about

on writing 

I was about 12 years old when I started writing poetry, influenced by a classmate.  My poems,I think, were mostly about rainbows.  And puppies.  By the time I reached high school, I'd learned that puppies and rainbows don't generally make for good poems, and I started trying on the language of teen angst.  I had a few good teachers and a few good friends who were gracious enough not to crush my still-forming ego, and in September 2000, I took a poem to my first-ever workshop at a local library.  The group was gentle but firm, and they set me on a path of discovering that poetry is a craft that can be honed.

Over the past seven years, I've had some truly amazing teachers and mentors in both official and unofficial capacities: Anna Evans, Adele Bourne, Dan Maguire, the folks at the Poetry Free-For-All, Juditha Dowd, BJ Ward, Stephen Dunn, and of course the ever-faithful Quick and Dirty Poets, among others.  Each has given me his or her own perspective on poetry, and using what they've taught me, I've been able to form my own perspective.  

My poetry tends to have a strong narrative slant.  I'm a writer of free verse, having found that when I try my hand at formal verse, I only get frustrated, and nothing else.  (Iambic pentameter and I don't hang out very often.)  I prefer to read (and hopefully to write) poems that are tangible - I want a full sensory experience from the poems I spend time with.  I draw inspiration from a number of poets, both historical and contemporary. Some influences include Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Pablo Neruda, e.e. cummings, Walt Whitman, Tony Hoagland, Yusef Komunyakaa, Marie Howe, Frank Bidart, and Stephen Dunn.  I'm also strongly influenced by the music I listen to, and so PJ Harvey, David Gray and Robert Smith (among others) have all left their mark in some way on my writing.

I like to read poets who embody the social purpose of poetry; who write about important issues carefully, using grace and humor to convey complex messages in simple fashion. In addition to the poets named above, I'd include Joan Larkin, Major Jackson, Lucille Clifton and Patrick Rosal in this category.

I think poetry - and by default, poets - have a social responsiblity.  I think it's important to use this medium to talk about the things that most people don't want to talk about, to make connections between situations that most people don't want to acknowledge.