Find out how writers think
Entrevues
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An Interview with Sue Goyette
Interviewed by Hannah Green
Hannah Green: It sounds like myth and poetry are perhaps more closely related than I had thought. They certainly do perform in the same way—as a means of understanding. You mention you are inspired to create new myths. I find that so interesting! Would you like to share what myths you have created and what the impact has been?
Sue Goyette: I think one of the ways poetry is so vital and, by proximity or ...
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In Conversation with Ray Hsu: A Collaborative discourse
Interviewed by Clarise Foster
Clarise Foster: Do you think that part of the problem with publishing a collaboration like the Nepotists might be that within writing and publishing circles, there seems to be an understanding of collaboration as two or more people who bring their talents and skills together to create a project. Whereas with a collaborative work like yours, there is an understanding of project as the constraint rather than ...
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Plenitude: Your Queer Literary Magazine: An Interview with Andrea Routley and Matthew Walsh
Interviewed by Clarise Foster
Clarise Foster: What was the original vision for the magazine? The first issue of Plenitude, I believe, was launched in 2012? It publishes biannually and so it would now be into its third year. How is it going? Have your initial expectations for Plenitude changed in that time? If so, how?
Andrea Routley: I really didn’t know what to expect when I began. In the beginning, I did not want to offer the ...
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Trajectory & Trace: An Interview with Sina Queyras
Interviewed by Tanis MacDonald
Tanis MacDonald: I saw on Facebook that the editor of Poetry, Don Share, posted a photo of you at the podium in Chicago, where you had gone to give the inaugural reading at the 24th annual International Virginia Woolf Conference in June of this year. It was the caption above the photo that caught my eye: “I’m happy to answer questions, interrogation, accusations…” Did you say this and what was the result? ...
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An Interview with Molly Peacock
Interviewed by Jason Guriel
Jason Guriel: Do you read much contemporary poetry these days? Who are some of your favourite younger poets?
Molly Peacock: I do, indeed. Here’s a random list of some younger or emerging poets who always interest me: from the U.S.: Rebecca Wolff, Amber Flora Thomas, Jonathan Weinert, Alessandra Lynch, Richard Newman, Andrea Carter Brown, and Amy Clark. In Canada: Sonnet L’Abbe, Jake Mooney, George ...
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An Interview with Souvankham Thammavongsa
Interviewed by Quentin Mills-Fenn
QM: You’ve published three books in almost ten years, starting with your first, Small Arguments. What are you doing when you’re not writing poetry?
ST: Ten years is a long time to be caring about something, to be caring about doing something, isn’t it? In other fields, you’d have a lot of money by now.
I wrote and finished Small Arguments while I was an undergraduate at the University of Toronto. I ...
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An Interview with Peter Midgley
Interviewed by Sharon Caseburg
Sharon Caseburg: What brought you to Canada? What were your reasons for staying?
Peter Midgley: I came to do a PhD at the U of A and got offered a job right after I finished. And well, here I am, and I guess now Edmonton is home.
SC: After all this time in Canada, do you still get homesick for South Africa?
PM: I do miss South Africa, but I miss the country of my birth, Namibia, too. I miss the melody ...
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An Interview with RC Weslowski
Interviewed by Steve Locke
In the realm of slam poetry, few have as long a resumé as Randy Jacobs, a.k.a. RC Weslowski. As a member of the Vancouver Poetry Slam community since its early days in the late ’90s, Weslowski has not only been integral to the longevity of Canada’s oldest poetry slam community, but he has also won over communities across the nation. Representing Vancouver seven times at national competitions, he has even ...
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An Interview with Carmine Starnino
Interviewed by Tim Bowling
Tim Bowling: You set out early on, back in the mid-’90s, to be a poet and a critic. You’ve maintained a place in both worlds when many poets opt out of the critical side of things. Have you been pleased with the way you’ve maintained that balance?
Carmine Starnino: For the most part, yes. But I can’t say that I’ve had any choice in the matter. I have no opt-out button when it comes to writing criticism. ...
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An Interview with Ken Babstock
Interviewed by Sharon Caseburg
Sharon Caseburg: Congratulations on last year’s Griffin Prize win for Methodist Hatchet (House of Anansi Press, 2011). Over the course of your career you’ve been nominated for or have won several prestigious Canadian poetry awards. What does the Griffin Prize win mean for you personally?
Ken Babstock: Thank you, Sharon. And we’re off! Already trying to walk a fine line between seeming gracious, humble, ...
