Category: Seven Questions

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Seven Questions for Poets #10 – Elly Nobbs

My final interviewee in this series is E.E. Nobbs. Elly is a Canadian poet whose book The Invisible Girl won the Doire Press International Chapbook Competition in 2013.

I almost feel I’ve met Elly – she’s a bit of a poetry Anglophile given her impressive presence on our UK poetry blogs, at The Poetry School and numerous other places. And she’s very supportive of others on social media, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to include her here – also to bring a dash of transatlantic je ne sais quoi to this little patch of poetic doodahs. (NB Canada – a bit of French – see what I did there??)

I know you’re going to enjoy Elly’s answers so I’ll get on with it…

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

I just read Click and Clone by Elaine Equi. I admire by her wit, wisdom, conciseness and versatility. In some ways (wit-wise & concise-wise) she’s like another favourite American poet of mine, Kay Ryan.

2 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat?

The ocean within easy walking distance. With a dog for company.

3 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

Haven’t as much lately. Usually once or twice a year. But by entering a Doire Press contest in 2013, I won a prize and got my chapbook published – the major thrill of the 21st century for me.

4 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

The Writer’s Almanac daily podcast and web site. Garrison Keillor is a fine reader who provides interesting literary tidbits along with the poem.

Also, this FREE online course by Open Ed is a super way to enter the world of poetry and learn more about how and why poets do what they do. And it’s free.

And your question is reminding me to catch up with Carol Rumen’s weekly poem and comments in The Guardian. She’s great.

5 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

That I might finally get to meet in person my first poetry tutor, Bill Greenwell and other friends that I’ve made over the years online at his poetry courses and clinics – and also folks that I’ve met through Poetry School online courses.

And that I would finally USE my passport!

6 – Why is end-rhyme considered a good thing in performance poetry, but rarely found in contemporary magazines?

There are always going to be some poets who do a good job of rhyme. Your question got me curious so I went looking online for a Canadian example. Here’s one that I found and like … ‘Herons on the Ice’ by Richard Sangar.

7 – Can you remember the first poem you wrote – what was it about?

A Grade 12 English assignment was to write the nymph’s response to
‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ by Christopher Marlowe. I think I still have it somewhere…

QUICK PLUG:

Elly is working on a couple of reviews for the literary magazine Galatea Resurrects and encourages other folks to do the same. The next deadline is November 27th.  It is edited by the energetic and generous Eileen Tabios.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best
#2 – Jill Abram
#3 – Antony Mair
#4 – Hilda Sheehan
#5 – Ian Humphreys
#6 – Claire Dyer
#7 – Louise Ordish
#8 – Anna Kisby
#9 – Rosemary Badcoe

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Seven Questions for Poets #9 – Rosemary Badcoe

This is the penultimate post in this ‘Seven Questions’ series, I’ve hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have – there have been some really interesting and surprising answers, but also a fair bit of consistency – particularly when it comes to recommendations for non-poetry readers, and reactions to being asked to read at the Festival Hall!

Rosemary Badcoe is well known as one of the editors of Antiphon, an excellent online poetry magazine. But, just like many poetry magazine editors, she’s an accomplished poet in her own right. I sometimes think poets who submit their work to magazines may not know (or imagine) that the editor is also a poet, and also submitting elsewhere themselves. I know this was something I was ignorant of when I started sending work out. Editing a magazine has to take time away from the business of writing, so my feeling is it’s the least we can do to help promote them as POETS. (Ooh, I sense another blog post coming here…)

So – my thanks to Rosemary for playing this particular game, and on with the questions.

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

The latest poetry book I’ve read is Millstone Grit, which is a new anthology we’re creating as part of Sheffield Hallam University’s Catalyst festival. I’m working with fellow Antiphon editor Noel Williams and journalist and Senior Lecturer Carolyn Waudby, but I’ve given myself the job of designing and creating the book. It’s been a great learning curve, tackling typesetting software and layout, but we’ve just received the proof copy and are delighted with it! It’s the first book we’re publishing via Antiphon Press. But the proper answer would be Dark Matter, by Christine Klocek-Lim. All the poems are based on images from the Astronomy Picture of the Day website but are personal and moving.

