“When I'm most deeply involved in my writing, sometimes I do dream about poetry, and occasionally I wake up from a dream with a phrase that I like well enough to put it in a poem.” WritingWellsSometimesEnoughDreamInvolvedWake UpPhrases Author:James Arthur
“It's true, there aren't many explicit references to Canada in my book. And not many explicit references to the U.S., either. I try to fill my poems with enough real, observed detail that the poems create a believable world - but I don't write poems for the sake of telling my own story. My life is not important or interesting enough to warrant that kind of documentary. Instead I try to use my experience as a way of understanding situations that are common to many people. I want readers to project their own lives onto my poems.” PeopleWorldWritingTryingKindImportantBookRealEnoughUnderstandingInterestingCommonSituationExplicit Author:James Arthur
“I want each poem to be ambiguous enough that its meaning can shift, depending on the reader's own frame of reference, and depending on the reader's mood. That's why negative capability matters; if the poet stops short of fully controlling each poem's meaning, the reader can make the poem his or her own.” EnoughPoetNegativeMoodCapabilityAmbiguous Author:James Arthur
