Adam Lawrence : part five

When you require renewal, is there a particular poem or book that you return to? A particular author?

Seamus Heaney’s North (1975) was probably the first poetry book I got really excited about in my early university days (late 1990s). Something about those “bog” poems, the idea of “digging” down into the past (personal, historical, geological). And then I didn’t think much about it for a couple decades—until 2021, when, one fall evening, I picked up North again and (admittedly under the slight influence of a fermented grape) found it stirring up a lot of ideas. It’s since led to a chapbook-sized project.

Lately, the authors that get the creative juices going (and I’m sure this will change next year) include Stuart Ross, James Tate, John Ashbery, Charles Simic, and Alice Burdick (and probably Spicer). Okay, that’s more than one “particular author.” If I was forced at gunpoint to pick a single author? Mr. Simic (around Christmas/early new year, I read his New and Selected Poems, 1962-2012).

Adam Lawrence : part four

What other poetry books have you been reading lately?

1. Nick Thran’s Earworm (2011; winner of the Trillium Award).

- This guy is just amazing—so much wit and intelligence. I mean, he wrote a sort of apocalyptic poem about a pineapple. Amazing. (Bonus shout-out: Thran’s Mayor Snow [2015].) 

2. The Best American Poetry 2016 (ed. Edward Hirsch).

- This was a special year, it seems. It included poems by recently deceased masters like Philip Levine (d. 2015) and James Tate (d. 2015). But there’s also some terrific stuff in there by contemporary poets John Koethe, Debra Marquart, and Cate Marvin—all poets that are new to me.

3. My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer (ed. Peter Gizzi and Kevin Killian)

- I can see Spicer becoming one of those poets whose work I come to for renewal (e.g., when I’m getting too prolix, when the lines are too thick, when the rhythm is becoming boring).  

Adam Lawrence : part three

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

Yes and no. My “beginning” (mid-1990s) fizzled out after a few years… for a variety of reasons, one of which is probably that writing is really, really hard work. And I just didn’t put in the time and effort back then. If I didn’t feel moved, I wouldn’t write. And—embarrassing as it is to say—I really didn’t read much poetry back then (other than what was taught in university classes). Now, I deliberately start the day by reading poetry—sometimes I get inspired to write, sometimes I don’t. I think it’s cumulative: the more poetry you read, the more likely poem ideas will pop up.

On the other hand, sometimes something does whack me in the noggin out of the blue; you can’t ignore that (even if you’re on the toilet, though that can be slightly awkward). 

Adam Lawrence : part two

How did you first engage with poetry?

Hmm. Probably around 1995. I remember deciding I would write a poem. It was just that simple. So I did—on my sister’s very fancy Brother word-processing typewriter! I was impressed that this typewriter had an actual computer keypad. But not so impressed with what I actually wrote. Nevertheless, that got the poetry brainworks going. It took me another year to try writing a second poem, but I found myself writing a lot more. My engagement wasn’t a daily practice but was purely spontaneous: I wouldn’t write unless something smacked me upside the head.

Adam Lawrence : part one

Adam Lawrence’s poetry has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Train: A Poetry Journal, SurVision Magazine, Vastarien, FreeFall Magazine, and Carousel Magazine. Adam is currently working on his first full-length book of poetry. He works as a freelance copyeditor and writer in Florenceville-Bristol, the French Fry Capital of the World.

What are you working on?

Several projects. A book-length one. And a handful of chapbook ideas that keep growing and changing (and sometimes overlapping with or mutating each other).