Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

Kayleigh is a Creative Writing PhD Researcher at The University of Huddersfield and is an Editorial Assistant for Stand Magazine. She has been published in print and online, including Black Bough Poetry, Eye Flash Poetry and Riggwelter Press. She was commended in the Geoff Stevens Prize. Her debut pamphlet, Keepsake, is available through Maytree Press.

https://www.kayleighcampbell.co.uk/

Twitter – @kayyyleighc

The Interview

1. What inspired you  to write poetry?

Typically I wrote prose growing up; I can’t recall actually writing poetry. But, one of my favourite childhood books is A Nest Full of Stars which is poems by James Berry. I love the cover art, I love the language, I love the structure of the poems. I remember not understanding them all, as I wasn’t used to poetry. Cut to second year of undergraduate when my creative writing lecturer Michael Stewart asked us to write some poetry. I immediately loved writing it and felt like it was the right genre for me. The majority of my creative writing class preferred prose, but I loved poetry. Then in third year I took Steve Ely’s (who is now my PhD supervisor) module on poetry and produced a small sequence of poems for my final project. I found that poetry worked best with my thoughts and feelings; I liked the freedom of it.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I bought A Nest Full of Stars from one of the book fairs in primary school, my first taste of poetry! But, Michael brought my attention properly to it and working with Steve really cemented my love for it. Since then, I’ve just immersed myself in the poetry world.

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

When I first started writing it, I guess I was in the university sphere and focused on my writing and the poets we studied – which were all part of the older generation but I didn’t think about it in depth. Now I’m a more established writer and part of the poetry/literary world, I’m very aware of the presence of older poets. This was made particularly apparent through my work with Stand Magazine. Many of the subscribers and contributors are of the older generation, as are the editors. Stand is a longstanding, reputable magazine and somewhat traditional, which explains the ties to the older generation.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I suppose it would be incorrect to say I have a proper routine as such but, I guess I have fashioned one that works around my daughter Eliza’s routine. Throughout the day, If I have any ideas I will make a note of them and then when Eliza goes to sleep on an evening, I will sit and turn them into poems. This might not happen everyday of course, but I’m usually tinkering away on something. I like to write Haikus, so I try to write on of those at least weekly. When Eliza is in nursery and I have my own time, I have more dedicated period of writing. I typically do this at university or in some trendy cafe!

5. What motivates you to write?

It’s the feeling of working towards something creative and achieving something; I enjoy seeing a collection of poems emerge and then come together. During this time of PhD studies and early motherhood, writing poetry is important to me.

6. What is your work ethic?

I believe that it is not so black and white that if you work hard you will get what you want, but hard work and commitment is important. I’m organised with my studies and my writing, I work hard and keep going.

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

They inspire me to write things worth reading. I remember reading The Handmaid’s Tale in Sixth Form and thought it was amazing, just captivating and stayed with me after I’d finished. I enjoy Margaret Atwood’s poetry too; Atwood has inspired me to take risks with my writing.

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

I very much enjoy Charlotte Wetton’s work; her voice is amazing and I like the way she describes scenes and feelings. Other poets I like are Rebecca Tamas, Liz Berry, Julie Irigaray & Greg Gilbert. In terms of fiction my go to writer is Ian McEwan – I think his writing is clever and absolutely absorbing.

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

I think a lot of people have hobbies and things they are just ‘good’ at, my partner Joe for instance loves Pokemon! For me, it’s writing. It just gets me and I get it. I find it therapeutic; a creative way of writing a journal perhaps.

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

I would say that you don’t necessarily have to ‘become’ a writer, more that you just are! I would just advise them to write, write and write. Find the genre that suits them the most and work at it. That’s not to say you have to limit yourself to one genre forever, it’s just part of the process of becoming the best writer you can be. Also, have confidence in yourself. One thing I have learnt is that you just have to involve and promote yourself.

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

Well, my pamphlet Keepsake is taking centre stage currently! Keepsake is my debut pamphlet published by Maytree Press who have been lovely to work with. I have recently done a book signing at Huddersfield Waterstones and I’m reading at a Poetry Showcase, sponsored by the The International Centre for Contemporary Poetry, at The University of Huddersfield. Which brings me on to a big part of my life – my PhD. I’m on my way to finishing first year and recently passed my progression viva. The project is still under wraps at the moment – though it will involve monstrous women. And finally, I will be featuring in Butcher’s Dog Issue 12, so will be attending the launch of that!

12. Your collection is infused with “baby”, as in young people “cradling” and the hint of nursery rhymes “and they swam, and they swam.”

Yes, that’s one of the main themes, that’s a nice observation about the nursery rhyme!

13. Your poetry is very visceral.

Compared to my academic work, it’s very confessional and personal!

14. Would you say the narrator was you?

I would say most of the poems has me as the narrator, but some are more open to interpretation. One is narrated by a child (my daughter).

15. What appeals to you about confessional poetry?

I like the authenticity and poignancy of it. It’s about me, so writing it comes very naturally and it’s a very enjoyable process crafting the poems. It’s also therapeutic and reflective. I think readers like honesty, and to be surprised.

16.

not including the ones that lingered under her skin.

(From  He Touched Me Here)

At times the collection moves from horror images to suggestions of the sacred,

and the holy water came

(From Birthday)

Yes, interesting observation. I suppose it’s representing the trauma and dark times through the more horror orientated poems, whilst the suggestions of the sacred represent the transition towards healing. I’m not religious; I suppose the scared imagery is my own interpretation of those things.

17. Why do you think people should read your collection?

That’s a good question. I think other people’s lives fascinate us, and I think it’s good to hear the stories of others. Though this personal, confessional poetry I hope other mothers – or fathers – may read my collection and find comfort that their feelings are not in isolation. People hopefully will see the highs and lows of life; the anxious times, the happier times. They will see that you can heal after trauma. And they can read some contemporary, visceral poetry!

 

 

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.

Lannie Stabile

(she/her), a queer Detroiter, often says while some write like a turtleneck sweater, she writes like a Hawaiian shirt. A finalist for the 2019/2020 Glass Chapbook Series and semifinalist for the Button Poetry 2018 Chapbook Contest, she is usually working on new chapbook ideas, or, when desperate, on her neglected YA novel. Works are published/forthcoming in Entropy, Pidgeonholes, Glass Poetry, 8 Poems, Okay Donkey, Honey & Lime, and more. Lannie currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Barren Magazine and is a member of the MMPR Collective. She was thrice nominated for Best of the Net 2019.

The Interview

1. When and why did you start writing poetry?

I started writing (fiction) in 3rd grade, but I didn’t try my hand at poetry until 6th. A student teacher had us all write poems on whatever topic, and I chose a lion. It was called “Long Live the King.” I didn’t think it was anything special, but everyone seemed impressed. So, I thought, “Huh, maybe there’s something to this.” From there, I wrote such number one hits as “Russian Spy” and “1-800-DOG-BITE.” As they say, a legend was born.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

Somewhere along the way, I stumbled upon Shel Silverstein, and his was the first poetry I ever read. Shout out to “Hector the Collector.” But when I was 11 or 12, our teacher had us read and interpret “Ode to La Tortilla” by Gary Soto. I can still remember the dripping butter.

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

I wasn’t aware in the least. At the time, I was writing simply to write. The politics of the genre didn’t actually come into play until about a year ago, when I started submitting. I saw the same names over and over being published, and I wanted to be one of them. But then it dawned on me to ask why I was seeing the same names over and over again. Nepotism? Talent? Influence and reach? A combination? Breaking it down is too much hassle, to be honest. Ultimately, I’ve decided it’s a numbers game. Just keep writing and submitting. I mostly pay attention to “established” writers to read them or to learn from them. I don’t have the energy to feel inferior.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

It’s more like a daily reading routine. At any given time, I’m balancing 2-3 (maybe more) books. To write well, you must read well. I don’t force myself to write. I mean, sometimes I do, if I’ve committed to a 30/30, weekly prompt, or some other challenge. But, typically, I only write when inspiration strikes, and that’s more likely to happen if I’m immersed in others’ creativity. Curiously, I tend to read more fiction than poetry.

