Sherry
Johnson is the author
of two books of poetry, Pale Grace and Hymns to Phenomena.
Her poems have appeared in many journals, magazines and anthologies, most
recently in The Malahat Review and forthcoming in CV2 and The
Iowa Review. Also a film critic, her articles have appeared in Senses of
Cinema, MUBI Notebook, the Swedish academic journal Film
International and others.
How did
you begin writing, and what keeps you going?
I was an avid
reader from an early age and began writing poetry in my early teens. At the age
of about 12 I first encountered Emily Dickinson (There is a certain slant of
light) and Alfred Lord Tennyson (Break, break, break,\On thy cold gray stones,
O Sea!\And I would that my tongue could utter\The thoughts that arise in me.)
Their language recurred in my mind, and the feeling their poetry initially gave
me was like that of shock combined with extreme joy. I began to suspect that I
was a poet like them, and wrote a lot of bad poetry as any beginner does. I
write poetry I suppose in order to recapture that initial feeling of
discovering language for the sake of language. What fuels my language is often
the language of other poets, the favorites I keep returning to, and there are
always new discoveries. I am currently completing a manuscript of all
ekphrasis. So aside from influences of language, I am also influenced by the
visual language of whatever subject I choose to focus on. What has surprised me
about ekphrasis is just how varied my response has been to the many visual
works I have chosen. I never know what will unfold when I sit down to write a
new poem. And what is most unexpected is what makes it all gratifying in the
end.
What poets
have influenced the ways in which you write?
There are too
many to list here of course and as I noted, my poetry is influenced by factors
other than poetry. In Canada, I especially admire Anne Carson, Anne
Szumigalski, Margaret Atwood, Margaret Avison, Christopher Dewdney and Sharon
Thesen is a poet I have been wanting to return to. I read a couple of poems
which took my breath away online and I'm wondering why her work is not
everywhere. I'm going to order her book The Receiver sometime soon. For
American poets I especially love C. D. Wright, Mary Jo Bang, John Yau and
Charles Wright. Celan in German and Rimbaud in French. In Italian, I love
Eugenio Montale, although I don't really read Italian. I just read Montale.
Have you
noticed a difference in the ways in which you approach the individual poem
after you began publishing full-length collections?
The more I
write I think the more I seek perfection and work harder at the craft aspect of
writing, maybe too much sometimes. Writing is certainly more than inspiration.
At the same time though I've become more open about the direction a poem will
take. I realize that the possibilities of poetry are almost endless.
How
important has mentorship been to your work? Is there anyone who specifically
assisted your development as a writer?
Many people
assisted me as a young writer. In hindsight, I feel I learned the most from
Anne Szumigalski, as an example of a woman who labored and labored against the
odds. She was a truly amazing woman. I attended a writing group in her house in
the late 90s where she awed us with her erudition, linguistic attainments (I
believe that by the time of her death she had studied over 20 languages) and
her fantastic scones and homemade jams.
You’ve
published poetry as well as film criticism. What is the difference between
working on poems to working critical prose? Do the two sides of your writing
interact at all?
There is some
confluence in mood\subject\approach between poem and essay to be sure. Of
course I don't wish to be too clinical in a poem or too flighty in an article.
I only write criticism about films I find to be truly inspiring, so I do try to
temper myself. And I do long to say something in a poem, even if I know it
isn't necessary.
Can you name
a poet you think should be receiving more attention?
Are people
familiar with John Yau's poetry in Canada?!! It is something I have only
discovered in the past couple of years. I encountered Yau through an article he
had written on Cy Twombly. I love Twombly's paintings and Yau managed to
express so much I couldn't have elucidated myself regarding his work. From
there, I read his poetry and a really awesome anthology he put together of
poets writing on the painter Neo Rauch. Also, I was truly impressed with a poem
on the train site recently by David Martin. I don't know if I've ever read his
poetry anywhere else, but I know I'd like to read more.
