Poetry: hobby or passion? [Career?] Passion, reading it first and foremost.
Does love help? (If so, what kind?) Yes, all of it. Practically, no, but it does better things than what the practical stuff can do.
Is the creative act political to you? Inherently subversive? Inherently a social service? For me, now, yes to subversion. Maybe not inherently, but I think a lot of people reach a point when they no longer want to write practice poems and a certain self-satisfying and isolated way or kind of writing is not enough for them, which takes them beyond just creating aesthetically and in turn wanting to make things about their position or experience in the world, and the ways that one can transgress these things, or just simply to make contact with something in order to share it with others. But I don’t know that it’s a political act or service just to make creatively, I always wonder about the efficacy of these things.
How does inspiration work for you regarding individual poems? Inspiration works for me when I want to get in touch with a real thing again, whatever it was I had contact with initially, even if it was an idea I landed on that was finally and essentially True and not only the things I see (but both are important for me). The point is to make contact with something real and then replicate it in hope that other people can, in a sense, touch it too (or hear it or feel it or understand it) through poetry. Being inspired is very easy, but translating it into language is difficult (for me!)
Who or what triggered you to begin writing? I guess my mom giving me a journal at about six and telling me she thought I’d be a writer someday set me off for life. I still don’t know why I have the compulsion.
Creatively, whom do you look up to, if anyone? I for sure have a whole cabinet of writers and poets that clearly I wouldn’t be writing without having read first, but I wouldn’t say I look up to them or try to follow in their steps or use them as guidance? But I learned everything about rhythm and grammar and the world from certain writers, I suppose.
Walk us through your typical creative day. I don’t have a typical creative day, I have what has always felt like a work day even on days when I’m not literally at work. Even as a child it was like during the day I was constantly on-call for some duty I would have to fulfil when asked, some responsibility and so I have always been someone who only writes creatively by night because then I’m only obliged to myself and my own time.
This from a young poet: Any tips for staying motivated when discouragement hits? Don’t try! Does that make sense? If I say it to myself in a way, as in: ‘Don’t push it when you perceive an inability to write in yourself’ (which I truly come across all the time), ‘just leave it be.’ I don’t have tactics to set myself off writing, so I just let myself think that I can’t, at least not in the way that I want to, and the act of writing just becomes this sort of pared-back, humble word-after-word, grammatical building thing. And then it just becomes a simple reach for something. Personally, I don’t think I could write if I didn’t, paradoxically, constantly think I couldn’t.
Bio.
Sueda Cam is a full-time student of English and Cultural Studies at Huron College at Western. She works as an assistant archivist, compiling the works of Henry James, and is generally up to her nose in books. She is always writing and would rather not be (it puts her between impossibility and obligation). Her main artistic snorkel to the world is poetry, but she'll write about everything if asked. If you, like, really want her to.
Akshi Chadha.
Poetry: hobby or passion? [Career?] Passion all the way! For some, it may start as a hobby and that’s completely fine. But I was always ridiculously single-minded that I wanted to write even before I became slightly decent at it. Writing poetry is such a creative, powerful and liberating process that once I discovered it, I made it my niche and settled down for good. To effectively put your emotions on the page is really hard as it is and if I hadn’t been so resolute, I probably wouldn’t be writing eight years later. And since I decided that I only ever want to write, I am desperate to make a career out of it in whichever way I can.
Does love help? (If so, what kind?) Ah! Love’s an emotion, isn’t it? You feel it so intensely; you must write about it. It moves you to behave erratically, and you must write about that too! It can be familial, romantic or platonic love...but in my opinion, it’s not pure adoration that makes good poems. Love if a full circle full of sunshine and rainbows doesn’t give you a lot to say—in poetry at least. And that’s the stuff of writing basics—all writing needs conflict. And love brings its fair share of conflict—fear, insecurity, uncertainty, and need. Thus, the conflict that comes with love can help make some truly unique and moving poems.
