Joan Poulson - travelling across the Universe - Got the Hump Gran says if she were a witch she'd turn our cat (who's grumpy, who's always got the hump) into a camel. I'd like that, no one else in our street has a camel-flap. Got the Hump is from Joan's excellent book of poems Pictures In My Mind which you can buy in the The Poetry Zone shop. Hello, Joan, and welcome to the Poetry Zone. Tell us - why do you write poems? Because I love it - from the first idea to the very last draft. When do you write? Every day, unless I'm travelling - working in schools & libraries. I think it's useful to write something each day to keep my writing hand & my mind flexible. Where do you get ideas? Anywhere & everywhere but often it's when two things come together in my mind. I play games, too - when I was editing my new book of wacky food poems Sling a Jammy Doughnut, I wrote down everything about food that makes me laugh: fast food (racing burgers, speeding sausages.....), magic food, being greedy.........gradually, my poem The Singing Sausage arrived. Watch out for Joan's mouth-watering collection of poems about food which will be on sale in August. What else do you do if you're stuck for ideas? Go for a walk, take a ride on my bicycle, go swimming. I find that movement, then sitting somewhere (a cafe!) with the intention of writing usually brings at least the first draft of a poem. Who is your favourite poet? Mmm, this changes but for a long time two faves have been Carol Ann Duffy and Brian Patten. My Desert Island Favourites would have to include Adrian Mitchell & American poet Billy Collins. Which of your own poems do you like best? This changes too, usually something I've just finished but since I worked on my collection Pictures In My Mind I've really liked Song About A Drummer. It's one I always include in readings but it isn't easy to read aloud - it's full of rhythm and needs to be read quite fast. A much shorter poem, one I wrote for my novel Dear Ms is Luv: I gorra luv meself, that's wa' me Grandad sez. Gorra luv yerself, luv coz nevva, no-ways'll other folk luv yer if you don't luv yerself. Gorra luv meself, he says. An' I do! What were your ambitions when you were at school? To escape! Then, to travel and become a writer. Didn't you like school? Not a lot. I had some useless teachers, other really unkind ones. The only good year was Year 6 with a brilliant, fair teacher. He read us amazing stories & introduced us to songs and rhythm. Where were you born and how far have you travelled? I was born in Manchester & I've always lived in the north, mostly in Lancashire but I've travelled the length and breadth of the Universe! In real time and space, I've been to India, many European countries, Scandinavia & parts of North America. Where is the most interesting place you've written a poem? At nightfall, sitting by a campfire in a jungle in south India. Where is the most interesting place you've given a reading? On a play-scheme in Taos, New Mexico, a 'high desert' region where the earth was too hot to walk on barefoot. Who is the most famous person you've met? Some years ago I had readings in libraries & bookstores in California & met Shel Silverstein. We were both in San Francisco where some journalists compared our work. I said (& still think) our work has few similarities but he suggested a meeting. He was a wonderful man. What's the most unusual thing that's happened to you? Probably being struck by lightning, or facing an angry bull elephant in south India, or making a spell (which worked!) to rid my garden of greenfly. Which person, living or dead, do you most admire? There are two. Nelson Mandela & Thich Nhat Hahn: wise, strong men who have spent their lives engaged in non-violent protest for peace. As indigenous North American people say, they 'walk their talk'. Someone dead would be American painter Georgia O'Keefe - very gifted but, even more important, she had incredible focus (vital for success at anything!). What advice would you give a new poet? Oh, I don't give advice - but I'd suggest that someone who really wants to write starts reading & never stops. Other suggestions might include: keep on going, don't ever let anyone put you off, ask loads of questions (much more interesting than answers!) above all, be curious. Thank you very much, Joan. I wish I could go back to the top