2 – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you?

I find however much I write I tend to end up with about one poem a month that I’m really pleased with. But book creation has got in the way of that recently.

3 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat?

Hmm, not sure I’d be good with a retreat! I like the internet too much. And bookshops…

4 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

No, not generally. I can never guess which poems they might like!

5 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

Aargh!  Followed by ‘I wonder if they’d mind a quick plug for Antiphon?’

6 – Why is end-rhyme considered a good thing in performance poetry, but rarely found in contemporary magazines?

Possibly because if not used carefully end-rhyme can swamp the rest of the poem. It works best in poems with a proper rhythmical format, which performance poetry often has, but which people don’t always use on the page.

7 – A murmuration of starlings, a murder of crows etc – what would you call a group of poets?

A confusion? Is there a word for a group of people all staring in different directions?

 

QUICK PLUG:

Rosemary Badcoe’s collection Drawing a Diagram is coming out with Kelsay Books early next year. As well as the main Antiphon website, there is an accompanying blog featuring recordings of poets reading from the issue.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best
#2 – Jill Abram
#3 – Antony Mair
#4 – Hilda Sheehan
#5 – Ian Humphreys
#6 – Claire Dyer
#7 – Louise Ordish
#8 – Anna Kisby

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Seven Questions for Poets #8 – Anna Kisby

I first met Anna Kisby at the Brighton Poetry Stanza and was struck by her writing. Sadly for us, she then relocated to the west country. But it’s always a joy to come across her work, and we met again recently at the South Downs Poetry Festival, where she was awarded first prize in the Havant Poetry Competition. Last year she was commended by Faber, and she recently won the BBC Proms Poetry Competition. Here are Anna’s answers to the seven questions…

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

The Kingdom of Ordinary Time by Marie Howe, recent Poet Laureate of New York State. I’m interested in how she writes about the actuality of life – using plain language and metaphor only very sparingly – but the poems lift off the page.

2 – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you? 

Sometimes there are poems that, as a friend describes it, ‘Come out whole, like laying an egg’. I always feel affection for poems I write like that as opposed to the ones I labour over, which start to get on my nerves.

3 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat?

That hotel in the Alps where Hemingway and his wife Hadley stay in the 1920s (as described in A Moveable Feast.)

4 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

In phases – at the moment, yes! A mixture of the biggies (worth a try?) and smaller ones tied to local festivals.

5 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

A predictable answer but: Staying Alive (Bloodaxe, ed Neil Astley). It set me going again.

6 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

New shoes.

7 – Can you remember the first poem you wrote? What was it about?

Living in America, aged 8, a long rhyming poem about sisters Primrose and Camomile Brown – it was flowery and quite self-consciously English. The important thing was that when I showed it to our neighbour, a craftswoman, she made me feel it was the best poem she’d ever read, bought me a special Poetry Notebook and took me very seriously as a writer. I rather let her down by not focusing on poetry again for another 30 years…

 

QUICK PLUG:

Anna Kisby’s most recently-published poem is included in the Live Canon anthology 154: contemporary poets in response to Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets. On 4th Nov 2016 the Live Canon ensemble will perform a selection of poems from the anthology at Oxford Playhouse – details available here.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best
#2 – Jill Abram
#3 – Antony Mair
#4 – Hilda Sheehan
#5 – Ian Humphreys
#6 – Claire Dyer
#7 – Louise Ordish

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Seven Questions for Poets #7 – Louise Ordish

A name you’ll have come across often in the poetry magazines is Louise Ordish. She is a talented poet who has had a number of high profile successes, including a shortlisting for the Poetry School/Nine Arches Press Primers Vol 1, and a poem nominated for the Forward Prize. I hope we’ll be seeing a lot more of her work. Louise was more than happy to take the Seven Question challenge…

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

I’ve just been reading Paper Aeroplane, Simon Armitage’s selected works 1989-2014. When I first started writing poetry properly about 5 years ago, his ‘Book of Matches’ was the first e-book I had. I remember how reading his poetry felt just magical, a discovery of something that I hadn’t known possible.

