“I guess it was an attempt to convey on the page the way the mind and memory works combining the known past (my mother reciting the town name), the unknown past (how my grandmother died and why my mum never spoke of her) and the in media res present”
“It’s a funny thing with writing, as so much of the time I find I don’t really know where I’m going to end up with a poem… I guess what I’m trying to say is sometimes it does happen ‘organically’ and sometimes it’s more purposeful”
“Sometimes a short poem or phrase feels a little like a gift: it arrives almost fully formed and I get the sense that adding too much deflates the impact of the image and sound of the poem.”
“This poem was unusual for me in that it was written very quickly. Although I experimented with different stanza lengths, this version is close to the very first sketched out draft which was in couplets”
“When I’m writing something new, I tend to let it splurge out however it lands, without thinking about form too much, as this holds me back during this initial draft. Then I curate the form more carefully when editing.”
The final in a four-part series and workshop about dealing with rejection as a writer
The third in a four-part series and workshop about dealing with rejection as a writer
The second in a four-part series and workshop about dealing with rejection as a writer
The first in a four-part series and workshop about dealing with rejection as a writer
