1. Who
or what inspired you to write poetry?
I’ve lived in a number of
places where local identity is important (or used to be important): New
England, Oregon, Indiana, one beautiful and terrible year in NYC, and even
Washington, DC, as its poetry scene flourishes within the cracks of this city
of transients. When I was growing up in
New England, I spent time in both the country and the city, so both places
inspire me. Music has always been
important to me although the type of music I listen to has certainly changed
over the years. I have also come to
terms with the fact that I am more interested in character and setting than in
plot, so poetry is more natural to me than fiction would be. Also, it is very hard for me to make terrible
things happen to my characters. In any
case, I am enjoying poetry this time around.
I have worked with inspiring teachers (Reuben Jackson and Chris
Goodrich), and the poetry communities online and off have been quite
hospitable. Dr. Michael Anthony Ingram
and the D.C. Poetry Project have been most welcoming, especially given our
different backgrounds and approaches to poetry.
(They are more performative, and I am more of a print poet.)
2. Do you have
a favorite place to write?
I generally like writing (and grading papers and so forth) in
our not-so-new addition. It has
skylights, a beautiful picture window, a stereo, comfortable furniture, and
cats. I’m not a café writer because I
feel too self-conscious; probably I am a suburban homebody at heart. However, I will do my handwritten first
drafts elsewhere, often at a poetry workshop but sometimes in a café or on a
train.
3. Who are your
favorite poets, alive or deceased?
When I was younger, I immersed myself in the confessional poets, especially
Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, and Anne Sexton, but I also enjoyed more
observational poets like e.e. cummings or William Carlos Williams. As one of my early teachers (Jane Shore) was
a great admirer of Elizabeth Bishop, I have been influenced by her, too. I am not a rhyming poet at all, but now I
admire what Gwendolyn Brooks has done, balancing craft and observation of her
community. At this point in my life,
writing about community and place appeals to me far more interesting than
writing about self does. I enjoy the
Chinese poets (Han Shan, Li Bo, etc.) in translation although I realize that
translation is never the same as the original, especially, as my Chinese
students have taught me, when it comes to their culture’s poetry. John Donne has always been one of my
favorites, too, although I must say that I prefer the secular poems to the holy
ones. I also enjoyed reading Yusef
Komunyakaa and Daniel Nathan Terry’s poems this summer.
I’ve enjoyed getting to know Felino A. Soriano, Mary Jo
Balistreri, and Joan McNerney. Felino’s
work ethic and dedication to poetic evolution are particularly inspiring! Charles Clifford Brooks III has a fabulous
voice. I have been intrigued by Martin
Willits, Jr.’s poems on Celtic astrology.
I have a love-hate relationship with astrology, but I like seeing the
Celtic signs’ ties to nature. And, of
course, I’m looking forward to getting to know other poets, especially through Poppy
Road Review and Flutter Poetry Journal.
4. What five
words best sum up your personality?
Nostalgic, contradictory, reflective, optimistic,
close-to-the-vest.
5. Other than
writing, what else do you love to do?
My husband and I enjoy going to concerts and plays. We manage to listen to quite a bit of jazz by
old and new artists. We like eating at
small, ethnic restaurants when we can although that is difficult since I really
have to watch my weight. I love walking
to work in the morning through the neighborhood. I love doing yoga, playing pick-up Ultimate
Frisbee with the over-40 crowd, and going to the gym as I would not be around
today without either. I love exploring
new-to-me neighborhoods in Washington, DC and elsewhere. We love spending time with our cats Callie
and Thelma.
6. What are
your current, and/or next projects?
During the school year, I am focused on teaching, but I take
time to work on my blog-zine, The Song Is… promoting it, recruiting new poets,
and coming up with different contests.
The fall contests honor Thelonious Monk and singer-songwriter Gene
Clark. In the spring, the contests will
focus on women in music as well as swing music.
I am open to suggestions as long as they don’t involve me listening to
music I dislike too much.
This fall I’ve also published my first chapbook, Listening to
Electric Cambodia, Looking Up at Trees of Heaven, with Kind of a Hurricane
Press (Barometric Pressures Authors Series).
I want to promote it a little more, especially once the semester is
over.
When I return to writing over break, I would like to revisit
some of the themes that have inspired me.
The Camel Saloon recently published a series of photographs from
Newfoundland, a place I’ve never quite made it to, and I’d like to respond to a
few more. I would also like to put
together a second chapbook with some of the poems I’ve published recently, but
this chapbook will be more focused around either geography or music.
I am also open to different themes and inspirations. Poetry must keep evolving as the poet’s life
evolves.
An interesting interview. I ran across your name in a Google search of my name, Catfish McDaris (you spelled it McDarish, but that's okay) I'm glad you like my story from Blue Hour enough to teach it. I know Russell at Camel Saloon and sort of know A.J. I'd like to get in touch, I'm on face book.
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