2 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat?

Anywhere where there is no WIFI but there is a kettle, a bed, a view… either isolated or city centre… must be a coffee shop or bar. That gives me quite a few opportunities.

3 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

One of the hugely successful Bloodaxe anthologies in the Staying Alive trilogy. There’s such a range of work in them and editor Neil Astley has done this amazing trick of finding strong, ‘real’ poems that are accessible.

4 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

Wahay!

5 – Why is end-rhyme considered a good thing in performance poetry, but rarely found in contemporary magazines?

Performance poetry has more of a chance of being engaging, understood, even, if it has strong rhythm and rhyme. It gives the listener more clues as to what’s being said and engages them on a different level from the words, through the musicality. The same musicality can make end-rhymes on the page a bit over the top, or infantile. Having said which, I love to use half rhyme in my poems and usually as end-rhymes. The ‘slanter’ the better. One Poetry School tutor admired my rhyming of ‘domestic’ with ‘lest it’ in a poem that included an image of my Dad making Angel Delight.

6 – Can you remember the first poem you wrote? What was it about?

Totally. Totally. My starting to write was sudden and volcanic and in a supermarket. The poem was about 6 lines long and was in response to someone’s drawings.

7 – A murmuration of starlings, a murder of crows etc – what would you call a group of poets?

Hmmm. Depending on my mood and the poets, it could be a passion of… a pomposity of… or a pamphlet of…

QUICK PLUG: Louise is the rep for the Reading Stanza of the Poetry Society, which provides two opportunities to meet and share poetry with other poets. There’s a monthly workshopping group and, from November 2016, Stanza is proud to host the long-standing monthly event, Poets’ Café, combining a reading by an invited guest and an open mic session.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best
#2 – Jill Abram
#3 – Antony Mair
#4 – Hilda Sheehan
#5 – Ian Humphreys
#6 – Claire Dyer

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Seven Questions for Poets #6 – Claire Dyer

Claire Dyer is a fine poet and novelist who I first met at a launch reading for The Interpreter’s House. She seems to be one of those people who quietly produce one good book after another, without any of the kind of angsty fuss some of us like to indulge in. If you get a chance to hear her read, do so, she has a relaxed but commanding style. Here’s how she responded to ‘Seven Questions’…

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

Slant Light by Sarah Westcott (Liverpool University Press, 2016)

2 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat?

Somewhere quiet and near the sea.

3 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

Yes.

4 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

I’d suggest they read ‘Ode to Autumn’ by John Keats and The Mersey Sound by McGough, Henri and Patten.

5 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

I’d panic, worry about tripping over my feet as I walked across the stage but then once behind the mic and lectern, I hope I’d think I’m just at home rehearsing in front of my cats as is my wont!

6 – Can you remember the first poem you wrote – what was it about?

Yes, it was about being stuck in the lounge at my grandmother’s house and not being allowed out to play. I can’t remember why I’d been told to stay indoors, maybe it looked like it might rain, or something like that!

7 – A murmuration of starlings, a murder of crows etc – what would you call a group of poets?

A doubt of poets!

QUICK PLUG: Claire’s novels are published by Quercus and her latest collection, Interference Effects, is due from Two Rivers Press in October 2016. She also runs Fresh Eyes, an editorial and critiquing service.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best
#2 – Jill Abram
#3 – Antony Mair
#4 – Hilda Sheehan
#5 – Ian Humphreys

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Seven questions for poets #5 – Ian Humphreys

Today’s poet ready for a grilling is Ian Humphreys. I met Ian on the Ty Newydd masterclass we did a couple of years ago. He and I were in a small working group with Lizzie Fincham – which basically meant we holed up in the library, trying to do our homework while comparing notes and reading lines to each other, amongst a lot of nervous swearing and diversionary hilarity. Since then Ian’s made serious progress – he completed an MA in Creative Writing at MMU, and it’s been wonderful to follow his success – most recently winning the Hamish Canham Prize and being selected for The Complete Works III.

