Q&A

Q&A VERSES and Vibes

Writer Campbell McGrath dishes on the POWER of poetry

By Kristen Desmond LeFevre

S i n c e A p r i l i s N a t i o n a l P o e t r y M o n t h , w e c a u g h t u p w i t h p o e t , P u l i t z e r P r i z e f i n a l i s t , a n d F I U d i s t i n g u i s h e d p r o f e s s o r C a m p b e l l M c G r a t h . H e ’ s a u t h o r e d 1 5 b o o k s o f p o e t r y — m o s t r e c e n t l y , N o u n s & V e r b s : N e w a n d S e l e c t e d P o e m s . H e ’ s a r e c i p i e n t o f t h e M a c A r t h u r F o u n d a t i o n “ g e n i u s g r a n t , ” a n d h i s w o r k h a s a p p e a r e d i n T h e N e w Y o r k T i m e s , T h e P a r i s R e v i e w , a n d T h e N e w Y o r k e r . T h o s e b o n a f i d e s a s i d e , M c G r a t h s a y s p o e t r y i s f o r e v e r y o n e . A l l y o u n e e d t o d o , h e s a y s , i s g i v e i t a c h a n c e .

AM: Can you give us a peek into your writing process?

Campbell McGrath: A lot of my colleagues believe that to be a real writer, you’ve got to write every day, and that’s a good goal. I’m trying to be alive to the wounds in the world every day, but that doesn’t always mean I write them down daily. I try to write in my notebook, if not every day, then at least a lot. I’m writing down ideas, images, things I’m thinking about, things that might be useful. And then it takes time to go back to that material and really explore it and say, “What do I have here?” and, “How will I turn these into a poem?”

How would you describe your voice?

When people say, “Oh, that’s typical Campbell McGrath,” it’s probably because the poem is about America and culture. It probably has a sense of ironic, humorous, fun-poking darkness that explores the tragic comedy of American culture. You know, the kinds of things you’d cry about if you didn’t laugh at them. I’m a big fan of American culture. I’m very attuned to its bizarreness and senselessness. So that tends to be the thing I write about, and where my style lands.

Was poetry always the goal?

I’ve always loved books in a very particular way. I loved reading, but when it came time to write something, I liked writing poems. But did I think back then that writing poetry was a thing you could do with your life? No, I sure did not.

Can you teach a person how to be a poet, or is it a talent you’re born with?

No one would ever say, “Can you teach someone to play basketball?” You can’t teach them to be Michael Jordan, but you can teach them to play the game to their best potential. Poetry is a craft in the same way a sport is: Anybody can learn it. You can learn to play basketball by yourself in your driveway. But if you have a coach (or in the case of poetry, a professor or a teacher) who works with you, you bring the learning curve down. I’m still learning all the time—and I feel like I’ve literally written like 5 million poems. But if I wasn’t still learning, I would be bored of it.

Are the days of the starving poet over?

You know, starving is not a very good strategy for a poet. You starve and then you die and then you don’t write anything. I haven’t had a student in a long time who had that kind of starving poet vision. They know it isn’t about starving; it’s about getting the poems written and finding a way to erect a scaffolding to make a sensible life that enables them to write poems.

You’re pretty prolific. What keeps you writing and getting published?

I feel like part of your task as an artist is to squeeze all the juice from the lemon. Whatever amount of talent or inspiration I have, I feel I’m beholden to try to put it out in the world. Now, the world may throw it in the dustbin and say, “This was terrible. We don’t even want it!” But when I started winning prizes and stuff, I really began to feel the need to do this as seriously as possible. When you’re lucky enough to be enabled like that, I think there’s an obligation to be prolific. That said, some of our best poets are not prolific. Poetry, in particular, is really about density and condensation. One drop of it can be enough sometimes. But I’m just trying to get as many drops out there as I can. I don’t want to leave anything unsaid that I might’ve said. If I can say it well enough.

l VISIT AVENTURAMAGAZINE.COM TO READ MCGRATH’S POEM, THE EVERGLADES—ONE OF HIS MANY FLORIDA-CENTRIC POEMS.

COURTESY CAMPBELL MCGRATH