First anthology by local poet Joan Fleming
Poet Joan Fleming. Photo: Supplied.
Bay-based poet Joan Fleming was acknowledged by her peers and publishers at the launch of her book, The Same as Yes (Victoria University Press, 2011) at Vic Books in Wellington.
The launch was presented by English professor and fellow poet Harry Ricketts, with a long-distance message sent from Iowa by one of Joan’s mentors, American poet Dora Malech, and read aloud by Helen Heath from Victoria University Press.
Joan talked to The GB Weekly about this milestone in her writing career.
GBW: What’s your connection to Golden Bay?
Joan: My family has land in Tukurua. I’ve always felt a strong connection to it since first visiting eight years ago. It’s one of my homes.
I wrote nearly this whole book in Motupipi last summer. I’d stay in bed in the morning with my books piled around, and write. It’s the best way to keep the day out. It’s like saying, “Listen, day. I’m not even up yet, so you can’t expect anything of me. I’m still in my pyjamas!”
GBW: Why do you write?
Joan: Because I can’t not write. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, since I started keeping journals at age five. The nice thing about this book is it makes it official.
GBW: Why poetry?
Joan: Poetry makes your brain do things you never thought it could. We use language to communicate: poetry isn’t just about conveying information. It’s about the music of language, its ambiguities, layers and multiple meanings. Poetry is the best way I can translate emotion into something other people can see.
GBW: Did you study writing?
Joan: Yes, the MA programme at Victoria University in 2007. I found it helpful to be forced to write. During it, the pressure came from the structure of the course; now it comes from myself. That self-pressure comes with its own challenges, but anyone who’s created anything of value had to push beyond their limitations.
GBW: What’s the importance of being published?
Joan: It’s a milestone, an end-point. I’m very proud of it. People are out there actually reading my book. And just holding the book in my hands - it’s a great feeling.
GBW: What is your collection of poems “about”?
Joan: It had a strong guiding idea: where objects and people talk to each other. What would an armchair say if it could talk to a window? I found myself writing the titles of the poems first, and going from there. I had no idea what the armchair would say to the window. I had to write the poem to find out.
GBW: Any advice to writers in the Bay?
Joan: The only thing I can really say is find a routine that works for you and persevere. I have days all the time where I hate what I write. You just have to keep going. That’s the key.
The Same as Yes can be bought online for $28 from:
<www.victoria.ac.nz/vup/2011titleinformation/sameyes.aspx>.
Hannah Schenker
