15 replies to this topic

[1237]

Welcome to the first installment of featured poet/artist!

This week, Ectomy will be our featured poet. Feel free to ask him questions about his works and such. I'm thinking of having this every other week or so but we'll see how things go so participate and have fun. Similar rules apply from featured member. You don't have to answer questions that are too personal, duplicate questions, etc.

And if there are any problems, feel free to contact either Hyena or I. Without further ado:

1. Do you have a favorite poet? If so, who?

2. How about a favorite poem?

3. What inspired you to start writing?

4. If you could choose any 2 works you've posted on ec for people to read, which ones would they be and why?(links if you don't mind)

[Ectomy]

1. Do you have a favorite poet? If so, who?
Ellen Hopkins. I like that she writes about things that are actually interesting as opposed to the billion poems about death or stories or profound things no one wants to understand.

2. How about a favorite poem?


I love how angry this is :]

3. What inspired you to start writing?
I started writing at about six when I could never find books I liked. They were all about kids about my age with problems like "I want a puppy" or "This book report is hard to do" or "I can't find my hamster" - I was sick of reading about all these kids with great lives, all these kids who were exactly what everyone else was - making them fake.

My first story ever was a Harry Potter fanfic.

Poetry just sort of happened, and it happened pretty recently. I mean, I almost never wrote any poetry before I started posting it here. It's not like I have notebooks full of it or anything... as a matter of fact, I usually write it in the forum itself and don't save it anywhere.

4. If you could choose any 2 works you've posted on EC for people to read, which ones would they be and why?(links if you don't mind)

I like this one, I suppose.
http://www.emo-corne...showtopic=47992

Kind of like this one too.
http://www.emo-corne...showtopic=42597

As for the reasons, I don't really have any. All my writing is spur-of-the-moment and I'm not particularly attached to any of them.

[Infinity]

I guess my question is what is your method for writing? Do you have an idea and try to plan that and then write it out or do you just write whatever comes into your head and make that into a poem?

What types of poems do you enjoy reading the most? (happy, sad? rhyming, free verse?)

Do you think that poetry is a dying art form?

[Ectomy]

I guess my question is what is your method for writing? Do you have an idea and try to plan that and then write it out or do you just write whatever comes into your head and make that into a poem?
Whatever's in my head. Usually it in some way reflects whatever song I was listening to at the moment, like for example, the one I wrote earlier today was inspired almost entirely by the song linked below.
http://www.playlist....ditem/377433105

What types of poems do you enjoy reading the most? (happy, sad? rhyming, free verse?)
I... really don't like reading poetry unless it reads like prose, hence my best work being like an oddly set up story.

Do you think that poetry is a dying art form?
No. I think we're on the brink of a revolution that's being kept silent by a generation of thousands who jump at the first chance to insult the poet.

[Bimp]

What types of poems do you enjoy reading the most? (happy, sad? rhyming, free verse?)
I... really don't like reading poetry unless it reads like prose, hence my best work being like an oddly set up story.

Why not write prose then?

[Ectomy]

Why not write prose then?

I do, I just don't post it here.

[Bimp]

I think I phrased the question wrong.

What I meant is, why write poetry that reads like prose at all? Why not write prose in place of poetry which reads like it? It seems redundant to me.

Also, do you believe that an author's personal experience is intrinsically relevant to a reading of their poem, or that literature, once written, is free-standing and should be read as such, with authorship and the author's experiences being effectively disregarded?

[Ectomy]

What I meant is, why write poetry that reads like prose at all? Why not write prose in place of poetry which reads like it? It seems redundant to me.
I like writing poetry that reads as prose, and it's really the only kind of poetry I like to read; hence my favorite poet being Ellen Hopkins, who writes novels that are entirely poetry set up to read like prose.

Also, do you believe that an author's personal experience is intrinsically relevant to a reading of their poem, or that literature, once written, is free-standing and should be read as such, with authorship and the author's experiences being effectively disregarded?
Literature is completely and entirely free-standing. The authors personal experiences can be completely and entirely irrelevant. Actually, I don't think authors should comment on their own work. It's like a child; you build it, raise it into what it is, and let it go. Once it's out there it's free to be interpreted however it happens to be interpreted.

[FalseHopes]

Do you ever write poetry about fictional characters, your own or others'?

What's your standing on intentionaly humourous poetry?

Do you think it's alright for someone to write a poem with so many metaphors that it makes so no sense to anyone else and then share that poem with others?

What is your favorite work by Ellen Hopkins?

Do you consider your poems as extensions of yourself, or just nothing special? Why for either?

[Ectomy]

Do you ever write poetry about fictional characters, your own or others'?
Yes, almost strictly my own, I don't liekt hinking from other authors' characters' points of view, I find it a disrespectful invasion of brains.

What's your standing on intentionaly humourous poetry?
*intentionally *I'd say humorous but the U is a cultural thing so I'll drop it
Depends on the subject matter. Dead baby humor = bad, most other humor = good.
Also depends on the writer. That's a very wide open question ^^;

Do you think it's alright for someone to write a poem with so many metaphors that it makes so no sense to anyone else and then share that poem with others?
I do it all the time Usually it's misconstrued a lot, but as I said before, you have to let your work speak for itself. The Minister's Black Veil was completely ambiguous in meaning and it got famous off that!

What is your favorite work by Ellen Hopkins?
Tricks
http://www.karinsboo...hopkins-review/

Do you consider your poems as extensions of yourself, or just nothing special? Why for either?
Some of them are extensions of myself, but I rarely post those because they never seem to come put right, so I prefer to write things that I can just stick on the internet and not care about anymore.

[Ectomy]

I think many would find your last comment particularly surprising given the levels of emotion and personal experience in your poetry. Are you entirely disconnected while writing?
Yes. I'm pretty much disconnected. I've actually woken up in the middle of the night, kind of like sleepwalking, and woken up to find several pages of narration from a nightmare or a jumble of random lines - almost always across the lines instead of on them.

Do you find it to be healing to write about something in your past which was painful, or the opposite?
Healing. I write it out, and it doesn't bother me as much.

Do you have any particular habits while writing? (e.g.: sitting in a certain place, using a certain pen/notebook, etc).
I just about always (if it wasn't sleepwalking) write directly into the forum. I click "New Topic" and go. As for location, it can be anywhere, I've written stuff in school and in my bedroom and at home and at my uncle's house, etc.

How do you feel about your popularity as a poet, relatively, on EC?
I'm surprised I'm not seen as a spammer, this writing isn't difficult, so it's weird to be known for it. After I realized that I'm popular on here there was a brief period where I felt obligated to write ALL THE TIME - and my writing was shit for a while, but then I got back into the habit of just writing when I want to and now I'm glad that even if I'm not attached to any of my writing, it's affecting someone.

Would you ever be interested in having your work published? Would you have a passion/determination/urge to do so?
Nope. I don't want people to have to pay to read it. It's freely available for everyone here.

[Converse]

How do you personally decide when a piece of work is ready to be shared or worth being shared?

[Ectomy]

How do you personally decide when a piece of work is ready to be shared or worth being shared?

I read over it. If it sounds right, up it goes.

[Phrike]

How many poems do you write in say, an average week?

[Ectomy]

How many poems do you write in, say, an average week?

Between three and nine

[1237]

Whoops. Forgot to lock this yesterday. Thank you to everyone who participated and to Ectomy for being our first victim.