4.1. What inspiration does fiction give , that poetry doesn’t?

What comes to mind is when writers create unique characters, with complexities and idiosyncrasies. A girl obsessed with a Red Sox pitcher, a boy with a lightning scar, a teenager with a collection of Air Jordans. I love the minutiae. Because poetry tends to be snapshots of emotion, we don’t often get to develop the characters.

5. What motivates you to write?

Emotions. Misheard lyrics. Misread phrases. Writing challenges with poet friends. Knowing this is the one thing in my goddamn life that I am unequivocally and irrevocably in love with.

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

When I was a kid, I read everything I could get my hands on: V.C. Andrews, Stephen King, Pat Conroy, Michael Crichton, and a lot of trashy romances. I would say most of it was “age-inappropriate,” if I believed in that sort of thing. So, basically, I was always reading above my level, subconsciously striving to grow. That definitely comes out in my writing. The way I play with new forms, experiment with new topics, challenge myself to be vulnerable. Mellencamp would be happy to know I’m young and improving.

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

Poetry: Sabrina Benaim, Dorianne Laux, and Chen Chen really strike a chord. They write about the human condition the way I wish I could. It’s unapologetic, vulnerable, raw, and somehow still kind of fun. Fiction: Sarah Waters, James, Baldwin (can he count as today?), and Tim O’Brien. Really, when I think about it, they have the same qualities as the poets I admire. They can take every day trauma and explain it beautifully. I also love Tomi Adeyemi, author of Children of Blood and Bone, but for a different reason. Her characters are well-developed and unforgettable. In fact, the princess, Amari, is one of my all-time favorite characters.

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

That’s an easy one. Write.

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

I’m always working on something. To date, I have completed two chapbooks and two micro-chaps. In fact, one of the micro-chaps was recently picked up by Wild Pressed Books, so I’m really looking forward to its publication. But ideas are, at this very moment, floating around my head, and I plan on finishing another chapbook by the end of the year. I also have one-third of a YA novel written that I carefully avoid writing, but I imagine one day I’ll finish it.

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.

 

Ernest O. Ògúnyemí

is an eighteen-year old writer and spoken word artist from Nigeria. His works have appeared/ forthcoming in: Kalahari Review, Litro ‘Comedy’ Issue, Lucent Dreaming, Low Light Magazine, Canvas Lit Journal, Agbowó ‘Limits’ Issue, Erotic Africa: The Sex Anthology, and elsewhere. He is a 2019 Adroit Summer Mentee, and a 2019 COUNTERCLOCK Arts Collective Fellow. In 2018, he won the Association of Nigerian Authors NECO/ Teen Prize for his manuscript of short stories, “Tomorrow Brings Beautiful Things: STORIES“. He is currently working on his first novel.

The Interview

1. When and why did I start writing poetry?

I started writing poetry when I moved from Lagos – that mother with too many children, that one city that is packed with all kinds of people and things, that is loud in all forms: speakers blaring ” shepeteri” (street) songs, pastors filling mics with tongues that feel as ragged and unrefined as the many screams of cars and “danfos” and “okadas”, the smooth voices of muezzins calling Muslim brothers and sisters to salatt, matched with the voices of a new crop of evangelists who do the work of God with megaphones – to Abéòkuta. Abéòkuta is the very opposite of Lagos. In Abéòkuta, I met calm – the calm of a river untouched by the wind in fact.

This change of place brought me to solitude, and it was my aloneness that brought me to the page. I came to the page to express all that I was feeling, that I had no one to talk to about. And, at the time, I had some real questions about God and Fate and Destiny and Culture, so I asked those questions on the page.

I was sixteen or so.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

Somehow, a teacher.

When I was in Lagos, there was this festival that gave space to students to present dramas, songs, and dramatic poems (presentation of a poem accompanied by drama). It was also a competition. Our school was invited, so a teacher, one of my English teachers then, (I don’t remember her name right now) – she asked me to write a poem. I didn’t. She wrote the poem and gave it to me to present.

I recited the poem at the audition, with the cast dramatising. Though we didn’t get to perform at the finale, we were awarded the fourth position at the finale.

When I moved to Abéòkuta and there was a competition for dramatic poems, I presented the poem with a cast made up of students from my new school (I directed the drama). Funny, but we won the competition with that poem.

After sometime, I started writing poems, too. I stuck them to the small notice-board where nobody read them – nobody but me.

Soon teachers started noticing what I was doing, and, while they didn’t introduce me to poetry or groom me, they made me love what I was doing.

After sometime, I met someone who first taught me certain basic things about poetry. His name is Ayoola Goodness, author of “Meditations” (one of the very first collections I read that influenced me at the very early start of my poetry-journey).

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

I would say, at the start of things, when I first began writing poetry, I was more conscious of older poets—the traditional ones. This was because the poets we read in Literature Class, the poems on the syllabus, were poems by old traditional writers—George Herbert’s “The Pulley”; Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar”; William Blake’s “Schoolboy”; Robert Frost’s “Birches”; and, of course, Shakespeare’s “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day.” We never read any contemporary poet. Even the African poems we read were by old poets, the custodians; the likes of Christopher Okigbo and Lenrie Peters.

The other reason I was more aware of older, traditional poets was that the books I had access to were the old books, the ones by older, traditional poets. There was nowhere I knew where I could buy the new books—where I stay presently, there’s no bookshop selling new books (there is more than enough in Lagos though, an hour’s ride from her); there are only two or three men who sell old, still covered, sometimes tattered, books by the roadside. It was from those men that I bought the books that introduced me to poetry, the traditional poetry by Emily Dickinson and Matthew Arnold and other traditional poets. It was also from one of them that I bought The Complete Works of Shakespeare, a big book containing all of Shakespeare’s works with green hardcovers with the titled engraved in golden letters on the front cover. The African poets I met, too, in anthologies weren’t contemporary, and, yes, they weren’t traditional poets either; they were just old poets.

I didn’t know any contemporary poet until I met works by new Nigerian writers, who, though writing in this time, would still fall under the category of old poets. There was no innovation to their poetry, but for the works of a few of them. One of the few was Ayoola Goodness’ Meditations, a poetry collection that shifted my eyes away from the traditional poetic form to something somewhat new.

However, it was until I, by chance or fate, picked up a Pushcart Anthology at one of the bookstalls by the roadside that I began to see what poetry could be—fluid, like water. But then, the Pushcart Anthology was published in 1993 or so, so it was still the old kind of poetry in a way. I remember writing a poem after one of the poems in the anthology, which was titled ‘Green’ and was written by an eighteen-year old Canadian writer. When I submitted what I’d written, inspired by ‘Green’, I got a rejection where the editor mentioned that the form was old.

When I began playing around with my dad’s phone, in late 2017 and early 2018, I began to witness wonder, in poetry. I read every poem I could find online, and I really fell in love with Danez Smith, and, very recently, Tianna Clark and Ocean Vuong. I also remember buying a copy of both the translation and original of Neruda’s The Captain’s Verses; it changed my life. A Feast of Return by Odia Ofeimun did a lot for me, too.

Today, I’ll say I’m fascinated by both poets. Though I read more contemporary poets, I do read older, traditional poets, too, because I need them both as ancestors on this path, as guiding lights on this journey.

