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| an interview with poet Laure-Anne Bosselaar |
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| Laure-Anne Bosselaar is the author of Artémis, The Hour Between Dog and Wolf, Small Gods of Grief, and A New Hunger which was selected as an ALA Notable Book in 2008. She is also the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. She has edited four anthologies and translated poems by de Coninck with her husband Kurt Brown. She’s a busy poet! I could go on and on about her brilliance and accolades; instead, I’ll move closer to the reason you’ve clicked on this page, the interview.
(Please note that this interview was conducted via email during two different periods of time so items mentioned in the interview might have already happened. I apologize for this, but it was such an honor for me to do this interview that I didn’t want to change anything.) October/November 2007 DB: First of all, I appreciate you taking the time for this interview. I adore your work, so I'm quite excited about interviewing you! You published A New Hunger this year. Did you do any traveling to promote the book? Any traveling coming up? LAB: Dustin... thanks for your sweet words about my work. By the way, there’s a very positive review by David Rigsbee of my book you might want to look at in another wonderful Atlanta-based online review: the Cortland Review. So, to answer your first question: Yes, A New Hunger came out in Ausable’s Spring 2007 books, along with Tung-Hui Hu’s Mine, and Pamela Alexander’s Slow Fire. I’m happy to say my book is going into a second printing. I did travel a bit to promote the book, mainly on the East Coast (Boston, Ma, and a few readings in Connecticut and Pennsylvania) and also read at two Writers’ Conferences where I taught. During February I will be the McEver Chair in Poetry at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and I will probably give some readings in the Atlanta region. DB: Congrats on the second printing! I think my favorite poem from the collection is"Garage Sale." For the kind of song only morning can slap on love-stained sheets— that's what I sold my mother's bed for. the one she died in. Sold it for a song." That's an ending that shakes and slaps the reader. You have a talent for what I call the "slap ending." How do you write such endings? LAB: Oddly enough, I very often write those ‘closing’ lines somewhere in the poem during the first drafts; and it’s during the revision process —I revise manically — that I realize they should be around, or at, the end of the poem. I then shuffle lines, delete some, add some, and work on the poem’s structure to create the necessary tension so that the closure, tonally, feels like one. In “Garage Sale” the lines you quote were in the exact middle of the poem — which was twice as long. In this case, I deleted everything following those lines — and that was that. But it’s not always that easy. Short poems are the most difficult to write for me — and I keep going back to poets like Charles Simic, Thomas Lux, Jane Kenyon and Tomas Tranströmer (among others) to learn how to write shorter poems. I also learned a lot from the Flemish poet Herman de Coninck: he is a master of the short, deceptively simple poem. But I’m still struggling to apply what I learn from those poets to my own work. (Kurt Brown, my husband, and I translated Herman de Coninck’s poems in English — the book is called The Plural of Happiness, Selected Poems of Herman de Coninck) I’m a great fan of his work. DB: Atlanta in 2008 — we'll have to go out in the "gayborhood" and enjoy a glass a wine. Are you excited about coming to Tech? Have any thoughts on the direction you'll take with your workshop? LAB: I’ll gladly accept your invitation! I have a particular love for little “hole in the wall’ restaurants — so if you know of a good, authentic Southern’ cookin’ place, I’d love some suggestions! I am exited to come to Georgia Tech indeed. I very much look forward to my visit and teaching there. I’ll also visit some local high schools and hope to get some students hooked on contemporary poets they might not know. I just finished reading the first book of a poet living in Kentucky that I find truly amazing: Sister, by Nickole Brown. I also recently read books by Maurice Manning which I love very much. These are just two authors who recently made my heart beat a little faster. As for the direction I’ll take for my workshop — I think I’ll focus on revision. All the ways one can revise a poem without the help of workshop participants or a mentor. Many of my ex-students told me they liked this particular focus, because once they were no longer in a class or workshop, they found it hard to revise their poems on their own. So that might be my focus — but I’ll also teach or address all sorts of elements of craft while looking at the poems in workshop. DB: Who are some of the poets you love? Who are some of the ones you are reading now? LAB: There are so many poets that I love, and love returning to — and I fear I’ll forget some. But, let’s say that right now, on the little table next to my reading chair there is a pile of books, plus a few more on the floor next to the table! So I’ll just list the authors: Joe Millar, Tomas Trantrömer, Brian Patten, A. Van Jordan, Jorge Luis Borges, Michael Chitwood, Tracy K. Smith, Chase Twichell (my editor at Ausable!), Tania Rochelle, Rigoberto Gonzales, Michael Waters, April Ossman, and David Lawrence. And a Dutch novel by Kristien Hemmerechts. Then, of course, there are those books that are never far from me and to which I return to over and over again: Larry Levis, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Baudelaire, Louis