back again, it's been awhile, i lose my way on the internet quite often as well as damn passwords. haha. with so many websites and stuff to take care of, passwords get mixed up and forgotten. i hope all is well wherever you are, and this blog is about a project joanne arnott started, she's been the editor for my last two books of poetry, "Stone the Crow," and my newest one, "A Moon Made of Copper," which comes out July 15 nationwide through Kegedonce Press.
without further ado, let's begin with some questions:
What am i working on?
Well, i just finished working on my latest book of poetry and non-fiction called, "A Moon Made of Copper," with Joanne Arnott. It's all new work, written in the past 4 years since my last book, "Stone the Crow," which seems like an impossibly long time. I don't write all the time, or very often in fact due to the reasons of being a workshop facilitator, artist, dad, filmmaker, musician and so on. i'm spread a little thin i guess, but i do believe this is my strongest work i've written. focussing is a challenge, haha, but i'm going to probably start writing more, it's just discipline. i used to get up every morning and write for about 3 or 4 hours every single day, and then spend the afternoon sort of editing what i'd written.
but to be an "artist," for a living, means diversification. you have to be able to do a bit of everything to make a buck, workshops in filmmaking, photography, mural painting, street art, even music and songwriting along with creative writing. if you were to do only one discipline, you would not be able to survive. so i'm busy doing a bunch of other things and i think i'm going to slow down and write some grants to do research and development into creating a new body of work artistically and creative writing as well. i also am the creative director for the arbour collective, a group nacoma george and i started back in 2011, so we do community based arts projects throughout the kamloops area and that's nearly a full time gig on top of everything else. it's a bit hectic, but we're representing aboriginal artists, filmmakers, writers and musicians here in the kamloops area and beyond. we had about 7 exhibitions in 4 different cities, as well as a 10 artist residency last year, which was insane. we're slowing down a little this year. haha. just a bit.
how does my work differ from others of its genre?
that's a good question. i think there's this "sacredness," aboriginal authors tenderly tip toe around, many do not tread on the "black road,"which to me is the path that is infinitely wide and often without direction. in the writing of many other aboriginal authors, their writing, reflects the "red road," or the higher ground and "sacred," or holistic way of living. i choose to go to the darker places, sometimes lonelier, sometimes intoxicating, sometimes crazy places to live and be instead of the red road. this reflects the life i've known growing up, both my parents went to residential school, and both were basically put through the meat grinder. they've made their choices to deal with what they went through and more often than not, it meant getting numb by any means necessary. usually alcohol. so i guess i'm saying i'm not afraid to be "real," and write about what i know, how i live, or what i've done on the black road. it's not for everyone, but if you're a fan of leonard cohen or charles bukowksi or the beats, allen ginsberg, jack kerouac, and william s. burroughs, then you'll likely dig my new book, "A Moon Made of Copper."
why do i write what i do?
this is an easy question, because i write what i know about or experience. i'm not a "fiction," writer, because life is crazy enough i don't have to make things up. haha. growing up aboriginal in canada isn't the most easy experience. there's violence, abuse, racism, but also family, ceremonies, songs, stories and incredible amounts of laughter and good times. everyone has a story, it's just finding out a way to tell it. i guess i've also lead a pretty crazy life, done an incredible amount of traveling and performing for most of my life, so telling these stories is a way to remember things.
how does my writing process work?
a long time ago, i used to do everything longhand, then computers came along and i remember bashing away on a monochrome monitor computer, using dos, and some really primitive word processing project. that must be over 20 years ago. wow. haha. i use a computer almost always, unless i'm not near one, then i'll write it out by hand. i used to self-publish a lot, i think i did about 4 books back in the 1990's, as well book my own reading tours and get them into stores on consignment deals or outright selling them. i toured most of b.c. and sold about 500 books or more. i used to do all sorts of things for promotional give aways, bookmarks, post cards, posters, and so on. i think it's because i come from a musical background, having to do our own tours, posters, shirts and so on, i applied the same skills to poetry and creative writing. haha.
i think i process things for a long time before i start writing about them. i usually get an idea for a poem while traveling, mountain biking or doing an art project. something gets triggered and if i don't jot it down right away it gets lost. i don't do a lot of navel gazing, because i don't have time, haha, so when i get an idea i have to act on it. i think i've got a new direction to go in soon, would like to do some non-fiction. about 10 years ago, i wrote 3 books back to back, the first one i've been re-editing so maybe i'll try to get it out next year. time to get back to writing every day. maybe here on the blog. i don't know. we'll have to see.
also, never underestimate the support of a mentor. i was lucky enough to have Garry Gottfriedson mentor me when i really started to get serious about creative writing, some 20 years ago! as well, about 10 years ago Richard Van Camp mentored me as well to the next level. these friendships came about because of my stubborn persistence to get published. haha. i passed along my poetry to both of those authors and they contacted me or i contacted them and they helped me out by getting my work stronger creatively and to continue working to find my "voice." also, this is a long road, i've been writing over 20 years. i got published in about 20 literary magazines before i got my first book deal. it's a tough slog, but it's worth it. even though my subject matter is dark, i break it up really well during readings with humour and observations. again, my history as a musician has probably really helped me be comfortable on a stage in front of lots of people. never underestimate your strengths.
the cover art for my next book
by Bracken Hanuse Corlett.
well, that's about it. i'll get back on here more often now that i remembered my password!!! haha!
thanks to Joanne Arnott for editing my book "A Moon Made of Copper," coming out July 15 through Kegedonce Press. Thanks to everyone at Kegedonce press, Kateri Akiwenzie Damm, Renee Abram and Allison Brown. Thanks to Bracken Hanuse Corlett and Amanda Strong for the awesome cover art.