Is the creative act political to you? Inherently subversive? Inherently a social service? Yes, yes and another big yes. I believe what’s personal is almost always political. Writing (or any other creative work) is expression at its best and expression is subversive. I definitely didn’t think to write about politics or that my writing would serve a social end but now that I am growing more knowledgeable about the things that plague the world, I want to write about them more than anything. Because systemic problems trickle down to personal lives. And it’s always the smallest unit that effectively portrays the large-scale issue. Every time I address my mental health in my writing, somebody who might read it could potentially identify with my experience and that sort of representation matters. It matters because we then understand that the mental health of a people is affected by institutions – such as politics and education and society. Being understood through others’ writing matters. Making yourself understood matters. The problems you face because of your gender, race, identity matter! So yes, I do believe that creative expression is a political act and, probably in the same vein, a social service.
How does inspiration work for you regarding individual poems? Inspiration is a tricky area to navigate because when you romanticize writing as much as I do, you also keep waiting for this nebulous thing called inspiration to possess you and make you write. But writing requires discipline and diligence. Everything’s inspirational if you really want it to be. That’s how I look at it now. To write a poem, you just have to excavate a really vague idea and transform it into something concrete and unique. And you have to keep at it. Inspiration will not strike you, you will have to hunt for it every day. So each day you can find me in my hunting boots, carrying a crossbow—all to write just one coherent poem.
Who or what triggered you to begin writing? Reading. I’m glad I started reading very early in my life because that’s when you can read freely—unhindered by adult commitments or, let’s face it, the internet. When I fell in love with reading, I fell in love with words. I had never known anything else to hold more power than words. They can make or break families, induce or defuse wars, save or kill people—words can do anything. And when you write, you hold that power within you and you can use it to move other people, to tell your story, or to just form an affinity with someone. Isn’t that the most beautiful thing? I wanted to make someone feel the same way I did when I read my favourite books. So for me, reading and writing have been really personal endeavours and I figured if I could make even one person feel something with mere words, I would consider myself a successful writer. A paradox thus ensued—writing empowered me while I made myself vulnerable on the page. The more I did it, the more I came into being.
Creatively, whom do you look up to, if anyone? I typically devour as much literature as I can so I tend to follow works rather than the authors themselves. That way, you get a lot of creative perspectives instead and I like having that kind of knowledge.
Walk us through your typical creative day. It’s more during the witching hour and not so much the day! I am a different person during the day and a different person during night time. At night, I usually overthink a lot and it’s mostly poetic. It might be me reminiscing or just being plain anxious but when you feel too much, words pour out. Or you summon them. I tend to type in my notes a lot so I remember these fleeting ideas. If you are to go through my phone right now, you’ll find random stanzas and beautiful sentences I thought of during the night. Working them out into a full-fledged poem is a day job. I can only think during the night, I can only edit during the day. And editing is infinitely important if you want to write professionally. So as much as I adore the hide and seek I play with creative ideas, I tend to set deadlines (in case of poetry I make sure to mark the submission deadlines for journals to which I want to submit my poem) and then edit as much as I can. And editing is not some tedious task you have to endure—beautiful things come out of editing because it can be highly creative if you want it to be. I honestly never stop editing my poems until they are accepted by some journal.
This from a young poet: Any tips for staying motivated when discouragement hits? This is a bit amusing because I still think I’m a young poet! But it’s been eight years since I penned my first poem and I haven’t gotten any more assured. Discouragement is so ubiquitous in the writing world, that I simply embrace it now. Like I said, I have always been ridiculously single-minded that I wanted to write since I was 12 and nothing has swayed me since. I would say some motivation from friends or family is nice. But you have to motivate yourself too. Writing is a honed craft—you can feel yourself get better as you practice. I can tell there’s an embarrassingly huge difference between the first poem I wrote and my latest poem. The more you write (and read), the more you will find yourself fleshing out original ideas, crafting them uniquely and the more you will want to write. Writing is your motivation. Also if you can, enrol yourself in creative writing classes or join writing groups. Among like-minded people, you will feel motivated. You will also feel desperate to be better...and that’s good. Use that desperation. Most importantly, always remember why you want to write. That has often been all I needed (and all I had) to keep myself motivated.
Bio.
Akshi Chadha is currently pursuing an Honours Specialization in English Literature and Creative Writing at Western University. Her work has previously been published in The Roadrunner Review, SNAPS, and Symposium. She has also been one of the student editors at WordsFest. Her writing interests vary across genres, but her first love has always been poetry.
Caitlyn Dubé.
