Poetic Justice: Featuring Christina K. Hart

Posted April 16, 2019 by Amber in Interviews, Poetic Justice / 697 Comments

Hi everyone. Today for Poetic Justice, I have Christina K. Hart doing an interview. You can check out Christina’s post from last year’s event here.

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, you can find out more here

1. What has the published journey been like for you? Were there any surprises or expectations?

When I turned 18, I self-published my first poetry collection. That was 12 years ago. I wrote it during high school and wound up removing it from distribution several years ago because I was not proud of it. I wrote it while I was so young. I had no idea what I was doing. I then self-published Empty Hotel Rooms Meant for Us in 2015, which I did not expect to do as well as it did. That was definitely a surprise. Honestly, it surprises me every single day that people buy my poetry books. I had no expectations, other than expecting them to not sell. The response to my poetry has overwhelmed my heart. It still does. Words will never adequately express how grateful I am for my readers.

2. Do you have any tips for writers who would like to either self-publish or traditionally publish a book of poetry?

I would tell them to write honestly. To stay true to their own voice. You will never get far by imitating other writers. Do you really want to be known as someone similar to XYZ? No. Pave your own path. Your people will find you. Whether self-publishing or traditionally publishing, there’s an audience for your work.

3. What poets would you recommend? (Feel free to leave social media links or books)

J.R. Rogue, Kat Savage, Alicia Cook, Grace Ann Shaw, Ottis Blades, Scott Laudati, Chris Andrews, BJ Ward.

4. What works are you currently writing?

I currently have three novels in the works. I’m also working on a list of writing prompts from J.R. Rogue and Kat Savage for the month of April. I might toss them into a little book eventually, depending on how they come out.

5. How do you keep your poetry sounding from sounding stale when writing about the same topics?

I write about love and heartbreak a lot. Maybe too much. I was having a conversation with another author, a novelist, and she asked me about poetry. I told her all it really takes to write poetry is to have one person really, truly break you. I mean ruin your whole life and then some. That’s at least what got me back into poetry after so many years. So, I wrote about it. I wrote about it until I could understand that pain. It didn’t feel like it became stale because it still felt so fresh. I think if you force yourself to write about the same topics, over and over, it will get redundant. But if you write about what you’re feeling, what hurts you, it’s always going to be different. We are constantly changing. Therefore, so is your writing.

6. If you read a lot of poetry, how do you keep your own voice when writing?

I read a lot. Poetry, fiction, non-fiction. While I love reading other styles and work from other authors, and find inspiration in many genres, I can only write from my perspective. I can only write from the places within myself. To do anything else would be insincere and would come across as such.

7. What would you like to see more of in poetry?

I would like to see more young poets create their own style instead of emulating the styles that are “popular” right now. What is “in” now may not stay that way. The wheel is always turning. We need writers to reinvent that wheel, day after day. It’s our job to bring something fresh to the table. I wish more writers would remember that.

8. How do you deal with writing about darker topics? Do you do self-care before, during or after?

I often write about darker topics. It’s sort of a running joke at this point. The fact that I can’t really seem to write many “happy” things. I think I deal with it in the same way I always have. By writing about it. That is my way of dealing with darker topics. Getting them out. Verbalizing them. Giving the pain a face. Writing is my self-care in itself.

About The Poet:

Christina Hart is a self-published author of four best-selling poetry books and six novels. She spends her time letting her dogs and bunny boss her around.