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

Jutland by Selima Hill. Two books/sequences in one. Akin to a severed doll’s head: innocence and menace combined. Cleverly, the darkness here is more of an itch in the imagination than a telling. The imagery is surreal, playful and shockingly original. A poem can start off beaming with light and lightness, then turn on a pin to become suffocating and sinister. The collection also proves that really short poems can pack a punch.

2  – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you?

My definition of ‘decent’ is constantly changing. I consider myself fairly new to poetry so what I thought a successful poem a year ago probably wouldn’t make the cut today. I suppose what I aim for these days is to produce one poem every two or three months I feel would hold its own in a good magazine.

3 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

Yes, not often, maybe three or four times a year. It was early success in a competition that persuaded me to take writing more seriously.

4 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

I would encourage them to subscribe to one or two literary magazines to get a feel of what’s happening right now. (And to support our magazines.) My favourite ones lean towards accessible, innovative, quality poetry and include Ambit and Prole (both of which also feature prose), Butcher’s Dog and, of course, The Rialto.

5 – Why is end-rhyme considered a good thing in performance poetry, but rarely found in contemporary magazines?

Heightened musicality and sound texture in performance poetry help keep audiences engaged. End rhymes can really propel a spoken piece forward. With page poetry, using full end rhymes is currently seen as old fashioned, although perhaps it’s starting to make a stuttering comeback. Just one example: Alice Oswald’s opener in her latest collection Falling Awake.

6 – Can you remember the first poem you wrote – what was it about?

I was 13. Prince Charles had acquired a bald patch and it was causing a stir in the press. This seemed daft to me, even at that age, so I wrote a poem about the royal fuss being made. The English teacher read it out in class – I was embarrassed and secretly thrilled. For some reason it took me over three decades to write the next one.

7 – A murmuration of starlings, a murder of crows etc – what would you call a group of poets?

A compulsion of poets.

QUICK PLUG: Since 2008, The Complete Works programme has done important work raising awareness of BAME poets in Britain. Earlier this year, Ian was selected for Complete Works III (ten new fellows are chosen every four years). In 2017, a portfolio of his poems will feature in a Bloodaxe anthology alongside work by TCW3 colleagues.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best
#2 – Jill Abram
#3 – Antony Mair
#4 – Hilda Sheehan

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Seven Questions for Poets #4 – Hilda Sheehan

My fourth guest in this series is poet and poetpreneur-extraordinary, Hilda Sheehan.  I have a vivid memory of seeing Hilda read at a Kent & Sussex Poetry meeting and she seemed to lift everyone out of their seats (and comfort zones, I suspect!) with her warmth and often bonkers humour. Hilda is forever associated in my mind with Swindon – Poetry Swindon and in particular its annual Poetry Festival, an event which seems to be always growing in stature without losing its friendliness and charm. She’s also written two full collections and masterminded countless other creative projects. All this and five children. I’m exhausted just writing it.

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

Andra Simons – The Joshua Tales – took my breath away, totally original, exciting, shocking and tender. I read it in one wonderful event of not being able to put it down and then booked him to read at the Poetry Festival. His performances are as breathtaking as his page words – an outstanding poet who I hope more people will come to appreciate. He’ll be at the Poetry Swindon Festival on Sunday 9th October.

2  – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you?

This is indeed happening to me now – I think writing lots and publishing less is a good thing. I stick 80% in the drawer and then consider a few to send out into the world.

3 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat? 

The London Dungeon after hours.

4 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

No … only if I want to support the organisation. I’m not sure my work is suited to winning competitions – too scrappy and out-of-control.

5 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

I generally point people to the ‘Staying Alive’ anthology by Bloodaxe Books. I love the range of poems, and it still feels fresh to me. The Poetry Magazine Podcast is a friendly way to hear about poetry and why we love it.

6 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

Keep it clean.

7 – Why is end-rhyme considered a good thing in performance poetry, but rarely found in contemporary magazines?