Aragon, Dorianne Laux, Kim Addonizio, Charles Simic, Kimiko Hahn, Thomas Lux, Adelia Prado, Rilke, Whitman, the novelists Michel Tournier, Jonathan Lethem and more. I also love to read new authors’ first or second books: that’s where I feel the energy is — and I often make some wonderful discoveries, like the remarkable book Teeth, by Aracelis Girmay, for example, and Nickole Brown’s Sister that I mentioned before. Or Meg Kearney’s work. I also very much enjoy reading books that have a different esthetic than my work: the poignant, quirky poems by Martha Rhodes, the breathless, expansive poems by Olena Kalytiak Davis, the musical, fabulous poems by Tim Seibles. I could go on and on, of course — and each month new books land on my table, or night table... DB: Tania Rochelle is an Atlanta poet; I like her first book Karaoke Funeral - especially the poem "Valet Parking at the Salvation Army" because it has a "slap ending" like your poem, "Garage Sale." All this drives me to think Addonizio's "fuck poem.” Have you read that poem by Addonizio? LAB: I have read all of Kim Addonizio’s books and Tania Rochelle’s book: I admire both poets greatly and am happy to say they are also friends of mine. And by the way, for some of your readers who might live in the Palm Beach area in Florida: Kim Addonizio will teach a workshop at the Fourth Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival and will give a public reading there also. That conference is, in my opinion, one of the best in the country. And there will be some exceptional poets participating this year, for more information go to: http://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org. January/February 2008 DB: I wish there was a recording of the reading that you gave on Feb. 17, at Java Monkey in Decatur. You were phenomenal; your poem selection was amazing. I could listen to you read "Garage Sale" and "Radiator" repeatedly. Collin and I have decided that we are going to have to build a shrine in your honor. LAB: Sweet of you! You know, I had a wonderful time at Java Monkey, thanks to your kind invitation/recommendation Dustin! What an amazing, supportive, enthusiastic and talented crowd— and one feels so immediately welcomed and included. Some of the poets who read at the open mike blew me away. I was happy to be part of that evening. It’s a reading series I’ll recommend to my friends if/when they visit Atlanta. DB: You mentioned a reading series you started titled “Anybody But Me” while featuring at Java. Will you share details on this series and what inspired you to create it? LAB: Yes, I wanted to start a reading series where egos and self-promotion would, for one evening, be left at the door and be replaced by the desire to share poetry “just for the sake of it.” The rule is this: come read one or two poems you love, NOT written by you. That’s all. So many friends told me it was a wonderful idea and eagerly came to read and share their favorite poem. The three events I organized were a total success. Unfortunately I had to stop the series because I was away too much this fall and winter, but I very much intend to continue this series. It was wonderful to see many people who come to readings and are not poets love to finally be able to share their passion with the audience. Because on those nights, a “famous” poet is on the same level as someone who has not published yet or never written a poem. What they have in common is the love to share and celebrate poetry. That’s the kind of reading/evening that I adore! DB: What is your advice for someone who wants to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing concentrating in poetry? LAB: I would say pursue that goal with total dedication ONLY if becoming a poet — or making poetry a major part of your life — is your dream. If that’s the case, here’s my advice: find out what poets you love, then find out where they teach and apply to those programs, whether they’re Graduate Studies MFA Programs or Low Residency Programs. I know that three of the poets I wanted to work with taught at Warren Wilson, so that was my first choice. And I was lucky enough to be accepted at that program. But I had 2nd and 3rd choices where other poets taught that I loved just as much. It’s the reputation of the poet professors/teachers/mentors that counts, much more than the reputation or name of the college or university... DB: This is one of my favorite questions to ask poets: What four books do you recommend for poets? LAB: Ahhh there is no universal, absolute answer to that, I think. I can only speak for myself. I’d say bring a very comprehensive anthology of World Poetry, also the Contemporary American Poetry (Ed by Poulin/Waters), then the complete works of your two favorite poets... Today, for me, I’d take with me the complete works of Larry Levis, and Thomax Lux – whose new book God Particles is just out… But as you know, we need different poets for different moments in our lives. A few years ago I couldn’t live without reading Rainer Maria Rilke or Louis Aragon every day. In a few years it might be Komunyakaa or Goethe, Szymborska or Rigoberto Gonzales. That’s the beauty of poetry: you never, ever run out of discovering a new poet or poem that speaks to you exactly the way you need it to! How lucky can we be… DB: Laure-Anne, I want to thank you again for doing this interview for the first issue of Limp Wrist. You are such a generous soul! LAB: Thank you! And I wish you many delighted readers of Limp Wrist for many, many years! ** Click here (http://www.cortlandreview.com/issue/36/rigsbee_r.html) review of Limp Wrist by David Rigsbee. Take a moment to review Laure-Anne Bosselaar’s website. (http://www.laureannebosselaar.com/index.html) |