Poets You Should Know, Issue VI

This is Part VI of a weekly series, updated Mondays.
You can find the earlier issues here:
Issue V news.deviantart.com/article/67…
Issue IV news.deviantart.com/article/66…
Issue III news.deviantart.com/article/66…
Issue II news.deviantart.com/article/65…
Issue I news.deviantart.com/article/64…

It is essential to remember that behind every poet, big or small, is a person: a living, breathing, human being, with a very real life, and very real experiences. Every one has a different reason to write, and every one has a different voice.
It is important to remember that the poetry community is filled with many diverse people.
Thus, I have today more highlights from interviews with a couple of real poets here on dA; Hopefully, after reading them, you will have a greater understanding of two of your fellow poets.

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"Everyone's written love poem in their lifetime. I look to see if it's MORE than just another love poem."


Name: Caith
Location: WI, IL , & CA, USA (it's a complicated story)
Age: 23
Information: Currently I'm a law student and in my spare time I play for a band. I like to believe I'm a simple person, but reality tells me otherwise. Like writing, sports (pretty much ever sport), watching history channel.

How long have you been writing Poetry?
For about 10 years

What inspired you to start writing poetry?
Actually it was suggested to me as part of therapy. I was too - energetic to meditate.

What general themes or ideas do your poems typically follow?
I would say the general ideas that my poems follow is probably self-analyzing. Though because most of my poems have nothing to do with actually events I can't be too sure of this.


How has your poet's voice changed since you started writing?
At first I only wrote about what I felt. It was jaded, stale, stiff, whatever you want to call it. There was no personality to it. Now I tend to find myself almost writing stories in my poetry, like a bard or something.

How has writing (and reading) poetry affected you, as a person?
I think I've become a more empathic person, and I like reading more.

What, in your opinion, makes a poem effective?
I would say connecting with the reader, but some poems aren't really meant to connect with the reader to the point where they can say "ah I know exactly how you feel." Because of this I think what makes a poem effective is being able to make the reader think outside of the box. Force them to want to know what inspired the poem.

What strategies or methods do you employ to make your own poetry effective?
I tend to write from the a third person's view, the "devil's advocate," if you will. That helps me from stating the obvious or being bias.

How much importance do you place on emotion in your poetry?
Depending on who I'm writing for. If it's for myself, emotion is a high priority. For others I tend to leave it emotionless in an effort to let the reader create whatever emotion they want.

Do you often borrow ideas or styles from others and use them in your poetry?
Yes! I believe to grow as a poet you need to try new things, and the best way to do that is try doing some things others do.

How does your reading affect your writing, and what importance would you say reading has on writing in general?
I tend to make a lot of references to pop culture, or older works of art. Reading expands vocab and helps when expressing yourself.

What, and how much, importance do you think poetry has in culture and society?
I think, as of now, there isn't much importance given to it. I would almost like to say it's gone back to that elitist form of art, without the wealth part.

How effective would you say poetry is as a means of expression: personally, emotionally, and artistically?
I would like to think that it is highly effective. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then imagine what you can do with a thousand words...

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"My poetry is extremely emotional, it's basically the whole core of my poems."


Name: Mairead
Location: North-East England
Age: 15
Information: I'm very loud and opinionated and probably very annoying. I guess I'm intelligent, although I don't like admitting it. I get carried away very easily and am very excitable, it doesn't take alot to get me going. I love tea.

How long have you been writing Poetry?
Since about half way through October last year.

What inspired you to start writing poetry?
Well my first poem was basically a letter to my dad who died when I was seven, and I suppose I sort of did it because I never really got to say goodbye, and I was sort of speculating about how things might be if he was still alive. Once I wrote that, it was like I'd opened a flood barrier and I just couldn't stop.

What general themes or ideas do your poems typically follow?
Mostly they're about romance, typically romance that hasn't gone so well. Generally, the voice of the poem has lost someone they loved, or been hurt be someone who they thought loved them. Full of angst, woo!


Do you read often? What do you typically read?
I do read alot, not as much as I would like to, I just can't find the time these days. When I do read, I love a good romance/fantasy/crime novel. When reading poetry, I tend to go for pre-1914. Also I'm a very big fan of Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carrol and Charles Dickens, but I do have a soft spot for teen-age romance literature.

How do you find inspiration to write a poem?
Most of it just pops out off nowhere, and often right before I fall asleep. Occasionally, I draw from personal experience or things that I would like to happen. I tend to have a very over-active imagination, and some of my poems are often inspired by one word or phrase, sometimes a photograph.

When you write, do you often have to think of the words, or do they simply come to you?
Depending on the poem, it's sort of a sliding scale. Sometimes, when I get going, my fingers just keep typing and everything just flows; but, often, it takes me hours or even days to contruct a poem when the words just don't work, I can't get it right, and I end up giving up or deleting it all and starting again.

How do your emotions affect your writing?
Completely. Without my emotions, my writing would be nothing. I simply couldn't write without my emotions, they're the foundations of all my work.

How has writing (and reading) poetry affected you, as a person?
I think that it has probably matured me quite a bit. But it's also made me sort of secretive. I don't tend to discuss my poetry with friends or family, because it's my little secret thing that I do on here, I don't want their opinion, and I don't want to share it with them; I don't think they'd understand, so I just keep it to myself and look forward to logging onto here at the end of the day.

What, in your opinion, makes a poem effective?
I'm a big fan of pre-1914 poetry: anyone who can successfully incorporate a steady rhyme and rhythm into their work often produces beautiful poems. I also like poetry that is very emotionally charged, that are either very sad or very angry, with a lot of imagery.

How effective would you say poetry is as a means of expression: personally, emotionally, and artistically?
Very effective, probably more effective than art and prose. In poetry, my main aim is to express myself through describing something with as much emotion as possible. Poetry is often very raw and personal, it can be very effective.

What, and how much, importance do you think poetry has in culture and society?
Not enough, it is just a tiny part of all art and a lot of different kinds of art have a much vaster effect on society. Unless you're particularly interested in poetry, it's very easy to wander through life not being affected by it at all; whereas things such as paintings, music and prose are pretty much everywhere you turn.

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Look for these poets next time you're browsing around deviantArt, drop them a line, perhaps a friendly "hello!"
I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

Attention: I am in need of poets to feature!
If you would like to be interviewed, send me a note, titled "Interview" and I'll get back to you to set up a time to be interviewed.

Thank you for reading,
Nyxia