I recently traveled to the U.S. to visit family, friends, and to celebrate my mother’s 70th birthday. What trip is complete without a stop in the local bookstore? Fortunately for me I share my life with someone who is more interested in antique collections of books, and has an ability to find bookstores that have more to give than just commerce, than in sightseeing.
The feel of a book, the smell of a book, and moving my hands across the bookshelf delights me (I am cliche, oh well). Although I am a writer sometimes I don’t want to read books. Mostly because I have found that it messes with my flow in my own writing. The battle of the balance between original idea versus influenced by other writer’s ideas is real for me. And I really want to shape my own ideas, even if it means that I miss out on reading amazing works by amazing writers.
Then a call with a friend, who is poet and professor, and he told me that I was making a mistake not reading. Yes, I was correct to be concerned about the influence it may have on my writing, but “so what” he said. He suggested that I take a break in between and process the works that I am reading. Read for different reasons to know what you like, what you don’t like, and what makes it good or bad for you, was the wisdom imparted.
So with some encouragement from my partner, who just refused to give up, we returned to the bookstore again, he for a bag of coffee for his mom and a book on the mishaps of collective process, and me to buy a book. And like most writers it is never just one book.
Photo credit Ernestine Louise.
All of the poetry books were bought at this great bookstore solely run by volunteers at http://www.woodenshoebooks.com/.
The books on my desk and that I am reading are; Sonia Sanchez, Shake Loose My Skin, Chika Sawako, The Collected Poems of Chika Sawako, Rita Dove, Collected Poems 1974-2004, Audre Lorde, Black Unicorn, James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name and Jan Wiese, The Naked Madonna. Each poet, writer, essayist is bringing something different to the forefront of my mind. And yes they are also crowding my own ideas and thoughts. Perhaps this is adding to creating a new balance or enough imbalance that I must be alert and aware of where their influence ends and my thoughts begin. Nevertheless, i am happy to have them as companions for the next few weeks, nagging at me, pulling at me, helping me to shape my work and craft. But mostly they are just great reads.
And in between those pages I am plugging away at the first collection of poems to be ready for publishing in April.