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Welcome
to the interview where A
huge thank you to the following who supplied the questions How has your background and family influenced and inspired your writing? Like all writers, I draw on my memories and experiences in my writing. It's what makes the writing individual. But as well as that, my family also, sometimes inadvertently supply me with ideas for poems. Haircut Rap, ' Megastar Rap, Chicken Poxed, Don' ride no coconut bough down dere and many others were inspired by members of my family. Do
you think your Caribbean background makes your poetry different from
writers who have always lived in the UK? Outdooring by Valerie Bloom Done
baby, done cry, yuh madda gone a fountain Listen
to the drums, child, hear what they say The
dancers are going to leap through the air, The
smell of ackee, rice and peas, We
will touch you with cola nut, ginger, sugar and oil, So
hush, me baby, no need to cry, Sweetie
water never dry, yuh get i' dung a fountain Do you think that poetry and music have a lot in common? Have you ever tried your hand at writing song lyrics? Both poetry and music speak to the emotions and in fact I think they are closely linked. Part of the beauty of poetry is the music in the words, and a vital part of music is often the poetry in the lyrics. I have written song lyrics, some of which have been performed by an orchestra, but I also incorporate song in my poetry, and I have to write the lyrics for those sometimes. In today's world, poetry seems to be a dying art. How do you think poetry can be kept alive and how do you think that poetry influences our world? I don't actually think that poetry is a dying art. That may have been true a few years ago, but recently there has been a great upsurge in interest and practice. It's true that it doesn't enjoy the same media attention as prose, but more and more people are going to poetry readings, listening to it on radio and writing themselves. I am always inundated with requests for readings, especially on national Poetry Day, and I know this is also true for many of my fellow poets, so I think you'll find poetry is alive and kicking. Do you think that it is important to obtain a formal degree in English literature to be a good writer or can one be equally successful by pursuing writing as a hobby and honing their creativity and writing skills on their own?
There are many highly successful writers who have not formally studied
English Literature. In fact, a few have told me they felt that studying
Literature at university was a hindrance rather than a help, and analyzing
the works of great writers left them feeling inadequate. I think it's
important to love books and to read as much as possible, but a formal
qualification will not necessarily make you a better writer. A degree
in creative writer might be useful, but again, not essential. The biggest challenge has been trying to juggle writing with school visits, performances at festivals, conferences and so on. I'm always panicking as publishing deadlines loom and the books/poems/stories/ have not been started. I manage by going without holidays. I don't often suffer from writers' block because I always have several projects on at once and if I get stuck on one, I switch to another. That's the good thing about working in different genres. What sort of thing are you normally doing when you come up with your best poems? Sometimes
the best poems creep up on me when I least expect them. I might be cooking
when an idea hits. I might be gardening, watching a TV programme, but
often I'm trvelling on the train to a gig somewhere. Perseverance, dedication, self-belief and a thick skin (for those rejection letters). Big Bang by Valerie Bloom They
tell me that a big, big bang, As a poet, is it possible for you to make friends with other poets? We
are often invited to the same book festivals, sometimes we meet in schools
for book weeks and many of us share the same publishers. A few of us
are also anthologists, and as such are forever writing to each other
with requests for poems, so yes it's very easy to be friends with other
poets. Favourites change all the time. For a long time I was very fond of 'Fruits', and I still am, but as I write others jostle for position. 'Sandwich' is a firm favourite with audiences and so I am very attached to it as well. ' Al Caprawn', a poem about a gangster shrimp is a favourite because my daughter does it with a wonderful accent, just like Al Capone, the American Gangster from the movies. Others have a special place in my heart for one reason or another, a bit like children. What are you reading at the moment? I have been trying to cut down on the reading while I finish my next novel, but books are so hard to ignore, and without meaning to, I've found myself reading Eoin Colfer's latest, The Supernaturalist. My daughter had just read it and enjoyed it so much that I couldn't resist. What are your other interests besides writing? Besides
writing I love reading (obviously), cooking (I make a mean vegetarian
curry and my Jamaican patties are not too bad either), gardening (but
I never have enough time to do as much as I'd like. I wish I could spend
more time with my hundred or so bonsai plants) and playing word games
(especially Scrabble and Upwords, but again I haven't too much time
for those). I used to have dogs and cats in Jamaica, but here I've got some fish in a pond. Next
Door's Cat by Valerie Bloom Read as much poetry as you can; you'll learn a lot from people who have already done it, both what to do and what not to do. Listen to poetry if you can, the sound of poems is important. Keep writing. The more you write, the better you'll get, hopefully, and experiment with different forms and different voices. What do you want to be when you grow up? It's a genetic condition I'm afraid. The doctor says I'm never going to grow any more. Just as well I'm doing what I've always wanted to do. Thanks to everyone who sent Valerie questions, especially Suchaita who sent lots of very good ones. And thanks to Valerie. Bye for now... Outdooring
and Big Bang © Valerie Bloom from Whoop an' Shout
Whoop
an' Shout by Valerie Bloom
Surprising Joy by Valerie Bloom (Macmillan Children's Books) The eagerly awaited first novel from one of the UK's finest poets. Joy has spent her life with her grandmother in Jamaica, steeped in Jamaican culture, sunshine and traditions. Until the day her dream comes true: Joy's mother, who moved to England when Joy was a baby, writes to say that she's ready for her daughter to come and join her. Joy can hardly contain her excitement. Packing, saying goodbye to all she has loved and the journey all add to it. But London in December is a shock. It's cold and dark and unfriendly. Even so, it's nothing to the shock that awaits when she goes to live with her mother... Visit Valerie Bloom's website at www.valbloom.co.uk Valerie's
other books include -
Fruits (Macmillan Children's Books 1997) Back to the top of the poet tree, please.
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