Hey everyone. I am so glad it’s the weekend, I’m off of work and have a great interview to share with you all. Today I will be sharing an interview from Amanda N. Butler.
Poetic Justice is a month long event, beginning April 1st to April 30th in honor of National Poetry Month. Throughout April there will be interviews, guest posts, excerpts and other poetic posts. I hope you will follow along. To read the introductory post, read about my poetic background as well as the schedule for the month, you can find out more here.
Poetry has meant so much for me since I was a teenager, what does poetry mean to you?
To me, Poetry means freedom. (To my phone, it means autocorrect will capitalize the word!)
How and when did you begin writing poetry?
When I was 14 years old I moved from Massachusetts to Florida. Away from my friends, my family, and everything I knew, I turned to poetry as an outlet. Aside from a few dry spells here and there, I’ve been writing ever since.
How do you go about creating a poetry collection?
I’ve dubbed 2018 The Year of the Poetry Collection, so I love this question. My process begins with a phrase – like “Tableau Vivant” or combining the words “effervescent” and “crescent” to make “effercrescent” (the titles of my chapbooks with Dancing Girl Press) and I think of what theme matches that phrase, and go from there. I stop when the collection feels complete. To me, completion is the moment when any more poems would cease to add meaning and only repeat the message of the collection.
Have you ever dealt with a writing hiatus?
Yes, but I don’t see anything wrong with a hiatus. If I feel like my imagination is running on empty, I take a few weeks to focus on my other loves: video games and books. I find it’s healthy to flip the switch between creator and consumer.
What do you think about this sudden height that poetry has become as far as social media and publishing?
I am so thankful. As a teenager, I felt like poetry was a dying art or something that was seen as “only a phase.” Poetry has persisted, and most of my Kindle shelf is now poetry. I like to think that if every poem ever written were merged together, we would get an epic poem of the human condition.
What advice would you give to someone trying to build up their platform on social media?
Don’t just network for your own benefit. Really get to know the poetry community. Other poets are not your competition; they are your peers. Build genuine relationships and support them and their work, but don’t expect anything in return. Let your social media outreach happen organically.
Is there a writing topic that you will not write about?
I will not write sexist, ableist, or racist poems, nor will I write poems that make light of my religion.
What poets would you recommend?
Melissa Jennings, Nicholas Trandahl, Christina Strigas, Francesca Lia Block, Wislawa Szymborska, Ashly Kim, Fida Islaih, and every poet in the #poetrysquadlove movement.
What works are you currently writing?
I just finished my verse novel The Mermarium which will be coming in summer 2018! I’m currently planning the sequel (which feels like it will be the second in a trilogy!). I am also writing various other collections about fairy rings and ballet, so let’s see what the future holds.
If you were to describe poetry in one word, what would it be?
Freedom.
Tableau Vivant is a chapbook of poetry focusing on the beauty and confusion that haunts the early stage of
one’s adulthood. Main themes include mythology and flora.
effercrescent is a chapbook of poems about the moon in all its stages as it relates to the feminine at midnight.
Amanda N. Butler is the author of chapbooks “Tableau Vivant” (Dancing Girl Press, 2015) and “effercrescent” (Dancing Girl Press, 2017), as well as the microchapbook “How A Fairy Gets Her Wings” (Origami Poems Project, forthcoming). Her poetry has also appeared in Hedgerow, Haikuniverse, poems2go, and others.
She can be found on Twitter @arsamandica.
Thanks so much, Amanda! I loved this. I loved that you dubbed it “the year of the poetry collection”, how inspiring.The Mermarium sounds so amazing! I can’t wait to read it.
I hope everyone else enjoyed this interview! Please give Amanda some with a comment below or a Twitter follow. Both of which give you entries for my giveaway of one physical or one Kindle book.
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