Poetic Licence is a special Read Local BC column for National Poetry Month. Each column features one poet and a snapshot into their bookish world. Renée Sarojini Saklikar is the current Poet Laureate for Surrey and her forthcoming book, Listening to the Bees (Nightwood Editions, 2018) is a book of essays and bee poems written in collaboration with Dr. Mark Winston.
How do you write your first draft of a poem?
Almost always, first drafts are in pencil; although, these days, composition occurs in my head while walking/running, or dancing, or doing yoga. Then I have to race to my device (less than ideal), or better, home to my desk, or to a café to scrawl out lines on pages in my notebook.
How much do you edit or rewrite a poem, and how do you decide when it’s done (or good enough)?
I confess to compulsive editing and revision, even after book/chapbook publication. I’m obsessed with sound and syntax, less to description, so until the form and structure and sound feel right, I keep trying different combinations. May the poem never be done!
What do you eat/drink while writing and why?
Water, rooibos tea, like a thousand cups a day; chocolate; medium-boiled eggs; salty snacks.
Who would you say are the greatest influences on your work?
There is a list of writers of the “life-long poem,” courtesy of Stephen Collis, from an essay of his, that I found randomly online several years ago, and then printed and stuck to an orange notebook which I keep close by, like some sort of talisman.
[Editor’s note: This photo is reproduced with permission from Stephen Collis. It originally appeared in The Poetic Front, vol.3 (2010) as “The Barricades Project, the Life-Long Poem, and the Politics of Form Notes towards a Prospectus“]
Please also see all the poets and sources listed in the prose poem, at the end of my first book, children of air india. ‘Cause it changes, right?
For the last two years, I’ve been immersed in the science literature of Dr. Mark Winston and many other bee scientists: a huge current influence for my forthcoming book, Listening to the Bees, (Nightwood Editions, 2018), with essays by Mark and poems I’ve written in response to his work and our collaboration, interspersed throughout. So, bees, themselves, a great influence.
As well, my fascination with visual arts continues since the making of the opera of my first book and my collaboration with Ontario poet and visual artist Chris Turnbull. For example, recently when up in Campbell River for the Words on the Water festival, I stopped by the local gallery, and was transfixed by the work of Meryl McMaster from her installation, Wanderings. You can see extractions of this work in the Winter 2016 issue of The Capilano Review (TCR 3.28). I’m delighted to be a new member of the TCR board.
As a reader of poetry, what attracts you to a poem, or resonates with you?
Anything pretty much: sound especially. Some gesture to an understanding that language is material: so the poem does something with the “mouth-feel” of the words chosen, or, maybe, the words embody even the ghost of a reference to the terrible urgency of now and if that occurs, then, I’m in! For example, if the poem be a sonnet, say, about, for instance, a tree, let the language as material do something unexpected and strange, and kind of weird. As one of my favourite poets, Dorothy Lusk, says, “make it weirder” and in however an ephemeral a way, let the words not be mere description, let the words enact something, anything, really—
Where do you like to read (a favourite spot in the city or world?)
Skytrain! Trains of any sort. Buses, only if I get a seat. Yes to cafes: real and imaginary. Local fave: Kamome Bistro on Joyce. East Van rules! See Patti Smith’s book, M Train. All of it. Also, Kamaole Beach III, South Kihei, Maui. Went there for the first time in 2017. Heart chakra of the world. Must get back. Also, I love to read in bed but then fall asleep with book on face.
Who is a poet you think everyone should read?
The late Peter Culley. Miss him. Respect.
Send us your #Shelfie!
Renée Sarojini Saklikar is Poet Laureate for the City of Surrey, British Columbia. Her forthcoming book, Listening to the Bees (Nightwood Editions, 2018) is a book of essays and bee poems written in collaboration with Dr. Mark Winston. Trained as a lawyer and with a degree in English Literature, Renée is currently teaching creative writing for SFU and Vancouver Community College.
Renée’s first book, children of air india, (Nightwood Editions, 2013) won the 2014 Canadian Authors Association Award for poetry and was a finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Renée recently published a long poem about her personal connection to the Air India Flight 182 bombing in an anthology of scholarly and artistic work (Remembering Air India, the art of public mourning, University of Alberta Press, 2017).
Renée co-edited The Revolving City: 51 Poems and the Stories Behind Them (Anvil Press/SFU Public Square, 2015) with Wayde Compton, which was a finalist for the 2016 City of Vancouver Book Award. Renée is currently working on an epic sci-fi journey poem, THOT-J-BAP, that has had parts published in literary journals and chapbooks, one of which, After the Battle of Kingsway, the bees, (above/ground press, 2016), was a finalist for the 2017 bpNichol award. Renée’s poetry, essays, and short fiction has been published in many literary journals and anthologies. Her work has also been adapted into other art forms, including musical and visual installations.
Check out more 2018 National Poetry Month features here.
One reply on “Poetic Licence: Renée Sarojini Saklikar listens to the bees and reads on the train”
[…] Read the Rest of The Interview Here […]