“My path to poetry was slow and meandering. When I eventually found my way to graduate school at 29, making a life as a poet seemed like a bohemian fantasy. But maybe my zigzagging trajectory is just an excuse for tardiness, when fear is really the root of any reason I might give. My perfectionism and pace are certainly driven by fear that a poem is imperfect or incomplete. More significantly, my struggle to fully dedicate myself to poetry was a fear of failure.” GivingReasonSchoolFantasyStrugglePathPoetExcuseDrivenMy WayGraduatesImperfectFear Of FailureIncompletePerfectionismGraduate SchoolBohemianMy Struggle Author:Robin Beth Schaer
“When I was young, my knowledge of the literary world was a distorted tabloid sketch of dazzling fame, suffering genius, and tragic glamour. It was all very naïve. Of course, the only part of the stereotype that has proven true is the suffering and the starving. Now, my fantasy of scribbling poems in a tower is gone, but an anxiety about reviews, book sales, and awards has taken its place.” WorldBookSufferingFantasyTakenGeniusFameAnxietyTragicStereotypeGlamour Author:Robin Beth Schaer