Poetry: hobby or passion? [Career?] Poetry has been a passion for me since I first started writing in 1966. There have been a few times when I have stopped writing, but I am compelled to return to poetry as my creative expression. [My career was working in an academic library at Western University for 41 years.]
Does love help? (If so, what kind?) Although not a requirement, love does deepen the work one does, especially the love of another person. That said, love of life, love of friends, and other forms of love all make for better poetry.
Is the creative act political to you? Inherently subversive? Inherently a social service? Ai Weiwei says that everything is art, everything is politics. I agree with him, although everything one does can be much more than either art or politics. Creativity can be subversive, but is it purposely so at the artist’s instigation or only perceived as such by others? Sharing one’s creative endeavours with other people makes the act a social phenomenon, but I think it transcends mere service.
How does inspiration work for you regarding individual poems? I try to remain open to inspiration from all of life. Anything you experience or think about can be transformed into poetry. Nature, conversation, other literary works, mathematics, science, memories, stories … all of them can be inspirational.
Who or what triggered you to begin writing? I “woke up” when I started reading poetry (Keats, Shelley, Dickinson, Cohen, Layton, among others) and listening to interesting songwriters (Lennon, Dylan). An English teacher I had in high school (Mrs. Benetto) gave an assignment to compile a poetry anthology and I was off and writing my first poem as its introduction.
Creatively, whom do you look up to, if anyone? There are so many artists I admire. Working in an academic library gave me access to writers and visual artists from around the world. I helped many collections librarians to add titles to their ordering lists, and even bought and donated important works to Western Libraries. My greatest admiration is for the poets with whom I have personal contact; they are my friends as well as my inspiration.
Walk us through your typical creative day. My creative process does not follow a typical path. I usually think about what I want to write for up to a month. I take many long walks. I observe the world around me. I remain open to the possibility of inspiration from many quarters. At the present moment, when I am ready to compose a poem, I sit cross-legged on my bed with a notebook and write at least one or two drafts, then switch to a laptop to type it and print it out. Other drafts result when my wife and members of a trusted writing group take a look at my poem and offer suggestions.
This from a young poet: Any tips for staying motivated when discouragement hits? This is difficult for me to talk about because I have been discouraged many, many times. There have been times when I have stopped writing for a couple of years. Getting back on track usually happens when I listen to people who have my best interests at heart. Stay connected and do not hide yourself away. Keep reading, even if you are not writing.
John Tyndall is a Canadian poet living in London, Ontario since 1967 whose poetry has been praised by the University of Toronto Quarterly for his "strange iridescent language", and by Library Journal for "surrealistic melding of poetry and art." Before his retirement in 2016 he was a longtime library assistant with The D.B. Weldon Library of Western University in London. John has a new book due out in spring 2020: Listen to People (Hidden Brook). His previous publications include a volume for Black Moss’s Palm Poet series, The Fee for Exaltation (2007); Free Rein (Black Moss, 2001); Howlcat Fugues (Applegarth's Folly, 1976), illustrated by Michael Hannay, chosen by the Library Journal as one of the ten best small-press poetry books of 1976; and Thirteen Poems: From the Bruce Peninsula (Pikadilly, 1974). His poems have also appeared on the spoken word CD Souwesto Words: 25 Poets In Southwestern Ontario, Canada (Ergo Productions, 1999), and in the anthologies Window Fishing: The Night We Caught Beatlemania (Hidden Brook, 2014), Following the Plough – poems & stories on the land (Black Moss, 2000), Henry's Creature – poems & stories on the automobile(Black Moss, 2000), I Want to Be the Poet of Your Kneecaps – poems of quirky romance(Black Moss, 1999), Losers First – poems & stories on game and sport(Black Moss, 1999), and That Sign of Perfection – poems & stories on the game of hockey(Black Moss, 1995) .