This spring I was interviewed by Spencer Folkins, a young writer and a representative of the Writers' Federation of New Brunswick. Here's the interview which appeared on a page for Young Writers of New Brunswick: Spencer Folkins > Young Writers of New Brunswick, March 27, 2016 From my interview with poet Greg Santos: Q: How do you get in the writing mindset? A: I'm not one to wait for inspiration to hit. With two small kids keeping me on my toes, I write whenever I am able, which often means after everyone's in bed at the end of the day. I used to keep a Moleskine notebook on me at all times, but I found that I would occasionally forget it when I went out. What I never forget, for better or worse, is my phone, so I tend to jot down any lines, thoughts, or ideas on my Notes app. This makes it easier to send work to myself by email so I can type it up and work on afterward at my own leisure. Q: As a poet, do you have an idea of where a piece of writing will go and what bends it will take as your writing it, or do you just go along with whatever happens next? A: It depends on the poem. Sometimes I have an idea or theme that I try to follow through with but more often than not, I like to see where the poem leads me. It might sound hokey but sometimes you just have to let the poem take you where it wants to go. Q: When did you start writing? A: I was around fifteen years old. My first poems were diary entries and song lyrics. Q: Can you tell us about teaching the art of verse to at-risk youth? A: I believe that everyone has a story to tell, but not everyone believes they have it in them to tell that story. I see myself as a kind of coach, showing my students how passionate I am, and hopefully some of that enthusiasm rubs off on them. I've worked with a wide-range of demographics, including students with learning disabilities, video conferencing sessions for remote communities in rural Quebec, and juvenile lockdown facilities. It's all been an extremely challenging yet rewarding experience. Q: How long have you been involved with this initiative? How do kids react? A: I started working with at-risk youth around 2007 when I began one-on-one tutoring at a Community Book Bank in Connecticut. I was tutoring regularly every week, when a good friend of mine suggested I teach a creative writing class, so I pitched the idea, and before long I was teaching a regular poetry workshop every week to a group of talented and eager little kids. From there I've never looked back. Kids reactions have ranged from "Cool!" to giving me a weird look and saying "Your job is to play with words?" Q: What advice do you have for young writers? A: Read, read, and read as many contemporary AND classic poets as you can. Where does your writing fit on the spectrum? Discover what poetry came before yours and what is currently being written. Then read the news, scroll through your Facebook and Twitter feeds, devour books of fiction and non-fiction, graphic novels, binge watch something good on Netflix. Get inspired by the world around you. Good literature doesn't exist in a vacuum. In-between all of that reading? Write! Q: Can you explain or try to explain how ideas for a poem first come to you? A: I like to say that my poems come from "living a life poetic." That means being open to all the poetic possibilities that reside around us in our day to day lives. A poem can come from watching a good movie, an overheard conversation, a story in the news, from checking social media, the possibilities are truly endless. The job of the poet is to act as a filter, sifting, and editing out whatever poetic gold nuggets we can find. Q: Can you give the young writers of this group a writing prompt? (can be for any kind of writing, poetry, short story, etc) A: When I'm stuck with no ideas, I like to write blackout poetry. The premise is pretty simple: 1 - Grab a newspaper or magazine. Pick a page. Any page. 2 - Next grab a black marker. 3 - Be on the lookout for words that stand out, find an "anchor" word that would be a good first word. Circle it. Then keep looking for the next words and circle those. Keep going until you discover your poem within! Black out all the words you don't need. Voila! A blackout poem. For good newspaper blackout examples, check out author, Austin Kleon's website: http://newspaperblackout.com/ Create your own online erasure poems using the following website: http://erasures.wavepoetry.com/ _____ Spencer Folkins is an 18-year-old writer from Sussex, New Brunswick. His poems and articles have been featured online and in five anthologies and one magazine for young writers. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick and is the recipient of the 2014 New Brunswick Day Merit Award for Arts and Culture. This fall he will be attending St. Thomas University to study English Language & Literature. _____ Greg Santos is the author of two full-length collections of poetry, The Emperor's Sofa (DC Books, 2010), and most recently, Rabbit Punch! (DC Books, 2014). His writing has appeared in publications including The Walrus, Geist, Vallum, The Feathertale Review, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, McSweeney's, and The Best American Poetry. Santos is the poetry editor for the online literary journal, carte blanche. He teaches creative writing to young people through organizations including QWF's Writers in the Community, Vallum Society for Education in Arts & Letters, New Haven Reads, and LOVE: Leave Out Violence. Santos lives in Montreal with his family.
