“It's not realistic to imagine that any poem will last forever. Our species won't last forever! We try to capture and preserve our impressions of reality because it's all going away: everything we think and remember, everything we've ever felt, everyone we love.” ThinkingTryingRealityLastsRememberFeltForeverImagineSpeciesImpressionPreservesGoing AwayCaptureRealisticImagine ThatRemembers Everything Author:James Arthur
“For me, poetry is a way of thinking, and like many poets, I'm driven by the idea of trying to find the impossible, perfect words: the words that will hold my subject.” ThinkingWayTryingIdeasPerfectImpossibleSubjectsPoetDrivenPoetry IsWay Of Thinking Author:James Arthur
“I try not to think in terms of what poems or poets should do. Most of us appreciate a wide diversity in music, in cooking, in movies, but in our own medium, poetry, we often fail to make allowances for tastes and projects other than our own.” ThinkingShouldTryingTermFailingPoetTasteDiversityProjectsAppreciateCookingWideMediumsAllowance 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 do like Canadian poetry. Christian Bök, Anne Carson, Carmine Starnino, and Don McKay are a few of the Canadian poets whose work has been important to me. But I'm not sure that I do see poetry as a world apart. Some of my metaphors are based in the fantastic, but I try to be true to life as I understand it. That understanding is affected by my Canadianness, my Americanness, my whiteness, my gender, my age, my education, my experience...everything about me affects my view of reality. But I try to wrestle against those partialities, not embrace them.” WorldTryingImportantRealityAgeChristianUnderstandingPoetEmbraceMetaphorGenderBeing TrueFantasticNot SureTrue LifePartiality Author:James Arthur
“I don't think I did write any poems to fill narrative gaps. Not consciously, anyway. As much as possible, I try to discover my poems' subject matter through the act of writing, instead of deciding ahead of time what my poems will be about.” ThinkingWritingTrying Author:James Arthur
“Start listening to what you say. Are your comments and ideas negative? You aren't going become positive if you always say negative things. Do you hear yourself say"I could never do that","I never have any luck","I never get things right". Wow - that's negative self-talk! Try saying"I am going to do that","I am so lucky""I always try to get things right". Can you hear how much better that sounds?” IfsTryingIdeasSelfSoundInspiringListeningLuckyNegativeLuckCommentWowSo LuckySelf Talk Author:James Arthur