People love a bit of rhyme, and cliche! It makes us feel safe and it can have good comic effect. Although, I think sound and rhythm could be as effective : )

QUICK PLUG: Hilda is the Creative Director and founder of Poetry Swindon Festival. This year it will be held at the picturesque Coate Water Country Park, the birthplace of one of the world’s greatest nature writers, Richard Jefferies. The festival is renowned for creating warm and welcoming poetry events, providing great poetry with enjoyment at its heart. The Big Poetry Weekend features dozens of poets and takes place between 6th to 9th October 2016 with Andrew McMillan and Kim Moore as poets in residence. Click here for details and tickets, including accommodation packages.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best
#2 – Jill Abram
#3 – Antony Mair

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Seven Questions for Poets #3 – Antony Mair

Today’s poet in the spotlight is Antony Mair. Antony has been a brilliant poet friend of mine for some years, firstly as a supporter of the Brighton Stanza and member of the ‘loose committee’ when I was the rep, and latterly as the founder and chief corraller-of-poets at Hastings Stanza. He has an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster, and is widely published in magazines including Acumen, Agenda, Ink, Sweat & Tears and Poetry Salzburg. Antony recently won the Rottingdean Writers National Poetry Competition.

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

The one that’s given me most pleasure recently has been ‘Cradle Song’ by Andrea Samuelson, who’s a member of the Hastings Stanza group. It gives a voice to her great-grandmother, who was confined to a mental hospital in Sweden from her early twenties to her death some fifty years later, and whom Andrea identified with as a result of suffering from severe post-natal depression herself. Andrea’s been working on a novel since this collection, but I want her to give us some more poems!

2  – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you?

I wish it were that simple.  There’s the usual cycle of completing a poem, thinking it’s a masterpiece, leaving it for a month or so and then seeing it’s a turkey.  Even when I’ve done something I’m pleased with it may not survive an editor’s scrutiny.  If Larkin or Abse were to come back from the dead and consider half a dozen of my efforts ‘decent’ I’d be delighted.

3 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat?

An apartment in the old town of Nice would do quite nicely for a week – preferably when something’s on at the opera house!

4 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

Yes, though I’ve wised up quite a lot over the past few years, and can see that even my swans may be geese compared with other’s offerings. It’s a bit of a lottery, but everyone enjoys a flutter.

5 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

By reading Lifelines – my edition is New and Collected, from Town House, Dublin.  The project involved asking numerous people, eminent in a wide variety of fields, to nominate their favourite poem and explain why.  The result is an anthology with a considerable plus.

6. Why is end-rhyme considered a good thing in performance poetry, but rarely found in contemporary magazines?

Hearing poetry is difficult.  We’re out of the habit of it.  Rhyme helps to anchor the attention by giving us a sense of structure.  When it comes to contemporary magazines, rhyme is simply out of fashion – I don’t think there’s an easy explanation for that.  Contemporary poets who use rhyme well, such as Gjertrud Schnackenberg in the USA, can achieve effects that are sometimes quietly miraculous.

7 – A murmuration of starlings, a murder of crows etc – what would you call a group of poets?

How about a ‘jabber’?  I was going to suggest a ‘parnassus’, but fear it sounds a little too like ‘up-our-asses’ which is of course a million miles from the truth.

QUICK PLUG:  Antony Mair is one of four poets who have been commissioned to write a poem inspired by the Bayeaux Tapestry. The poems have been set to music by Orlando Gough and will be performed at Clash! a special event in Hastings on 24th September. It’s all part of the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. Full details here.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best
#2 – Jill Abram

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Seven Questions for Poets #2 – Jill Abram

My second poet under ‘seven questions’ interrogation is Jill Abram. Jill is widely published in the magazines and is both the Director of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen – a collective of writers who focus on craft, community and development – and a Tideway Poet. She’s really active on the poetry scene, especially around London – not only in giving readings and staging events, but supporting others too. I’ve met her at various places including Richard Skinner’s Vanguard Readings and Anne-Marie Fyfe’s Troubadour nights. Here are Jill’s answers…

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

The Immigration Handbook by Caroline Smith (Seren) – I’m still reading it as the poems are so powerful, you have to take them in small doses and savour each one.

2  – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you?

