Writing Poetry in the Dark, Roundtable 7: Writing From Within

 Hello Friends and Fiends--

Today is our last roundtable in celebration of Writing Poetry in the Dark. As always, I want to continue to educate and spread some more wisdom via the courtesy of our brilliant contributors, all of who have left their mark on the genre in the most groundbreaking of ways.

Today's Writing Poetry in the Dark roundtable celebrates Donna Lynch and Jim and Janice Leach. I chose to group these poets together because all of them wrote essays for the book about digging deep inside themselves and sharing their vulnerability with readers. Donna wrote about exploring the wound and Jim and Janice wrote about writing collaboratively and how that experience shaped them individually as poets. 

I hope you'll enjoy our conversations today and maybe consider picking up a book or two on your way out.

Best,

Stephanie M. Wytovich

SMW: What is something you had to learn the hard way with writing poetry, i.e. a teachable moment in your career?

DL: This is my answer to this question and question 3: You cannot create art for other people or accolades or recognition. I mean, you *can*, but I don’t recommend it. It takes the joy out of it. You have to do it because you want to. I know that’s a cliche, but it’s the truth. You will get bad reviews, you will get passed over, and you will get ignored. If this is your passion, then you do it until if/ when you don’t want to anymore. But remember that there’s no actual metric for “success”. It looks different to everyone and may look like 100 different things to you over a lifetime.

JJL: The phrase "Kill your darlings" has always irritated me. Isn't the phrase itself a "darling"-- an extra, unnecessary cuteness? The idea however is central to writing and to poetry especially. If a goal of poetry is to distill language to its essence, a poet cannot afford to rely on images or words that distract from the whole, that don't communicate, that are a private allusion, or that please only the poet. Your work doesn't have to be for everyone-- but it must work for someone besides the author. Sharing poetry with other people and getting feedback can be hard, but it's the only way to grow as a writer.

SMW: What poetry collection would you recommend to someone interested in studying poetry? This can be speculative poetry, literary poetry, classic, contemporary, etc.

DL: A good place to dive in for contemporary collections can be found in the Raw Dog Screaming Press catalog. Maybe I’m biased, but also no…it’s really good stuff.

And file under “This definitely wouldn’t fly today” —and nor should it—but Bukowski was the first poet I read that used looser formats and had a very different voice from the classical stuff I knew. He just told stories in plain language that looked and felt like poems, and he exposed the ugly parts of himself and of life and that was an enormous influence.

JJL: In university, I first encountered Carolyn Forché's work in The Country Between Us. Her writing shows that poetry, while beautiful in language, images, and form, can do even more-- evoke emotions like horror, panic, and fear, and capture history. Read her work and be prepared to be stretched and changed, especially her poem "The Colonel."

SMW: One piece of advice for all our poets-to-be.

DL: Never reply to bad reviews. Don’t point them out to people online, either, unless they are so absurdly, hilariously over-the-top that it will provide entertainment for all.

JJL: Read a lot, observe the world, and write every day.

If you enjoyed this interview and appreciate the work we do here in The Madhouse, you can show your support for the blog by "buying a coffee" (or two!) for our madwoman in residence: me! As always, I thank you for your time and support and I look forward to serving you another dose of all things unsettling and horrifying soon.