3.1 How did “Neruda’s The Captain’s Verses and Feast of Return by Odia Ofeimun” change your life?

Before reading those two collections, I had read no poetry collection at all; but I had read a few poetry anthologies. One of the anthologies I read was “An Anthology of African Poems” whose editors I can’t recall now. The anthology included poems from the oral Yoruba poetry to Taban Lo Liyong and Niyi Osundare and Fusho Ayejina. And those poems were helpful.

However, it wasn’t until I read Odia Ofeimun’s “A Feast of Return” that I really felt a strong connection to poetry. There were times I sat outside and read the collection out loud, imitating the voices of all the characters in the poetry book. Whenever I finished reading, it felt as if somebody had immersed me in water and brought me out refreshed. I just felt light. The effect it had on me is quite similar to the effect weed has on people.

“A Feast of Return” had a freshness of imageries and an Africanization of poetics that made it beautiful and accessible. Also, because it was a communal kind of poetry collection (a dance drama in poetry), I felt as if I was a part of community, a part of the South Africans who were fighting apartheid. I don’t know, it just spoke to me. It still does.

On the other hand, Neruda’s “The Captain’s Verses” was a revelation. Reading that collection made me understand that poetry doesn’t have to be complex to be poetry; it could be simple and yet powerful.

Though the poems were love poems, I still connected to them. And the recurrence of certain imageries – earth, flowers, rivers – in the collection was something that stuck with me.

The collection also helped me understand that poetry is a thing of the heart first; the heart is the important thing. That a poet can write about the most mundane things in this world, the things that go unnoticed by the human eyes, and those things would be beautiful and become things we find very hard to forget – the only thing is, whatever you’re writing as a poet, let it matter.

3.2. What do you mean by “Africanization of poetics”?

What that – *the Africanization of poetics” – means is, “A Feast of Return”, for me, is poetry that is African in every way I know: the language, the voice(s), the characters, the imageries. It felt as if the collection was written in a particular African language first, and was later translated into English. But that’s not really true. Odia Ofeimun wrote it in English, but because the story the book tells is first an African story – a story about the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and about Africa – there is a way he Africanized his poetry. For example, the poetry is really oral poetry and is meant to be performed, though it is written. In fact, Odia Ofeimun makes notes on how it should be performed at the end of the book. So, maybe it is “the Africanization of poetry”, instead of “the Africanization of poetics”.

Note that before “A Feast of Return”, I had encountered other poems that were written in English but were African (Woke Soyinka’s “Abiku”, most of the poems written by Kofi Awoonor, the poems of Niyi Osundare, among others) – but in “A Feast of Return”, it was extended.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

Do I have a writing routine? I don’t think I do. I just know I write, and I do that every day. No day goes by that I don’t write something, even if it’s trash.

I write mostly at night, especially when the day is very tight for me. Or some times, very early in the morning.

Still, I won’t say I have a writing routine. I just write. However, that I don’t have a writing routine does not mean I write whenever I feel like, I write even when I don’t feel like.

5. What motivates your writing?

My motivation varies. Sometimes it’s the want to record a moment; at other times, it’s a story asking me to write it. But then, there is the joy that I feel when somebody reads my work and connects with it, when my name is there on the cover of a literary magazine. So, yes, those are motivating.

However, my greatest motivation is survival. I write to survive. If I get not to write again, I will most likely die. So, when I think of survival, I think of my writing. It’s all I have.

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

I’m still very young, so I’m still reading and I’m still influenced by what I read. However, the works I read before I even thought of wanting to write anything – books by Frank Peretti, Ted Deker, C.S. Lewis, Charles Dickens, and a lot of children or YA books written by Nigerians and Ghanaians – made me believe in a different world from this; they helped my imagination. I don’t think there’s more that I learned from those books asides that, and that, the broadening of my imagination, is one of the reasons why I am a writer today.

6.1. What “children or YA books written by Nigerians and Ghanaians” broadened your imagination?

I can’t remember any specifically. Those books were tiny story books that were self-published by the writers. They weren’t even so well-written, but they were interesting. I don’t remember any now.

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

I don’t think there’s a specific writer writing today that I admire the most, but there are a whole lot that I really admire – and for different reasons.

I admire Ocean Vuong for his poetry. There’s a way his poems reach out to me, even though some of the themes explored on his works are not directly themes I can relate to. (I’ve been reading his poem “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong” every day for the past few days.) More than that, I admire him for who he is. I don’t know what it is specifically about him that I find interesting – I mean, he is Vietnamese-American, I am Nigerian; he is gay, I am not. But there’s something to him, a kind of simplicity to his personality that I find interesting. And, maybe because my mother was also illiterate and could speak no English, and because of the kind of feeling I got from knowing there was a time he had no place to stay and was sleeping in Penn stations.

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

Lol. I’ll probably suggest reading “How to Become a Writer” by Lorrie Moore, but don’t mind me, I won’t. I think I don’t know how people become writers, but I guess it all starts with reading. If you read so many stories, you get to some point where the stories you read either bore you or appear to not be what you really want to read. Because you are not getting what you really want from the stories you read, like Achebe once said, you write your own.

9. Tell me about writing projects you are involved in at the moment.

A few. I’m curating an anthology of poems by young African poets between the ages of 15 and 19. I just won a small grant to start the first literary magazine for young African writers and artists. I should be writing my novel but I’m too lazy I guess. I’m also looking at writing a chapbook. And, as always, I’m making art and sending work out.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Jane Sharp

Jane Sharp has been called a surreal writer. She freely admits to inhabiting other worlds from time to time. When she is not writing she enjoys playing the piano and the cello. Her home is in Yorkshire where her roots run deep. She also has a passion for dark chocolate.

Jane’s Blog: https://www.janesharp.org

Higgs Bottom: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WLVTQP6

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

I began wanting to write verse as a young child, by entering competitions in the comic I took every week. I never won anything, but I was inspired by the fact that somebody did. Add imagination and a competitive spirit, plus a great deal of parental praise, and like a rosebud my passion for poetry began to blossom.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

Moving past the nursery rhymes of my childhood, I was first introduced to verse by the elders of the Methodist Chapel in Long Preston. As a part of the annual anniversary service I had to learn a few lines to recite along with other children of the Sunday school. At junior school I moved through the nonsense poetry of Edward Lear, The Owl and The Pussycat, A. A. Milne ‘Where the Wind Comes From… ‘ etc into the realms of Walter de la Mare, and I found myself in the throws of GCSE exams, being taught by a young, just out of college teacher, Mr Jackson, who, in his first teaching position, turned up at school with a Beatle haircut and a snazzy jacket. I thought he was the ‘bees knees,’ and consequently went all out to impress him. He encouraged me to let my imagination go wild, and seemed to appreciate my efforts at story telling and writing poetry. I even wrote a play, ‘Oedipus,’ which I have kept to this day. I would say, he was the one person who cultivated the opening rosebud with his enthusiasm for literature, and his praise of my immature efforts.

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

By older poets, I take you to mean poets of past times, such as Wordsworth, Keats, Byron, etc. Having a general education, I was introduced to these poets at an early age. I still have my copy of The Golden Treasury, from my school days. As far as being aware of their dominance, I did not think of them in that way. I did not have a choice in the matter and was simply fed whatever the curriculum deemed appropriate. Fast forward to the present day, and I am happy to have been introduced to those heavyweights, just as I am happy to have been able to study the works of the war poets, and in more recent times, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Matthew Sweeney, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, and so many more excellent poets.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

The words, ‘daily routine,’ imply that I do something at the same time every day. For me, writing poetry is not like that. I sometimes wake up with a poem in my head, or at least a couple of lines, in which case I jot it down straight away. I always have a pen and notebook on my bedside table. I have been known to catch a line or two whilst swinging the vacuum around, or pegging the washing on the line, or even whilst waiting for a bus, but there is no daily routine. I do, however, make sure that I read at least one poem every day, and this can be first thing in the morning, or last thing at night. Of course the novel writing is more like a nine to five job when it is in full swing.