Well, I think that everything that I write is a work of genius but others may beg to differ. I’d like to think I write more than one or two decent poems a year, but I can’t present evidence that anyone else thinks so too…

3 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

I won the very first competition I entered but have yet to repeat that success.  I’m focusing on magazine submissions at the moment, and have had three accepted recently (Under the Radar, Cake and The Rialto).  I have entered some pamphlet competitions so fingers crossed!

4 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat? 

Somewhere with a good view, good catering and internet access.

5 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

At last!

6 – Can you remember the first poem you wrote – what was it about?

That would have been when I was a child and I can’t remember it. It was probably funny and rhyming – I was brought up on Edward Lear and the like.  Then there would have been the teen angst poems, which I wrote in my twenties (late developer). These were mostly about my parents not understanding me, but also included an anti-Thatcher rant!  I started writing more seriously and consistently on an Arvon course in 2007 – those poems are probably best forgotten too!  Except to mark the start of something.

7 – A murmuration of starlings, a murder of crows etc – what would you call a group of poets?

I don’t know but I work as a studio manager and our collective noun is a ‘whinge’, as that’s what we do when we get together!

QUICK PLUG:  Jill Abram is curating a series of readings called ‘Stablemates’ at Waterstones Piccadilly on the last Thursday of the month, starting in September. Each will feature three poets from one publisher. The first are Penned in the Margins, Nine Arches and Seren. Details will be on the events page of Waterstones website and on Jill’s site.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best

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Seven Questions for Poets #1 – Clare Best

A new series begins here. I thought I’d have a fun Q & A with some of my poet friends, throwing them each seven thorny questions and seeing what comes back. Huge thanks to everyone for playing the game. Stand by for some interesting answers!

First up – Clare Best. Clare is author of Treasure Ground  (HappenStance 2009),  Excisions (Waterloo Press 2011),  Breastless (Pighog 2011) and Cell (Frogmore Press 2015). She’s based in Lewes, which is really how I met her. I’ve had the privilege of taking part in workshops with Clare and also helping out at the Needlewriters, the writers’ collective she co-founded. Clare has a great sense of fun and was quick to rise to the seven question challenge!

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

The Long Haul by Alan Buckley (HappenStance 2016) – a beautiful, tightly-worked pamphlet. Very skilled, heartfelt, complete poems, and slow-cooked. Thoroughly recommended. I’m always reading Raymond Carver’s A New Path to the Waterfall and find more in it at each sitting – I’m a big fan of Carver.

2  – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you?

The problem is you don’t really know what is likely to be at all decent until quite a while down the line! Probably one to three a year that I feel content with – enough to leave them alone. Lots get chucked out early on, most are just abandoned at some point. There’s a lot of starting…

3 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

From time to time, not often. I prefer sending to mags and journals on the whole, it feels less impersonal.

4 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

I think I’d point them towards the Bloodaxe anthologies: Staying Alive; Being Alive; Being Human and Anthony Wilson’s Lifesaving Poems. All are excellent. Oh, and Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience.

5 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

Honestly: at first, well, sheer delight – the fear etc will come later. Then, What the hell am I going to wear?

6 Why is end-rhyme considered a good thing in performance poetry, but rarely found in contemporary magazines?

Good question. There are quite a few odd differences in taste and fashion between the various presentations of poetry. I think if you see end-rhymed poetry on the page first, the end-rhyme sticks out but if you hear it first and read it afterwards you remember the sounds as pleasurable. We probably need clear sound-patterning more in poetry we first encounter through our ears.

7 – A murmuration of starlings, a murder of crows etc – what would you call a group of poets?

Depends on the group of poets. 😉  But how about a ‘plunder’ of poets?

QUICK PLUG:  Clare Best is reading in Edinburgh this Wednesday 17th August, at the Fruitmarket Gallery, alongside Tessa Berring, Isobel Dixon, Alan Gillis, Eliza Kentridge and Rob A. Mackenzie. The reading will include poems responding to the gallery’s current exhibition by Mexican artist Damian Ortega. Doors 7pm – drinks, exhibition. Readings 7.30pm. FREE EVENT! Bar, art, poetry and the special Fruitmarket Gallery festival atmosphere.