5 Questions, 3 Facts
Press 53 is proud to start the week off with poet Clare L. Martin, whose new collection, Eating the Heart First, is just as stunning as its title suggests. The book comes out October 1, but you can receive it in early September by pre-ordering it. Trust us, this is the kind of book you want in your hands sooner rather than later. Still not convinced? Check out our talk with Clare below, and you will be.
P53: Is there a certain kind of place that inspires you and your poetry? What about a place that you write in—what needs to be there in order for you to concentrate and feel good in your space?
CM: A long drive on a black road inspires me. The Louisiana scenic landscape inspires me. A secret road that leads to water inspires me. Waking up naturally is great –no alarms or shouts, and getting a good caffeine buzz to
generate my creativity helps.
I need a dinner plate-sized area of free space around my mouse on my desk to be able to navigate with it and clear access to the keyboard. I share my writing space with my family (I work in the living room) and a terribly messy, pushy cat.
I would love a glitch-less virtual environment to write within and through which I can connect to publishers and other poets online.
I do keep paper and pen close at all times. I like to write dressed in PJs and barefooted, sometimes wearing a fancy hat.
P53: What place would you most like to travel to?
CM: We have family in northwest Montana, near Glacier Park. We love it there. I
love Louisiana and enjoy parks and natural areas of my home state. I have
never been on a secluded tropical island. I think I would like to travel to
Fiji, just once, and vacation like Oprah, or hang out with Mick Jagger on
Mustique Island, nestled in the Grenadine Islands of St. Vincent in the
Caribbean.
P53: What kind of music do you listen to? Do you ever listen to music while
writing?
CM: I listen to music when writing, yes. Not always, but much of the time,
because I am in a room with a TV and people watching it and I need to
separate myself from that. I can handle the environment. I like the tension
it creates and I also feel like my spirit needs to be with my family even
when I am engaged in the solitary act of writing.
I listen to a hand-me-down iPod from my teen-aged daughter that I have
loaded with The Rolling Stones, Adele, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Eminem, Beck,
The Black Eyed Peas, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Florence and The Machine,
The White Stripes, Portishead, David Bowie and The Clash.
P53: Who are the writers and poets who inspired you to write?
CM: Too many to name but at the top of the list are James Dickey, Sylvia Plath,
Anne Sexton, Rainier Maria Rilke, Mary Oliver, and many, many contemporaries
who are emerging as we speak.
P53: What’s the longest amount of time you’ve spent working on a single line
of poetry?
CM: I am really not sure of this question. I work with a ferocity that overtakes
me and a concept of time is lost to me. I do, however, have many lines that
I have pulled and cut out of poems that I call “Enigmatic Orphans.” New
work has often been birthed by these strange, lonely creatures.
Three Facts About Clare:
1. I am the baby of the family.
2. I am a Scorpio Monkey.
3. I have always believed I was destined for greatness.