When I am in writing mode I can sit and work on a poem for days until it is finished, and even then come back to it a week later and make revisions, and that might not be the end of it. Unless I have a deadline there can be constant additions or subtractions before I am satisfied with the result. But generally I will have a sound outline in one or two days.

5. What motivates you to write?

Motivation: that great, unseen push. Well, it isn’t money, that’s for sure. I write because I want to write, because I have all these words spilling out of my head that are just looking for a home. They want to manifest, they need a physical form; they are ideas, which need to be spoken out loud, stories that don’t want to sit in the void, and characters that are banging on my skull to let them out.

Of course, deadlines for magazines, spoken word events, poetry society meetings, are all great motivators, and they bring focus and an intellectual approach to my writing. Being given a subject to write about is never as easy as going with the flow, but it is possible to stoke up passion for the unlikeliest of themes, such as ‘warts’ for instance, the subject of one of my poems.

6. What is your work ethic?

‘Just do it!’ I can be as lazy as the next person, but I know that if I don’t get off my backside and do something, it doesn’t get done. There is a time for work, and a time for play, but there is no ‘set’ time for either.

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

A perfect example of this is when I began to write my latest novel, Higgs Bottom. The main character is a 13-year-old schoolboy. I had in mind Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island, and I did my best to channel him. It didn’t work. The way a schoolboy of today speaks is far removed from the way a young cabin boy would have spoken in 1756. Yet the idea of a first person narration did come from my childhood memories of Treasure Island. My reading of Alice in Wonderland has influenced my writing greatly; I take the philosophical ideas, and the bizarre imagery from such books.

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

I have long admired the accessibility of poems written by Simon Armitage. His use of form is a joy, and his vocabulary hits the spot. He can be humorous whilst at the same time very serious. And, of course, he is from Yorkshire, and like all good Yorkshire people I support members of the clan, so to speak.

I also like the poetry of Isabel Bermudez, who I think is a rising star. I find her poems to be soothing, and thought provoking, and full of imagery.

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

Well, I do have many other things to do, such as practicing my cello, or the piano, or even reading, in fact I would say that reading is just as important to me as writing. And I have to make time to do all of these things. But I’m not the sporty type, I can’t sew, I avoid baking because that would mean I would have to eat too many cakes and biscuits, my grandchildren are grown up, therefore there is no babysitting, and I am retired from work, and, and this is a big and, I enjoy writing. I enjoy creating a poem, or a story, and what’s more I enjoy performing and making people feel emotion, whether it be laughter or tears.

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

This is an easy one. How do you become a writer? You write: you write every day. You write down what you hear people say, you write down what you see, you write down what you smell, and you write down what you feel. And then you write down what you think.

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

I have just wrapped up my second novel, Higgs Bottom. It is now available on Amazon as a Kindle download, or as a paperback book. It has taken me several years to complete, and I am very proud of the finished work. Higgs Bottom is my second novel, the first being Tears from the Sun – A Cretan Journey. So, now I have to announce to the world that their copy is just sitting there waiting for them to snap up. It is a book for all ages, and here is a spoiler – Higgs Bottom is a place, not a bottom. I hope to write a follow up to Higgs Bottom, but I have a work in progress, which may take precedence.

I have also been working very diligently on a poetry collection, which is now complete and should be published before October is out. I have called it Scary Woman – A poet in Barnsley, and it is an eclectic mix of personal, serious, erotic and humorous poetry. I have to add that my husband, David, is such a great help in all my endeavours.

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.

Kerry Darbishire

songwriter and poet grew up in the Lake District where she continues to live and write in a remote area of Cumbria. Her poems have appeared in many anthologies and magazines and have won competition prizes including shortlist Bridport 2017. Her first full poetry collection, A Lift of Wings 2014. Her second collection, Distance Sweet on my Tongue 2018, both with Indigo Dreams Publishing. A biography, Kay’s Ark published 2016 by Handstand Press. Kerry is a co-editor of the new Cumbrian poetry anthology, This Place I know 2019 – Handstand Press. She is a member of The Brewery Poets, Write on the Farm and Dove Cottage Poets.

Follow her on Twitter: @kerrydarbishire

Find her two poetry collections: A Lift of Wings and Distance Sweet on my Tongue

http://www.indigodreams.co.uk/kerry-darbishire-distance/4594375662

Find her biography: Kay’s Ark

http/www.handstandpress.net/product/kays-ark/
www.poetrypf.co.uk/kerrydarbishire.shtml

Future talks/readings up to date:

Manchester Central Library – Vaster than Empires, Grey Hen Press – October 26^th

Kendal Mountain Festival: Further Than it Looks, Grey Hen Press November 16^th

Both 2019

www.greyhenpress.com

Settle Sessions – November 15^th 2019

www.settlesessionspoetry.co.uk

Dentdale WI – biography/memoir, Kay’s Ark – April 20^th 2020

Garsdale Retreat – October 7^th 2020

www.thegarsdaleretreat.co.uk

The Interview

When and why did you start writing poetry?

I’ve always written songs or poetry, but only began writing poetry seriously through the grief of my mother’s death in 2005. I attended a local workshop which eventually lead to my first collection, A Lift of Wings (Indigo Dreams Publishing) in 2014, a biography, the story of my mother’s life, Kay’s Ark in 2016 (Handstand Press) then a second poetry collection: Distance Sweet on my Tongue (IDP) in 2018. I’ve always found inspiration in people and landscape present and past.

Who introduced you to poetry?

I don’t have a definite introducer of poetry, I wasn’t very attentive at school and learned more at home amongst books, art, verse and music – they were my childhood companions, our house was always full of musicians, artists and writers so I guess my home environment introduced me to poetry. The real turning point was when I was mentored by the poet in residence Judy Brown at the Wordsworth Trust in 2013. It was like being given the right fuel for this journey

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

I became aware of the Lakeland poets – Wordsworth, Coleridge, and others: Yeats, Frost, Thomas Hardy etc. briefly at school and writers like the vagabond Jim Phelan who often stayed in our house, but at the time I never thought I was absorbing or being influenced by them.

What is your daily writing routine?

I like to write in the mornings after I’ve walked my dogs, but I can spend a whole day working on poems, to the extent I forget the time. Then again, if I get an urgent idea in the evening, I’ll go back into my room until I’ve made some sense of it

What motivates you to write?

If I’m suddenly grabbed by something I’ve heard or seen about people’s lives. I love responding to art works. Music can often also trigger a memory, a time or a place. Reading beautiful writing also inspires me.

What is your work ethic?

I don’t write about politics, religion or conflict of any kind as I find this too upsetting. I’m very involved with my wild surroundings, this ever-changing beautiful landscape and the River Brathay I grew up alongside and mostly up to my neck every day finding fossils and fish. If readers of my work find my poetry uplifting, then I’ve done something good

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

It’s hard to know how much sunk in and remained from reading as a child. I loved simple books such as Lassie, Heidi, Black Beauty and nursery rhymes. I was very in love with Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I married young and spent many years with little time to read but I guess everything I have ever read has affected my writing in some way.

Whom of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

There are so many brilliant writers today, my bookshelf overflows with broad styles of poetry and it’s very difficult to choose a few, but ones that spring out particularly for their accessibility: Seamus Heaney, Dylan Thomas, Ted Hughes, and Sylvia Plath, for their rich conjuring of nature and transportation to other eras; Billy Collins, for his flowing voice, detail and humour; Jack Gilbert, Norman Nicholson and James Sheard for their memories and evocation of precious times. And even more modern poets: Helen Mort, Kim Moore, Judy Brown, Esther Morgan, Carola Luther, Ocean Vuong, and many more for their brave strong evocative voices.

