ely which helped develop my story writing and poetry.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I would have to say Tony Goodwin’s “Pitman’s Poets” as everybody that attended wrote (+ spoke) what I describe/define as “local poetry”.

I’d heard academic poetry and other famous poetry at school but never understood it so it had no meaning to me and therefore no interest to me.

You could say school introduced maybe one poem to me but at the time I didn’t care to know any more about poetry.

I would say that the poets at Pitman’s introduced me to poetry because when they shared their poetry it was always a topic I could connect with or I could associate with in some way. I’ve always preferred local poetry.

3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

Not even slightly aware of how far back poetry went or any of the poets from older, even ancient times.
Even today people tell me famous poets names and I haven’t a clue who they are.
Except maybe Ted Hughes (because he lived in Mexborough), Dylan Thomas, Cavafy, Keats or Yates (just because they are mentioned a lot).
So for me they haven’t got a dominating presence. At least not in my life.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I don’t write daily.

I write sporadically when a line comes in to my head or a feeling which I need to write down on my phone.
Then when I get time and I think about the line again or the feeling I’ll sit at the laptop and write (+ edit) a poem out on “Notepad” (the computer program) which I’ll read through and edit as I see fit.

It usually takes me around an hour (depending on the length) and I just keep reading it until I feel it sounds correct when being said.

5. What motivates you to write?

When I see something that I don’t like about the world it makes me angry, which inspires the rants.
When I feel low, I put my pain in to the poem in a kind of cathartic way, so that people can understand the pain I feel for the moment that they hear it.
The same when I’m blissfully happy and I can get down on paper the happiness and try to make it so that when someone hears it they feel the same internally for a moment.

6. What is your work ethic?

I believe that no one chose to be born in to a world of competition, corruption, war, inequality, poverty, climate change and greed.

If we had the free will to choose, I can almost guarantee that no one would choose to join the world unless they were guaranteed wealthy parents.

It is through the sexual drive of parents that children are forced in to the world to live lives they might not want to live due to the suffering and social issues the world is full of. The violence that inequality drives, the behaviours that are caused by poverty and having such poor education systems is beyond traumatic.

How bad must your life be if the only way to escape it is to take spice or heroin and soil yourself in public?!

I believe that if someone wants to leave this world, has had the mental health assessments and can’t afford to survive then they should be allowed a dignified death with the chance to say goodbye to their family and friends and explain why – usually because they can’t afford to survive and/or have so much turmoil in their lives.

So my work ethic is; If work is not monotonous, if work is not repetitive, if work stimulates your brain, if work means you are directly helping the environment, helping someone or the rest of humanity to become healthier, safer, more technologically advanced, then do as much of the work as you can without hindering your emotions and becoming too tired/over-worked.

The rest of the work should be done by automation and a lot of jobs out there are useless to the benefit of humanity or the environment. It’s usually just there to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

I am against capitalism (though the best system we have to date, it is failing clearly) and I learn about a “resource based economy” as envisioned by “The Venus Project”
( http://www.thevenusproject.com )
7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?
I only read children’s stories at school, I didn’t read any poems I can remember.
I would say the stories I read (I can only remember reading “The BFG” and “The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe”) helped with my imagination.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

Gav Roberts from Rotherham.
I’ve not got any of his work in writing but as a poet he is brilliant.
He says everything in terms everybody can understand, there are no codes to break down and his poems hit everything from happiness and sorrow to peace and humour.

9. Why do you write?

I write because it’s something I’m not absolutely terrible at.
I have written plenty of poems that aren’t what I would describe as good or a decent standard but sometimes when I write something and I can see people like it, it makes me feel like I’m not worthless.
Like I have something to give to the world other than my labour.
I also like the idea that I can take words and put them in a combination that hasn’t been used before to present a topic in a different way.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Write down your feelings, write down characters and places. The things you like and don’t like. Write about truth, write fiction but most of all listen or read other people’s poetry, stories or scripts. Go to open mic nights and listen to the variety of individuals and the massive amount of different ways to tell one thing.
Have fun. Don’t do it as work or for money or at least not for your main supply of money.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I’m currently writing scripts for some sketches I hope to film and put on YouTube.
I’m not really writing much else at the moment.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Laura Cok

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Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

DoubterCover[43685]

Laura Cok

Originally from northern California, Laura spent time in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Waterloo, Ontario before settling in Toronto, where she now lives. She holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Toronto, where she won the E.J. Pratt Poetry Medal and the University of Toronto  Magazine alumni poetry contest. She has been previously published widely across Canada and works in corporate communications. Her first book, Doubter’s Hymnal, was published by Mansfield Press in summer 2019.

