What is the appeal of writing poetry, and how would you encourage young, struggling poets?
The people who can better answer this are the experienced, gifted poets like Mary Turzillo. I’m in no place to encourage beginners, because I’m down there in the weeds myself with only the sketchiest idea of what makes poetry work. I did write many many haiku, haibun, and waka in the years leading up to THE FOX WOMAN, but with no clear sense of what was working. Since then I’ve written a few things I like (they are up on my website), but I don’t know if they work for anyone else. You have led many a writer’s workshop. What is the number one mistake new writers make, and how can they correct it? Here are two: 1. Don’t assume anything. Don’t say “red as a rose” without thinking about what red exactly that is—lots of roses are peach-colored—and not everyone thinks rose-red is the same color, and there’s maybe a more specific red out there. Don’t assume women have a maternal instinct; that everyone defines “true love” the same way; that survivors of child abuse all have the same issues; th