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

Because I love it, because I have to – writing is my addiction, if I didn’t write I’d be lost and miserable.

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

I would say sit down and start writing, allow yourself time and let your pen flow freely. Surprising things can happen on the page, go wherever it takes you, let your imagination take flight, don’t worry about the initial quality, that comes later. Join writing workshops with accomplished tutors, either face to face or online, there are wonderful courses to be had on the Poetry School and other websites. And read, read, read, novels, poetry, ‘how to write’ books, listen to interviews with writers, there is always something more to learn. I never thought I would eventually be doing this, so, always carry a notebook, be brave and do it!

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

I’m building up another possible full poetry collection, I’ve got two pamphlets I’m considering sending out. I like the challenge of submitting to anthologies and poetry competitions. I’m loving this ‘new’ life, this supportive world of poets, reading at events, and enjoying writing as though I’m running out of time

 

 

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.

Greg Freeman

was born in 1952 in Wimbledon, and lives in Surrey. He is a former newspaper sub-editor, and now news and reviews editor for the poetry website Write Out Loud. He co-comperes a monthly poetry open-mic night in Woking with Rodney Wood, and his debut poetry pamphlet Trainspotters was published by Indigo Dreams in 2015. His poems have appeared in South, South Bank Poetry, The Interpreters House, the Morning Star, the High Window, and are plastered all over England and even offshore on the Places of Poetry map.

https://www.indigodreams.co.uk/greg-freeman/4587958507
https://www.writeoutloud.net/profiles/gregfreeman

The Interview

1.  What inspired you to write poetry?

I was meant to be revising for my O-levels. I would have been 16, the year was 1969. Blimey, that’s exactly 50 years ago!  I was staring out of the window. It was a distraction technique. And I did write a poem about the moon landing.

2.  Who introduced you to poetry?

An English teacher notorious for getting benignly intoxicated in a nearby pub at lunchtime introduced us to the Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse. And I thought I’d have a go myself. (Much later, I wrote a poem about him, as the only schoolmaster that had motivated me at my dusty old grammar school). Then there was The Mersey Sound, that inspirational anthology of Adrian Henri, Roger McGough, and Brian Patten that opened up poetry to so many young people. No reflection on those three, but I wrote fairly awful adolescent poetry for two years, attended one poetry reading, by Brian Patten, and gave it up when I went to university in 1971. I didn’t take poetry up again until I attended a creative writing group in 2004. In the intervening time I had put together three or four novels and a few short stories without any success and very little encouragement. In 2008 I had a poem published in South magazine. It was quite something to see my name in print at last, after all those years. I concentrated entirely on poetry after that.

3. What is your daily writing routine?

I am afraid that that old distraction technique I referred to earlier now works against any chance of me writing poetry on a daily basis. Before retiring as a newspaper production journalist, I had been volunteered to become the news and reviews editor for the poetry website Write Out Loud, which now occupies me almost daily, writing news stories about poetry, and book reviews as often as I can. It’s great to be still working as a journalist, even if unpaid, and to be writing about poetry – so much so that it often doesn’t feel like work. But maybe it also prevents me from producing more poems than I actually do. Then there’s monthly co-compering of the Write Out Loud Woking poetry night, of course. Excuses, excuses.

4. What motivates you to write?

A lot of my earlier poems were about looking back at moments in my life. I suppose that seam is never exhausted, but these days I often need to be away from home for an idea to come – and sometimes on long-journey trains. Since the wonderful Places of Poetry project was introduced, to which I have contributed enthusiastically, I have realised that I am very much a poet of place. And I still can’t help writing poems about railways, from time to time.

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

As I said, Brian Patten was the first and only poet I heard when I was much younger. In 2014 I reviewed for Write Out Loud a reading he gave in Teddington. Someone sent it to him, he emailed his thanks, and I seized the opportunity to do an email interview  –  a bit like this one, I suppose. Soon afterwards I met Brian at the Aldeburgh poetry festival, and he introduced me to another of my poetry heroes, Tom Pickard, and even gave me a name check when being interviewed at the festival the following evening. Lovely man. Not only that. The following year my poetry pamphlet Trainspotters was published and I sent him a copy. He liked it, immediately sent me some unsolicited comments, and my publisher Ronnie Goodyer at Indigo Dreams quickly reprinted to give them pride of place on the back cover. I also found myself at the same table as Roger McGough at a poetry event earlier this year, at which my wife seized the opportunity to apologise to him publicly for plagiarising one of his poems in her school magazine at the age of 17. He was very good about it. I should also mention Philip Larkin, probably the poet I admire the most. ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ is the most wonderful poem about a train journey I know. I enjoyed it when I was 16, and I love it now.

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

I was a great fan of Paul Farley, although he seems to have slipped off my radar a bit recently. The performance poet Luke Wright often succeeds in placing his finger on the nation’s pulse. He wrote a prescient, epic poem called ‘Essex Lion’ a few years before the referendum; it empathised with people that want to believe in something, whoever outlandish, and cling on to it doggedly, especially when Guardian readers tell them that it can’t be true. A so far overlooked poet that I really rate for his warmth and humour, as well as his craft, is Matthew Paul, who has published just one collection so far called The Evening’s Entertainment. His time must come. There are other poets who come to the Write Out Loud Woking nights – some of them published, some not – Kitty Coles, Karen Izod and Ray Pool I would mention. Another fine local poet, Eddie Chauncy, resolutely refuses to submit any of his work for publication. If he did, I believe he would be a popular success; you would find his books in Waterstones.

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

I have no physical skills, like bricklaying, or indeed, no talent for any form of DIY. I wish I did. After dropping out of university after just one year, I didn’t really know what to do with my life, but started trying to write a novel, feeling that I might be better at being an observer rather than a participant, somehow. Within a few months I was incredibly lucky enough to land a job as a junior reporter on my local paper. I knew almost at once that this was where I wanted to be. Within a few years I chose to switch from being a reporter to working as a desk-bound sub-editor, a production journalist, as I believed that would help my novel writing. It did, and it didn’t, you might say. Probably a mistake, in retrospect. But no regrets. Not now. Sub-editing should involve condensing words to their essence, getting rid of anything that is unnecessary. Very much like poetry.

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

Read voraciously. As soon as you think you can or want to do better, make a start. In the case of poetry, go to readings, listen to poets. And buy their books! They’re usually quite cheap.

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

I was lucky enough to have a pamphlet accepted by the good folk at Indigo Dreams on the theme of trains, which was published four years ago. I remain very proud of it. But my ambition is to get a full collection out there before too long. I think I may have enough poems of sufficient quality, but whether they are exactly the right poems, whether they fit together, is another matter. Still more work to be done, I think.

12. What is so fascinating to you about steam trains?

I love to see and hear and smell steam trains – as do so many others who work on and visit heritage railways. But really it’s not so much the locomotives – as beautiful and alive as they are – as what they represent to me. Their disappearance from the national rail network, which had to happen, coincided with Beeching’s butchery of the branch lines. I’ve always linked the axeing of all those little branch lines with the end of Britain’s empire, which is not be mourned, of course. And in my own case, there was one particular branch line. During my childhood in the early 60s we stayed in a camping coach on a line in east Devon that ran alongside the valley of the river Otter, and a tank engine with two coaches – sounds familiar?! – would pass us regularly while we were looking out of the window, and the driver and fireman would wave to us. If there were any passengers they would wave, too. The names of the stations on that line read like a Betjeman poem – Tipton St Johns, Newton Poppleford, Ottery St Mary, East Budleigh, for Otterton and Ladram Bay. I see it in my mind’s eye as a paradise lost. There’s a poem about it in my Trainspottters collection – and I’ve posted that same poem on the Places of Poetry map, of course!