Poetry: hobby or passion? [Career?] I believe poetry is a passion, maybe not one so prevalent in my life right now; but, when you’re a poet, I don’t think that’s something you can easily give up. It’s just sort of there in the way I see the world. Sometimes I’ll get this line, this perfect bit of imagery, a phrase or a couple words placed so perfectly next to one another that I think god, that’s it, that’s how I feel.
Does love help? (If so, what kind?) Mmm…tricky question. I think the trials of love are definitely resourceful to my poetic attempts. But, is it “helpful”? I don’t know if that’s the right word. Love, the good and the bad, have more to do with the memories connected to that love: the smell of salt in someone’s hair, the way their eyes look under rainy streetlights…the amount of Kleenex piled on your bedroom floor. Resourceful? Yes. Helpful? Not sure I can recommend “love” for the sake of creative inspiration.
Is the creative act political to you? Inherently subversive? Inherently a social service? Gosh, I wish I was providing a social service with my poetry! I don’t think my work is quite there yet or ever will be, but I definitely use it to battle the small injustices I feel either on a day-to-day basis or generally about our world. I have a poem that talks about technology and it’s definitely critical about the seemingly unlimited power it gives people and companies nowadays. If my poems do anything, I hope they make you ask questions. Because questions lead to ideas and ideas last far longer than we do.
How does inspiration work for you regarding individual poems? I’m definitely one of those people that thinks outside the box, but I have this thing where I like to be given the box first—a theme, a subject, a form, a prompt—because I’m a busy person. So, these themes or poetry forms work as rules, they take their time to simmer, and then I begin to work around them with room for play. Sometimes, it’ll be as simple as a scene coming to my mind: smoke clouds against neon lights, wind rustling through grass. In the end, inspiration is not a friend but more like a disgruntled cousin who’s forced to meet me on occasional Monday mornings. So I sit Inspiration down, buy us some cups of coffee, and tell him to make nice for the next hour or so.
Who or what triggered you to begin writing? Music. 100% it was music. I realized really young that there were songs I loved more than others (some embarrassingly-so). Some for the melody. Some for the rhythm. Most for their lyrics. After all, lyricists are just musical poets. I would right down these terrible, gushy, 12-year-old sad-girl songs and I continued doing it poorly for years. I mean, I’m still doing it.
Creatively, whom do you look up to, if anyone? Awe [sic] man. Too hard. As far as the dead poets go, give me any one of Allen Ginsberg’s poems and I could spend a good day sucked into bittersweet internal revolution and the beats and thumps of sad cities: “Will we stroll dreaming of the lost America…”? As for the living, I have a love for the written music of lyricists Jack Antonoff and Ryan Tedder. Though they write differently, they get people. The way people feel and hurt and love nowadays.
Walk us through your typical creative day. Fair warning. This won’t be very glorious or Instagrammable. Usually, I just shove what I need into my bag the night before: computer, notebook, pen, highlighter, bus pass, headphones (a must), and coffee cash. Create a playlist: a mix of chill beats or indie tunes or something instrumental for white noise. I wake up early, help out the little bros, then head on to work with the bag. Spend work jotting down the occasional line on receipt paper (or my left hand). Head out to my nearest Starbucks or bookstore, the quieter one that doesn’t play their top 80’s too loud. Get coffee, find a spot, earphones in, and hit play. Write. It’s that simple and that hard. Creativity for me—it isn’t forced exactly—but made. If I didn’t decide to make good art, I’d never write at all. I make a moment, take a deep breath, and sort of go with it.
This from a young poet: Any tips for staying motivated when discouragement hits? Write for yourself. I can say it a thousand times and I’ll say it a thousand times more. Even if it’s for an event, for coursework, for a friend, a loved one. What makes poetry is how you perceive the world. It’s in the language you use, your colloquialisms, your experiences, and feelings. Write for you; edit for everyone else. That’s my advice. And if you think your writing is trash, save it. Leave it in your notebook for ten years or in your computer for another five because time is the best editor. That is, if you can afford to pay her fee.
Bio.
Caitlyn Dubé is a traditional artist and a full time student at Western University. With 99% of her bloodstream running on coffee, she likes to stock up on art supplies whenever she can, watch psychological thrillers, and read books by Haruki Murakami and William Gibson. When she's not writing bad poetry on napkins and receipt paper, you'll find her painting or surrounded by sketches. For more of her art, follow her on Instagram: @lipstickstains_on_coffeecups.