I just read a great interview with the wonderful poet, Barbara Crooker. It's posted in the latest edition of Umbrella, a great journal.
I got to the interview through the blog of Rachel Dacus, who conducted the interview. In this posting, she talks about the value of interviews with poets.
I'm amazed by how many of my books on writing and creativity are books of interviews. I love discovering how other people write and order their creative lives. The interview is one of my favorite literary forms, I think. I certainly like the interview much better than the scholarly essay. Give me the words of the writer/artist directly.
When I was younger, I was hungry for a road map. How did these other creative people find success? Now I read those interviews in a quest for community. I don't want to spend the money that an MFA would require, but I do envy MFA students their possibility for community. I'm finding that the blogosphere offers a bit of that. Before I had the blogosphere, I had books of interviews.
Speaking of interviews, I also find Kate Greenstreet's first book interviews endlessly fascinating. Go here for the complete list and have fun reading!
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2 comments:
Kristin,
I agree that interviews with poets yield more interesting information on creative process than any number of formal manuals on craft. Which books of interviews do you like best? My shelf is a little short on books of. I usually find them in magazines.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I think my bookshelf has more books of interviews with writers, than with poets exclusively. I'll look at my bookshelf and take some notes. In the next day or two, I'll do a blog post about which books are most helpful. Thanks for the question!
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