13. Ah, yes. “The Old Branch Line”. That list of station names. You use lists in your collection to show the passage of time, or convey a place.

The list of retail outlets in ‘Betjeman at St Pancras’ is intended to sound like station stops. In ‘A Job on the Railways’ they are just the stations where my father worked before the war came. Three favourite railway poems listed in ‘The Rother Valley Railway’. A number of locations in ‘The Butterflies of Yorkshire’. You’re right, there are a few lists!  I think they serve different purposes in each poem.

14. I agree. They complement your almost notetaking style.

Dead-end canal delivers its waters

To the Wey and Thames,

and always thirsts for more.

(The Basingstoke)

Your eschewing of the word “The” at the start of this sentence, and the circularity of meaning “waters” and “thirsts”. Converting conversational cliché into fresh perspective metaphors.

Ah, you’ve spotted another poem that contains lists! As for “almost notetaking” style, maybe that’s a result of my background in journalism. I think that’s why I find clarity in my poetry unavoidable, because of an instinct to communicate, to get my meaning across simply. I couldn’t do obscure if I tried. There’s nothing wrong with poetry that is conversational. Cliché is another matter, of course.

15. How important is popular culture in your poetry?

In ‘Dance On’,  the opening poem of Trainspottters, (Aha, another list, of Shadows hits!) the all-conquering Beatles leave a Shads fan floundering. ‘A Job on the Railways’ mentions my father’s love of Thirties crooner Al Bowlly, listening to him on the radio just before the outbreak of war, oblivious to the sound of “breaking glass” elsewhere. ‘Train to the Kwai Bridge’ refers to the Hollywood film starring Alec Guinness. The TV programmes Dad’s Army and 60s pop show Ready, Steady, Go! crop up in different poems. Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac and the group’s no 1 hit Albatross get an honourable mention in ‘Climbing the Malverns’. I would say those references help to ground the poems, establish a landscape or backdrop. I’ve written a poem about being in the crowd on the night of the live recording of Chuck Berry’s My Ding a Ling. I’m not sure how significant a cultural moment that was, but it meant a lot to me at the time, and still does. It was published in a fairly obscure music magazine shortly after he died. Checking over my oeuvre, as it were, I find I’ve written poems about Andy Williams, Julie Christie, Bud Flanagan, stars that made films at Shepperton studios, Ealing comedies in the context of Brexit, football, including a poem comparing Alf Ramsey and Alf Garnett, and one about characters from the Beano and Dandy. Does that answer your question?! No poems about the opera, I’m afraid.

16. I love the way you hint at a modern update of “Brief Encounter” in “The 21:53”.

Well, Brief Encounter is one of my favourite films, of course. I still need to make a pilgrimage to Carnforth one day. ‘The 21.53’ was one of the first poems I wrote after my newspaper shifts changed, and I was able to take the train in to work for the first time. This was in 2005. I felt a sense of liberation, and from then on began to think of myself as a poet.

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.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda

is the author of the full-length poetry collection Flashes & Verses… Becoming Attractions from Unsolicited Press, the poetry chapbook So Many Flowers, So Little Time from Red Mare Press. Between the Spine is a collection of erotic love poems published with Picture Show Press and La Belle Ajar, a collection of cento poems inspired by Sylvia Plath’s 1963 novel, to be published in 2020 by CLASH Books.

His poetry has been featured in Glass Poetry: Poets: Resist, Cultural Weekly, Frontier Poetry, Yes, Poetry, 24Hr Neon Magazine, Red Wolf Editions, poeticdiversity, The Wild Word, The Fem, Pussy Magic Press, Tiferet Journal, Rigorous, Palette Poetry, Rogue Agent Journal, Tin Lunchbox Review, Rhythm & Bones Lit, Anti-Heroin Chic, Neon Mariposa Magazine, The Yellow Chair Review and Lunch Ticket’s Special Issue: Celebrating 20 Years of Antioch University Los Angeles MFA in Creative Writing.

Adrian is an LA Poet who has a BA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and he is also a graduate of the MFA program at Antioch University in Los Angeles where he lives with his wife and their cat Woody Gold. You can connect with Adrian on his website: http://www.adrianernestocepeda.com/

His links:

http://www.AdrianErnestoCepeda.com
twitter,

instagram

facebook

 

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

It was listening to Jim Morrison and The Doors. When I was younger in my mind Jim’s songs were the essence of poetry. He was my gateway drug to the verse. I was lucky to have visited his grave at Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. I actually left Jim a poem and a rose to say thank you. He spoke to me, I felt his voice at his grave. urging me to return to America and follow my destiny to become a poet. True story, it was a life changing moment that day at the cemetery it snowed as I walked out of Père Lachaise. I owe my career to Jim Morrison.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

Good question, when I was in elementary school I had a teacher Mr. Babcock who would have us memorize poems. We would then have to recite them in front of the class. This is I was first introduced to poetry and the first poet I loved was Robert Frost.

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

Frost was the first poet I learned about in elementary school. Later it was the Beat poets, Kerouac and Ginsburg that channelled the spark that Morrison and Frost had first glowed inside me. It wasn’t till I discovered Pablo Neruda and Sandra Cisneros that I found my true voice as a romantic love poet.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

Since I work as a Writing Specialist/Tutor at my MFA alma mater Antioch University Los Angeles, I set my alarm clock and wake up extra early to write. I always start my day with writing poetry. Something I learned from the late great Leonard Cohen. When he was at the monastery in the hills of Los Angeles, Cohen would wake up and write in the early morning in the dark. It’s the perfect time to write, so thanks to Leonard Cohen, I discovered my daily writing routine. I also have notepads around our apartment and in my car. So, if a line comes to me, I always write it down. I always say, if inspiration calls, you always have to accept the charges.

5. What motivates you to write?

It’s my calling. What I was born here to do: write poetry and inspire others to write, create and share their verses with the world. Mostly, I write now to transcribe memories that come to me from my past. Passions and fantasies that arrive from my carnal subconscious, like “Symbiosis” and “Mon Amor” that were published by Anti-Heroin Chic in 2018 and are both feature in Between the Spine: my erotic love poetry collection published by Picture Show Press ( ‘Symbosis” and “Mon Amor” that were published by Anti-Heroin Chic ) (Between the Spine: my erotic love poetry collection published by Picture Show Press.)

Sometimes I write a poem as an ode to writer, artist or someone who inspires me. Lately, current events and the travesty that this administration has brought to our beloved country inspired some poems. At Antioch Los Angeles, for my MFA, one of the tenants of this program and the main reason I attended AULA was their focus on social justice. Some of my best poems have this theme. One of my poems “Invisible Tan” published in 2018 by Rogue Agent Journal was inspired by Alejandra Sanchez’s MFA student presentation Words dipped in Honey in 2014 at Antioch LA and Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s Borderlands. Alejandra’s presentation was so inspiring that I remember writing down the first lines as she spoke. Still it took over four years and so many revisions and best of all, Rogue Agent Journal has nominated “Invisible Tan” for Best of the Net 2019 (http://www.rogueagentjournal.com/acepeda)

6. What is your work ethic?

For me it’s all about the poem. When an idea strikes me, I stop what I am doing and write it down. Eddie Vedder said it best: “I just try to always remember where that initial spark came from, and it’s like a pilot light, and I try to make sure that thing doesn’t go out.” Like I said before, I always have notepad’s around me around the house and even by my bed. Some nights the best lines and poems come to me before I fall asleep. Anytime is the right time for a poem. One time in 2011, I was camping with my wife and her family and I had this idea for a poem while we were at Point Mugu in Malibu. I remember being on the beach and seeing the lines in my head. I instantly ran back to our campsite. I recall while I was running, I began editing the lines in my head. When I made it back to the campfire I wrote down those lines.Cell phone dying near Point Mugu” was included in my first poetry collection  Flashes & Verses… Becoming Attractions.

