Interview by Shannon Barnes
Tell us about your latest book or a project you are working on.
My most recent book is a collection of poems called Nightmare Jones. It was published by Groundwood Books this past October and features wonderfully mysterious, spooky art by Caldecott Honoree Cindy Derby. I loved writing this book; it is inhabited by loveable characters, haunted shoes and many gorgeous spiders. It's a book that really made me feel like I was stretching my wings as a writer, as the work explores so many complicated feelings, images, worries, and thoughts that I first held as a child and that have followed me into adulthood. Currently, I'm working on what I hope will be a first poem for very young readers (a board book, I think?!), but it's blossoming in a way that needs a lot of tenderness and patience. It's called poem is the rain and I can't wait for it to (someday!?) be ready!
Tell us about your writing process.
I work in wild little bursts, and I'm always trying to make more time for my writing. I have two part-time jobs and a busy family, so my work sometimes slides a little too far off my desk for my liking. When an idea takes hold, however, I am relentless. My poems need a lot of time to grow from their initial drafts into their final form. The seedlings are strong, but I am obsessed with tending to the work, and I'm so grateful to have had such stellar editors over the years, ones who see the sparkle but who have also helped me go deeper, or waited for me to get there over multiple versions of a piece and/or even an entire collection.
How did you first get published?
My first book of poems (for adults) was published more than 20 years ago: suitcases and other poems. I was working as a bookseller in Guelph, Ontario—fresh out of an undergraduate program in Theatre and Creative Writing at York University. I had several supportive professors who encouraged me, and friends who were all actively submitting work to literary magazines, etc. When my book got accepted for publication (by Exile Editions in Toronto), it was such a thrill. It helped me build the confidence to enjoy the successes but also stay determined while weathering the many rejections (that are always ongoing for a writer) that followed over the years. At that time, poetry readings were flourishing in Toronto, and there were many opportunities to share work in person and experience an audience's reaction to a poem or a story, which taught me so much about how my poems were working, or not. I had a second book with Exile following that one, and my third book, The Refrigerator Memory, was published by Coach House Books in 2005. Since that time, I've also published poetry and plays with Book*hug Press, sometimes with long stretches of quiet in between. In 2019, Groundwood Books published Climbing Shadows, which was my first collection for children and my first pairing with Cindy Derby.
What do you like about writing for young people?
Young people are fully present in their childhood moments while simultaneously experiencing themselves growing up; they are full of rebellion and hope while also navigating unrelenting pressure to conform—to societal pressure (to dress and/or look a certain way) to fit in—somehow, to make parents happy, to be good, to be fair, to be gentle. They have imaginations that are on fire. They can be fiercely literal and wildly open to magic and juxtaposition—to metaphor—at the same time. They hear music, and they make music all the time in everyday speech. I love writing for them because they laugh hard when they find something funny and always feel things so deeply and immediately when something is surprising or hard or confusing. They don't feel obligated to respond in any other way than with complete honesty. I consider it a challenge and a privilege to spark their curiosity and their kindness. For me, writing is joy and pain—and language is always an adventure. For years, that is what I have tried to share both in my books and in the workshops and even in the little Read & Write Club that I run every Friday for students at the school where I work as a Lunchroom Supervisor. I was never an overly confident student, but when I discovered poetry and all the different ways a poem could work and be—it was so stirring and empowering. I wanted poems that I loved to be MY poems. I want young people to read and feel like that, too. I want them to be moved by what they read and to have that feeling spark their own capacity for creative discovery, appreciation and deeper connection with the world.
Tell us about writers who inspire you.
Well, I'm going to stick with mentioning just a few Canadian author/illustrators that inspire me, otherwise, this answer would be too long! Irene Luxbacher, who illustrated my second book of poems with Groundwood, is the most humble queen of a creative force that you will ever meet, and I'm so lucky to have been paired with her for Robot, Unicorn, Queen. The love, the attention to detail, the tangible emotion and humour she brings to everything she touches blow my heart to pieces. I'm very smitten with everything the Fan Brothers do and tend to hold my breath during the first reading of any of their books. Sid Sharp's work delights me and makes me very jealous—the talent there is so victorious and delicious. Nancy Vo, Gillian Sze, James Gladstone: their work is poetry in the shape of picture books (and sometimes exquisite non-fiction). Claudine Crangle is a dear friend, and I'm obsessed with her ability to write and make art that is so tactile, so alive with colour and shapes and texture. She has a new book coming out with Groundwood called FROM, which I am so excited to see. Finally, I would not be typing these words down for this interview if it weren't for Canadian poet Dennis Lee. What I learned from reading his books, for adults and children, is that human beings are all side by side reading and listening and playing and feeling and figuring out things about themselves together. There is room for a poem about death or loss in the same book as there is a poem about a faithful doughnut. I love his embrace of the fantastic, the surreal, and the silly alongside deeply felt moments and experiences. When you read Dennis Lee, you can feel how much he loves words—that always inspires me.
Learn more about Shannon Bramer, follow her on Instagram @shannon_bramer.