Today’s Feature Friday is an interview with poet and blogger, Paula Cary. Her work is featured in several places both print and online. Her blog, Poet Hound, features tips, interviews and more for poets everywhere. On with the interview!
How would you describe the role that poetry plays in your life?
It is an everyday part of my life, I really cannot see myself living without it. I read poetry every day and I correspond with poets from all over the world every day. Poetry is as important as friends and family.
Who are your favorite poets, and why?
It’s a big list, but I’ll try to keep it short: My Dad introduced me to Edgar Allen Poe and Emily Dickinson among his own large stack of literature and so they are both near and dear to my heart. When I feel the muse is gone I read them.
Pablo Neruda was introduced to me by a Spanish teacher in high school and I turn to him when I am feeling passionate about love and life.
For the poets I read and write to now, it would be all the ones who have appeared in Poet Hound interviews. Justin Barrett, Hosho McCreesh, Aleathia Drehmer, Don Wentworth, Ed Galing, Chris Cunningham, and so many more that I can’t possibly list them all. I can only say that I thoroughly enjoy connecting with poets whose work intrigues me.
What are the books on your bedstand (or other place you stash your current reads) right now?
It’s a big list for the ones on my nightstand: Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Women In Praise of the Sacred edited by Jane Hirshfield, Domino (interior decorating), Scrapbook for Living by Bunny Williams (another interior decorating book), The Constant Art of Being a Writer by N.M. Kelby, and stacks of magazines which I won’t bother adding to the list.
On my desk is a stack of poetry books and chapbooks waiting their turn to be read and featured on the Poet Hound blog whose titles I won’t list here, too many to name and besides, you’ll see them all on Poet Hound.
Tell us about your creative process, do you have a formula for poetic success?
I would say perseverance. That is really the only formula I have, it has been constant trial and error for me to find out where to send my poems and how to get them published. Eventually you stumble onto a path that actually leads somewhere, you just have to keep the search going and never give up. As I learn, so do my readers.
Where can readers find your work?
My poem, “Blues in the Living Room” can be found on-line at Alternating Current’s Abandoned Blogs Project using the link below:
http://figmentofyourowncontamination.blogspot.com/
Otherwise my work appears in Poeisis, Nerve Cowboy, and will soon appear in Literary Mary.
Could you share one of your poems with us?
I’ll share a short one featured in Nerve Cowboy’s Issue Number 27, Spring 2009:
My Hero
Saves me from the runaway train,
scoops me up into his arms
and whispers into the curve of my ear:
“I’ll do the laundry.”
How did Poet Hound come into being?
Poet Hound was borne out of frustration when my poetry group disbanded because everyone had moved away one by one. I was writing for fun but wasn’t sure how to get published or how to format a manuscript to send poems to editors and couldn’t find any helpful information on the internet. When I did find some “how-to” tips they were often accompanied with discouraging remarks such as “there are too many poets and too many bad poems out there.” I can’t remember what websites and blogs those were but there were too many for my taste and so I decided to start my own blog that would introduce people to poetry as I expanded my own tastes and help people learn how to publish their poems as I was learning how. So far it has been a lot of fun and a great success.
Paula Cary lives in Florida with her husband and their cat that must be a descendant of Hemingway’s famous cats because he has the unusual extra thumbs. In addition to writing and enjoying the Florida sunshine she is determined to prove that poetry is accessible to everyone through her blog http://poethound.blogspot.com
A big thanks to Paula for participating in Feature Friday, what a great interview! Readers are welcome to leave questions or comments for her below. Also, don’t forget to check out her blog!
My Literary Quest 
Great interview – love the funny twist at the end of the poem included. 🙂
nice interview
Thank you for this wonderful interview! I find it incredibly comforting that I’m not the only one with stacks and piles and mounds and sometimes even slews of books around the house, waiting to be read. I sometimes wonder if they judge me in their silent, subtle way, or if they understand and await my arrival with the grace of their wondrous selves. I wonder…
Yay for Paula! Nice to see her get a little ink for a change–she does so much for the small press community! Congrats to her & thank you to My Literary Quest for posting.
Thanks for all the wonderful comments everyone!
Pam: Glad you liked the twist in my little poem
rdl: Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog, too.
Jodi, thanks for taking the time to interview me, it’s fun to be on the other side.
Kat: Yes, I often wonder how many people out there have piles and piles of books surrounding them, thanks for revealing yourself so I know I am not alone.
Hosh: Thanks for the accolades, that means a lot to me.
Thanks for being a part of my blog, everyone enjoyed the interview! Having great talent like you makes it all worthwhile.
excellent interview and ‘perserverance’ is a great word of advice to aspiring writers…
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