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

I see the writers who I read when I was young as trailblazers who lead me on the path to other writers who have influenced me along the way. Frost led to Dickinson, which leads to Woolf. Jim Morrison lead to Baudelaire and the Beats. What I realized during my MFA program at Antioch Los Angeles the more I read, the better I wrote. Reading makes the poet. It opens doors to syntax, vocabulary and imagery. And the best writers inspire me to want to write my own poems.

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

Latinx poet’s like Anna Suarez’s erotic and empowering collection Papi Doesn’t Love Me No More published by CLASH Books, (Papi Doesn’t Love Me No More published by CLASH Books. )

Ariel Francisco who specializes in literary translation has a new poetry collection A Sinking Ship is Still a Ship from Burrow Press coming in 2020 (Ariel Francisco A Sinking Ship is Still a Ship from Burrow Press) and his poems are truly inspirational, Leza Cantoral is one of the founders of CLASH Books and I connect with her emo/pop culture inspired her poetry collection Trash Panda (https://www.clashbooks.com/new-products-2/leza-cantoral-trash-panda) and Chris Campanioni who is hybrid writer, who has a very motivating TedTalk “Living in Between.” Campanioni writes essays, poetry and fiction, who’s latest book is Drift (https://www.kingshotpress.com/shop/drift-by-chris-campanioni) published by King Shot Press, this multi-layered writer is fearless on and off the page. I connect with writers like these who are courageously rousing that their mastery of the language and la lengua make you want to immediately write your own poems after reading their masterful work. Coincidentally, Anna, Ariel, Leza, Chris and I will be on a panel at AWP 2020 in San Antonio. Our panel Latinx Poets: Speaking from El Corazon are looking forward are looking forward to sharing our experiences on how being a modern Latinx poet in today’s poetry community.

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

Any other career path I have attempted I’ve hit walls. Poetry is the one vocation that not only empowers me and gives me strength, writing poems inspires me to speak out and want to read my poems to students, other would be poets and those who have an affinity for the craft. Poetry is necessity as an art form that we need today now more than ever. Nothing feels better than crafting a resistance piece and having resonate with an audience who feels the creative fury I am challenging on the page. This is why I write to reflect, connect and inspire others with my gift of writing poetry.

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

Although I love it, being a writer is not as glorious as it sounds. To be successfully published and have a career as a writer you need to be 1000% devoted to your craft. Writing must always come first. You also need to surround yourself with likeminded creatives/artists/writers along with friends/loved ones who support you on your quest to become a writer. For me being a writer, no matter how many books or poems I have published is never ending, I am rarely satisfied with what I write. I know and I want to write better and challenge myself every day on and off the page. Being a successful writer is that, always not settling and challenging oneself on a daily basis. Making time for writing, reading, researching along with having time for your personal/family life. It’s a balance. I know so many writers that have children and I am amazed and have respect for them, because I don’t know how they do it. I have so much respect for those with large families as I know how hard enough it is for me and I am lucky to have a home with my cat and my wife. That’s the key, my wife supports and believe in me. You need to have that support system that believes in you when you have those down days. Most importantly is keeping an even mindset, Benecio Del Toro said it best, “Turn down the volume of your Expectations, and Turn up the volume of your Perseverance,” not to get too low with rejections or too elated with publications. I love being a writer. It’s the hardest and most fulfilling job I’ve had in my life. And every day I wake up, I am excited about what I am going to write today.

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

I have my third book La Belle Ajar, a collection of cento poems inspired by Sylvia Plath’s 1963 novel to be published summer 2020 by CLASH Books. I am working on a collection of poems inspired by mi Mami who passed away two years ago. I also have a chapbook of political poems that I would love to publish to inspire students and other young voters to cast their ballots before the election in 2020. Like I mentioned before, I am moderating a panel with Anna Suarez, Ariel Francisco, Leza Cantoral and Chris Campanioni for AWP 2020 in San Antonio. Our panel Latinx Poets: Speaking from El Corazon is one that I have dreaming of moderating for years. I was one of the lucky ones to have their panels chosen by the Association of Writers & Writing Programs. It’s a full circle moment for me. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Texas at San Antonio so presenting at AWP in the city where I first started my career as a writer is emotionally significant for me. I am looking forward to 2020 and beyond to see where my poetry takes me.

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.

Clare Pollard

has published five collections of poetry with Bloodaxe, most recently Incarnation. Her play, The Weather (Faber) premiered at the Royal Court Theatre. Her translations include Ovid’s Heroines, which she toured as a one-woman show, and a co-translation of Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf’s The Sea-Migrations with Mohamed Xasan ‘Alto’ & Said Jama Hussein, which was The Sunday Times Poetry Book of the Year in 2017. She edits Modern Poetry in Translation. Her latest books are a non-fiction title, Fierce Bad Rabbits: The Tales Behind Children’s Picture Books (Fig Tree) and a pamphlet with Bad Betty Press, The Lives of the Female Poets. www.clarepollard.com

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

I’ve always written, but it would have probably been novels without Sylvia Plath’s Ariel, and the lyrics of Tori Amos and PJ Harvey.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I did Plath at A-Level, at the same time I was very into indie music and trying to write my own song lyrics, and the lyrics started turning into poems. Plath just exploded my mind really. My first book, The Heavy-Petting Zoo, is basically a reimagining of Sylvia Plath as a 17-year old in Bolton.

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

Oh, not really at all. I didn’t know anything. I subscribed to Poetry Review once I got interested, and that was about it. Poetry Review published me early on, but I had no idea how lucky that was. And then Neil Astley from Bloodaxe just wrote to me asking if I had a manuscript. I mean, that almost never happens, but I didn’t know my luck. I knew about Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage because we went on a school trip to see them, and I came across some Selima Hill and liked her, but I was blithely unaware of older poets really.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I don’t have a routine. I write in fierce bursts. Collections often come over an intense six months; I did first drafts of my play The Weather and my translation Ovid’s Heroines in about a month each. I’ve been busy the last couple of years as an RLF fellow and editor of Modern Poetry in Translation, along with having two small children, and then I was distracted by my non-fiction book Fierce Bad Rabbits: The Tales Behind Children’s Picture Books, which required a lot of research. I didn’t write any poems at all for two years. But a couple of months ago a long poem just appeared entire over about two days, The Lives of the Female Poets, which is coming out with Bad Betty Press this month.

Too be honest, the last thing people need is me having a daily routine, I’m over-productive enough anyway! There are already an awful lot of Clare Pollard books out there. When I do write though, it’s usually at my kitchen table with a laptop and a large pot of coffee and I like a couple of clear hours to get in the zone.

5. What motivates you to write?

I can’t help myself. It’s how I process the world. When my dad died, I found myself composing a poem in my head on the drive home, just hours later. ‘Cordelia at the Service Stop’. It almost sounds cold but it’s how I cope – it’s the only way I know how to get some kind of control over bad things. To make something beautiful out of something ugly and difficult.

I’m political too, and I know I have a platform, so I feel a sort of responsibility to use it. To articulate things that matter.

6. What is your work ethic?

I work very, very hard at literature. But it’s not all my own. I might be reading or translating or judging or editing or blurbing or reviewing or chairing a panel or teaching or mentoring or tweeting, but most hours of my life I’m thinking very hard about books and poems, and hopefully giving a platform to good writers and helping get more poems to more people. It’s hard to make a living when all your payments are piecemeal, a hundred pounds here, two hundred there, so I’ve never been very good at saying no. I work ridiculously hard for MPT, just the admin side is insanely demanding, but I’m at least quite efficient. I have epic to-do lists. Juggling literature and motherhood means I spend a lot of time furiously emailing on playpark benches, and can knock up 500 words in a naptime.

