“When you start writing a poem you have to be prepared to walk boldly into failure.“ Content warning: mention of domestic abuse The Farrier Blessing himself with his apron, the leather black and tan of a rain-beaten bay, he pinches a roll-up to his lips and waits for the mare to be led from the…
Category: Interviews
Steve Griffiths : How I Wrote ‘We need a definite programme’
Interview by Zoë Brigley [W]ith every first draft, there are things that need sharpening and shaping, and things that will not fly, and their removal improves it We need a definite programme Small birds from several continents sing beneath a high safety net. Soon we must make a move. We need a house, a child,…
Katy Evans-Bush : How I Wrote ‘From Lines by Kenneth Patchen #13’
Interview by Zoë Brigley I write largely by ear. In my teens I was obsessed with Mozart, and folk music… and I’m absolutely sure that both of these taught me about pacing and register and the tonal possibilities of form. From Lines by Kenneth Patchen #13 It wasn’t much of a summer. You could as…
Jane Burn: How I Wrote ‘Translation / Acts’
An essay by Jane Burn “Choosing the form for a poem is a process built from endless negotiations” Note: Due to the formatting style of this poem, we have had to embed it as an image rather than as text as we usually do. To read a plain text version, please see this file: On…
Gareth Writer-Davies: How I Wrote ‘A Voyage Round The Moon’
Interview by Zoë Brigley I wanted to emphasise the tradition of voyaging of slipping over the horizon to end up God-knows-where and white space was important for adding drama A Voyage Round The Moon After John Gohorry and as the voices crackled then died the craft disappeared on the far side all contact lost the…
Kostya Tsolakis: How I wrote ‘Marble bf’
Interview by Zoë Brigley I kept thinking of the block of marble – tall and narrow, I imagined – the Charioteer of Motya was carved out of… My voice, its pace, was then guided by this tall and narrow form Marble Bf But a Greek would never think of a charioteer like this. – Historian…
Amanda Rackstraw: How I Wrote ‘Rewrite’
I can be an editing bully. I believe in making words know why they are there. Rewrite In the script he sees his mother age with dignity. There’s a slowing down; then he finds her, elegant, wisdom pooling in her eyes. _____ A mollusc hauls itself across the ward, catheter swinging from Zimmer, chicken feet…
Jonaki Ray: How I Wrote ‘Moonshine’
Interview by Zoë Brigley I enjoy the challenge of writing something in such a concise and precise manner because it makes me attempt to fine-tune my thoughts. Moonshine At the Goa and Karnataka border, India Liquor, bootlegged across the river, is what this village was once famous for, but now, alcohol is a banished word,…
Julie Irigaray: How I Wrote ‘GROWING UP IN A GARRISON TOWN’
Interview by Zoë Brigley I felt this poem had to work rhythmically, like the steps in a military march. GROWING UP IN A GARRISON TOWN I never notice the bursts of gunfire on the other side of the river the shops selling military outfits the university library’s 19th century cannons stored between each reading room…