Doubter’s Hymnal

Her own website: https://www.lauracok.com/

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

I’ve been keeping journals since I learned how to write, and writing has always been the way I made sense of the world. Some things are harder to make sense of, and that becomes poetry.

Plus, I got a lot of adult approval when I first started, and I’m an oldest child. So I stuck with it.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

Shel Silverstein is the first poetry I remember reading, or having read to me. I started trying to write my own when I was around eight, and it was not at all Silversteinian, so there must have been other elementary-age influences/teachers that I don’t remember. Soon enough I started stealing my dad’s anthologies — lots of Byron, Keats, etc. — and bookmarking heavily, and being introduced to more serious poets in middle school and onward. I can still recite Frost’s Nothing Gold Can Stay from memory, which I did for extra credit in seventh grade. I had a strong memory for poetry and was trying to absorb it, as literally as I could.

3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

They don’t feel particularly dominating to me. I think the biggest shift in my perception has been from “well, I’m a high school writer, I’m pretty good at this for my age,” to measuring myself (a full-fledged adult) against published writers. Attempting to consider myself their peer. And now that I’m 30 and have a book out myself, surely the imposter syndrome will fade any day now…

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I wish I had one! I work 9-5, so writing is squeezed in around the margins. I am not an early morning writer so it’s often a matter of whether I have the wherewithal to stare at a screen in my downtime after having stared at a screen for eight hours for work. Weekends are better for this. For poetry, I do what I would never advise anyone else to do, which is “wait for inspiration” until I get fed up with the lack of it and write something terrible in a coffee shop. For prose I am much better at the butt-in-chair school. 500 words here, 500 words there. They all add up to something eventually, even if that something is only practice.

5. What motivates you to write?

It’s cheaper than therapy.

6. What is your work ethic?

I always think it’s poor, but here I am still plugging away when plenty of more talented writers have stopped. When the Love of the Work isn’t quite enough on a given day, spite will do the trick quite nicely. I’ll show my mean middle school English teacher!

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

Oh, tremendously. I write a lot of formal poetry, by which I mean sestinas and modernized sonnets and the like, or I incorporate formal elements, and I think that’s because the poetry I really loved when I was younger was all formal. Edna St. Millay’s sonnets! Elizabeth Bishop’s sestinas!

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

I loved Kayla Czaga’s latest book; I think she has such a smart, funny way with poetry that never gets overly precious, but neither is it banal. That’s a hard needle to thread. I’m reading Paola Ferrante’s debut now and it’s incredible, full of fury and power (and I’m not just saying that because we’re published by the same press!).

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

I’m bad at drawing. More seriously, writing feels the most like what I’m supposed to do. Like it’s the real work of my life.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Read widely, fill up notebooks, keep a journal. In this current moment we’re all writers more than any other point in history — Twitter, Facebook statuses, instant messaging of whatever kind — which is incredibly exciting, especially for linguists (read Gretchen McCulloch’s Because Internet for a fascinating exploration of this). So the question, if posed, is maybe more “How do you become A Writer.” I have only just started to get comfortable with calling myself one! If you write, you’re a writer. If you like to take long walks in the woods and tell anyone who will listen about the amazing novel idea you have, but you never actually put the words down, you might be an interesting and contemplative person, but not a writer. That’s fine! There’s just no shortcut.

10 Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

While my book was in post-manuscript, pre-publication process, it was very hard for me to draft any new poems, so I’m just starting to get back into that now. In the meantime I switched my attention to prose, and I have half a first draft of a novel, which means my great new idea for a completely different novel is right on schedule.