Housework, on the other hand, I do the absolute minimum.

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

My book Fierce Bad Rabbits is actually about how picture books influenced the course of my life! I think the earliest stories you read shape your character in profound ways.

But in poetry terms, though I still love my teen idols – Sexton, Plath, Donne, Angelou – it’s new books that influence me most. I love reading something thrilling by a peer. It brings out my competitive spirit. I’ve always been interested in the zeitgeist, when I read a book that catches the moment we’re in I start trying to work out how I can do it myself. This year: Jay Bernard’s Surge; Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic.

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

Anne Carson’s cool isn’t she? I’d like to be Anne Carson when I grow up.

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

It’s my superpower.

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

Well, aside from the obvious answers of reading and writing, you’ve just got to put yourself out there. You have to attend readings, buy books, submit, go to open mics, ask magazines if they need reviewers, set up your own webzines or presses or evenings, enter competitions, workshop your peers, get involved. It’s a DIY scene and there’s barely any money involved, everyone does it for love.  You can’t expect people to want to read your poems if you don’t read theirs. If you throw yourself into it and are generous, poetry will pay you back.

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

Well Fierce Bad Rabbits has only just come out, and I have a pamphlet with Bad Betty Press out this month called The Lives of the Female Poets, so I’m not in a hurry to write anything else for a while, but I am working on a translation of my Hungarian friend Anna Szabo’s Selected Poems, for Arc in 2020.

Paul Brookes © Paul Brookes 2019 https://youtu.be/mbDZGbx9R0M via @YouTube

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.

Richard Waring

has lived in Belfast all his life. He loves his city and like many who live there shows that love by constantly complaining about it. His first poem ‘To Lie On White On Green’ is
published in the 2019 CAP anthology Find.

The Interview

1. When and why did you start writing poetry?

Apart from the occasional poem for my wife until the summer of last year I hadn’t written any poetry since leaving school. I had been trying to write a short story about a piece of work a teacher had rejected and it didn’t work, a mess of words on a piece of paper. when I stopped trying to force the story something happened and I wrote The Monkey pt2 which has since been published in PoetryNIs

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

It definitely wasn’t in school. School was the place where any love I might have had for poetry died or at least took a fatal blow. Presented in a “this is something we have to do so let’s get it over and done with” manner and made all too clear that it wasn’t something that I would be able to understand let alone create.

I was a big Metal Head in my teenage years , still am although a bald head and creaking joints makes my headbanging a little less impressive. Iron Maidens song Rime of the Ancient Mariner preformed some much needed life support on the joy of poetry. It didn’t spark a newfound love or start a lifelong journey searching out great poetry old and new but listening to that song and reading the poem that it’s based on had, over the years, kept a little spark of hope burning inside. I just didn’t know it.

Last year I joined the Belfast Writers Group in an attempt to get over my social anxiety and to finish work on the novel I had always told myself, and anyone who would listen long enough, I would write. When I brought along some of the poems I had begun working on and shared them with the group they encouraged me to continue.
I have found social media to be a great place for poetry. I discovered the writers group on Facebook and over on Twitter after responding to a submission call for a new online journal I discovered my poetic home. I am so glad I found the great people of the Black Bough Poetry community, interacting with so many fantastic poets from around the world all with their own style, voice and love has helped that little spark, that Iron Maiden kept glowing, burst into flames.

2.1. How would you describe the “flames”?

The “flames” have shone a light on a whole new world of creativity and entertainment for me. It’s been like rediscovering music, all these great artists, new and old, and I get to read them all for the first time. it’s a little overwhelming at times but it feels good to be lost sometimes.

Creativity wise it’s given me a second life. I have always loved writing but sometimes days, weeks, months and if I’m honest even years could pass before I would write a single word, now rarely a day passes when I don’t scribble down a little word doddle at the very least.

3. What is your daily writing routine?

I don’t have a proper routine I just try to make sure that as soon as something strikes me I jot it down as quickly as possible. a few lines even a couple of words can feel so right in the moment but if I forget to capture them they’ll be gone forever.
I don’t currently have a laptop and I’ve a nasty habit of losing notebooks so all my writing is done on my phone at the moment which is very handy when random ideas strike.

My phone is always with me, I’m always playing games, reading books, watching Netflix and scrolling through social media. so it’s become a habit to occasionally look over my poetry files during the day, stretching them, editing them, polishing them and ending up with dozens of folders full of bits of poetry all called “New Folder”.

4. What motivates your writing?

The first poem I can remember writing was about the death of my younger brother Kenneth when I was nine years old. he had only just turned six and although he left his mark in the lives of his family he died too young to make much of a mark in the world. I wanted to write something that would honour his memory, make a mark for him and let the world know that this beautiful soul existed.
It’s been more than thirty years since he died, the poetry I have written in the past year has helped me come to terms with his loss more than I ever thought possible.

4.1. How does writing poetry help you cope with grief?

It allows you to face it honestly without filters. Because if you want to try to craft a few words of beauty you need to look at the whole truth not just the darkness of loss but the reason the loss was hard all the good things that are now gone can be remembered and bring joy. I can now take pleasure in the memories of before.

5. How does your early experiences of reading and writing poetry influence the writing you do now?

During my GSCEs my English teacher refused to accept a piece of work(The Monkey). I was told that it couldn’t have been my work, that I must have copied it from somewhere because someone like me couldn’t write something like that. it broke my heart and I turned my back on poetry. Didn’t read it, didn’t write it, didn’t think about it.
Now when I write I sometimes get the feeling that this is something I shouldn’t be doing, that I don’t deserve it, that I’m not allowed. Part of that is guilt on my part for cutting something so beautiful out of my life for so long but part of it is that first rejection. That feeling isn’t quite as strong as when I first started/restarted writing poetry and I think part of that is that if even one person enjoys something I’ve written, if my words reach them in some way it feels like a big “Fuck You” to those early experiences.

6. Who of today’s writers do you admire, and why?

There are quite a few poets I follow on Twitter who I really look forward to showing up on my feed. Ankh Spice work is always so uplifting and shows a real love and care for the world we live in. When Upfromsumdirt shows up I can’t wait to read what he’s written humorous, thoughtful, passionate his poetry and non-poetic posts are always a highlight of my day. Kyla Houbolt is another writer I’m so glad I followed and I’m always scanning my feed for some new piece of work. I could list dozens of names, I just love to see the work of people who write with passion and the internet is a great place to find them.

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

Don’t worry about spelling, don’t worry about grammar or punctuation, don’t worry about style or form. All that comes later. If there are words within you, a story to tell a thought to share, put them down in honesty.
once they are written down that’s when you use the tools you have, or are still developing, to shape and polish it. the most important thing is capturing the thought no matter how raw and unformed it is when it first appears.
And never allow yourself to feel guilty for not reading enough. Read as much as you want but don’t allow it to become a chore or obligation. those words were written for you to find and enjoy and want to read not have to read.

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

At the moment I’m trying to edit a collection of my poetry down into a manageable chapbook. I kept adding more and more to it and it’s grown into a bit of a monster so I’m going to need to give it a serious pruning.
I’ll also be working on the finishing touches of a poem telling the story of Cúchulainn which I started about seven months ago. I haven’t looked at in for a few months so hopefully I’ll be able to work on it with fresh eyes, sometimes in the rush of new writing you blind yourself to the flaws you are making.
Finally I’m also working on a second novel. I know what I’d like to happen in it and can’t wait to see if it works out the way I’ve planned, when I start writing the characters take control of their own lives.