How exciting is this? An editor and blogger I met through Literary Mama, Jessica DeVoe Riley, interviewed me for her blog, All Rileyed Up, as a part of her celebration of National Poetry Month. We talked about writing, editing, and publishing poetry, as well as the glories and problems of living in New Orleans. I tried to offer what bit of advice I could to anyone interested in doing what I do (or, as it feels most days, what I'm trying to do).
Many thanks to Jessica for her thought-provoking questions. If you're interested in learning more about what writers and editors have to say, check out her blog and the other great interviews she's done.
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Lisa Kern
Mary Wollstonecraft
Jon Henner
Redstocking Grandma
Marco Acevedo
Jodi Kasten
Salon.com
Comments
What sort of crack was Billy Collins smoking when he told poets not to take on current events, but rather universal themes? OK, I get his point, but...if a poem about current events (ie Katrina) IS any damn good, it WILL have the "universal theme" resonance for future generations. I mean, certain well-known ballads have been around for hundreds of years, and they were originally about very specific events (usually murders).
For example, "St. James Infirmary" was a real charity-case hospital in Ireland a couple hundred years ago. Somebody back then had the experience of having to go identify a lover there, dead from syphillis, and realized that they too would soon succumb to the disease, and they wrote a song about it. Even though the hospital no longer exists and people don't generally die of syphillis nowadays and we're not in Ireland anymore, the song is so haunting that every New Orleans musician worth his/her salt records a version at some point.
I was surprised at Collins' comments, too, esp. given that he was the US Poet Laureate for 2 years (I think). His comment was in response to a question from the audience, which of course I don't quite remember, but the quote is direct (I wrote it down, I was so surprised) and his poetry does seem to reflect small/universal experience rather than "geopolitical" themes.
I love "St James Infirmary." I was reading an essay about it--apparently the song is kind of a mystery since it's had so many incarnations. Fascinating.