Poetry Parlour See what Leaguers have to say about poetry, pandemic, and online events
Thank you to everyone who responded to the most recent Poetry Pause questions! Check out our new batch of questions.
How has the COVID-19 Pandemic affected or influenced your poetry? Claudia Radmore: Life has become more like a river, a small one like our Mississippi without swimmers, without the pressure to join in group activities, family gatherings, visits and visitors, all of which I like but did not miss too much. My mind can float undisturbed, slowing down to a time when it’s peaceful long enough to write or pick strawberries, the latter a little more difficult thing to do in a mask. Louise Carson: Not at all. Not yet, anyway. Merle Amodeo: I’ve written very little since the start of the pandemic, so it’s hard to fathom how my poetry has been affected. Maybe it’s because I seem to write more when I’m feeling light hearted and open and right now I’m down hearted and pensive. It’s what I like most about writing, the feeling that I’m creating, and I miss it terribly. Vladimir Nicolas: COVID-19 affect-
ed my poetry on a positive way. My regular work was closed as non-essential business. So, locked for two months at home while I went outside for essential shopping and daily walking, I got surabondant time to write more. That’ s why i have written three poetry book collections during my “poetic” retreat to the noise of the world. Carol MacKay: It put me in waiting mode. Instead of writing new material, I worked to revise, hone, re-work pieces I wrote pre-pandemic. I’m gradually coming out of that phase now. I needed to allow some distance from the overwhelming first days of COVID to begin to understand its impact. Isobel Cunningham: I write more about my neighborhood and my garden. Anne Burke: Since Joe Blade’s passing, I have turned to the elegy as my primary poetry form. I have gone inward (more so) and deep (much more) because a world-wide lockdown has reduced us to the spirit world to backyards and laneways. Neighbours pass by, with sudden detours but polite acknowledgements. Elana Wolff: I’ve avoided using the words COVID-19, corona, and pan-
