“The writing process involved the two competing impulses – invention and harmony.”
Tag: how to write a poem
Andrea Witzke Slot : How I Wrote ‘Showering my mother on her 60th wedding anniversary’
Interview by George Sandifer-Smith There are so many ways we “speak” as humans even when we don’t utter a sound. Showering my mother on her 60th wedding anniversary She eyes me cautiously, shivering as she steps on the cold tiles. I move as I might in a forest when watching a bird, knowing the smallest shudder…
Ben Wilkinson: How I Wrote ‘What the Doorman Says’
I’m after the truth in my poems… not some misguided loyalty to ‘what actually happened’. I don’t believe any of us are reliable narrators of events, even to ourselves What the Doorman Says With a nod to C.R. That he could kill for a smoke. That the punters get older every year. That really, he…
Lily Blacksell: How I Wrote ‘Noontime Newtown’
Interview by Zoë Brigley That’s how a lot of my poems start really, a flimsy reference or a bad joke Noontime Newtown Easy girl easy the harbourmaster told me like he thought I was his horse or stoppable what are you doing running in this heat why’ve you come this way at such low tide…
Charlie Baylis: How I Wrote ‘i’m still looking for the perfect lover’
Interview by George Sandifer-Smith Some people like to articulate why things are good or bad, but I don’t think it is as fun as writing or reading poetry, so I’ll leave that to people with grand ideas/ more time/ on their / hands i’m still looking for the perfect lover for julia it’s like when…
Cheryl Moskowitz: How I Wrote ‘This Pot of Earth’
Interview by Zoë Brigley Nearly all my poems begin as scrawled notes in a notebook, often so messy I can barely read my own writing. This Pot of Earth I do not know why I keep watering this pot of earth with no bloom, except that nothing that thirsts should be left to go dry….
Owen Sheers: How I Wrote ‘The Farrier’
“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…
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…