Levertov’s Final Interview
I don’t know if it’s because I am not as well read yet as I’d like to be, but I am not familiar with Levertov’s poetry; however, I enjoyed reading her interview quite a bit and will be looking into her work.
I love that writing poetry was natural to her; she just “had the impulse to do so.” Not only that, but she hardly even attended school. This is just raw talent; granted she seemed to refine it as she matured and worked with other poets. She was not only writing poetry at a young age but was also interested in ballet and painting. She was obviously very artistic with many interests and possibilities. These are characteristics of gifted children (too many potential careers and strong intrinsic motivation).
I also appreciate that she says she learned her craft “by writing and a lot of reading.” I believe that good writing requires both being well read and a lot of practice. I find it interesting that since she didn’t go to school, she “never had to read anything (she) didn’t want to read, or write anything (she) didn’t want to write.”
I really liked reading that William Carlos Williams’ poetry helped her adjust to American life and expressing herself in this new place. Poetry is such a person expression that has the potential to exclude, include, or inform about/with others’ experiences; it’s up to the reader.
When asked if she chooses the subjects or her poems or if they choose her, her response, “there’s very little strictly deliberate about anything I do,” is great. I can totally relate; what I write depends on the subject, when and where it hits me, what I’m trying to express, and how I’m feeling.
I found her response to the question about revising her work to be very illuminating. I like to see this process in an accomplished poet. Before this class, I thought my poems should stay in the raw, first form in which they came to me in order to best express the emotion of the experience. I now appreciate the value of revisiting and revising.
What I appreciated most in this interview was when she admitted her concerns about losing some credibility when she started writing about her religious beliefs. She goes on to imply that regardless of the religion, being honest about the search and yearning for the something more seemed to appeal to her readers. I found this of particular interest because I had similar concerns about sharing my more spiritual poems in this class. I was worried that people would red my religious poems and form a bias against my other, non-religious poems. My spirituality is a very important part of me, but it is still only a part of me. And I do want to express things from various parts of my experience.
Toolkit for Poets
At first glance, this site is rather overwhelming, but after perusing a bit, I discovered that it is not only manageable but a great resource. The list of links is organized in to great categories, and each link is given a good description so time isn’t wasted exploring site that are not what you want. This site is a great tool for both the experienced and the novice poet brought to a stand-still with writer’s block, the perfect word, proper allusions, or publishing opportunities. It is also simple enough to be navigated by the not-so-tech-savvy individual. It is also a great source for the English classroom from elementary on through graduate studies (a range that broad if tough to come by). You could follow the links to other pages with links on to an endless journey of information. Not a lot of pretty bells and whistles, but I think they would only detract from the practicalness of this site.
Resources for poets
I found this site to be helpful but much less comprehensive than the toolkit. I think it is geared more for someone that tends to be overwhelmed with too many options. While it has descriptions of each link, the descriptions are not as detailed. The links are not categorized either. While this includes a link to poetry communities, the only thing the toolkit seemed to be missing, most of the other sites seem more geared to the novice or casual poet.
About Me
- prematurely gray
- teacher, youth director, student...but my most important roles are father and husband
4 comments:
You and I have reviewed some of the same sources and yet I found new things in those sources by reading your reviews of them. Thanks!
Your comments about the Levertov interview and her thoughts about the review process were very helpful to me. I have never really written any poetry prior to this class, and any help I can get on how to revise poetry is greatly appreciated. Writing poetry and revising it is very different from the other writing I do. All other forms of writing are very easy and natural for me, but poetry is kicking my butt!
I agree about the Levertov interview. I don't like reading author interviews that much as I have said a couple times in other blogs, but your discussion of her interview site is very detailed and interesting. I look forward to looking into it.
I also have already reviewed your last tow sites and I agree that they are both wonderful websites. I really like the toolkit site. Everyone should spend some time playing on that one.
Simply stupendous entries--I admit I snuck Levertov on there because she is one of my favorite poets of all time (she writes a good deal about the natural world, and I'm basically a nature poet although my work also connects with spirituality).
I am not a well-read student as far as poets, poetry, or pedogogical writings. I think because I have been working on an MS in Management and have only recently decided to get into taking English courses. This absence of literary understands and knowledge has somewhat hindered my discovery of poetry. But the web sites and journaling we are required to accomplish has helped get me thinking into what literary direction I want to find out things about.
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