Cornelia Hoogland‘s Woods Wolf Girl (Wolsak and Wynn, 2010), was a finalist for the ReLit Award for Poetry. Hoogland was shortlisted for the 2012 CBC Creative Non-fiction Prize and for the 2018 CBC Poetry Prize. Her latest book Trailer Park Elegy (Harbour Publishing) is shortlisted for the League of Canadian Poets’ 2017 Raymond Souster Award.
You recently completed two legs of a publicity tour for your new book, Trailer Park Elegy, with stops here in BC, Ontario, and Quebec. What were some of the highlights?
Performing the poems in Trailer Park Elegy to audiences of good listeners. People told me that hearing the pace, cadence, also the humour and playfulness of my poems added another layer, embodied the text.
Many years serving Poetry London, and now Poetry Hornby Island, sharpens my view and gratitude of small poetry venues across Canada (the third-floor cavernous ballroom, the cramped bus-shaped basement, the window-backed stage with neon signs and streetcar accents, the repurposed electrical building), and the hosts who run the series.
You read from your new book a dozen or more times—what do you find surprises you after each new reading?
What surprised me: the permission I gave myself to be emotional. As an academic, and as a female writer, I’ve steered clear of letting my poems move people. I stopped resisting and let Trailer Park Elegy occupy its weight with humour. I allowed grief into the room. Importantly, it wasn’t my grief that was let loose, but, rather, each hearer’s responses to (often unexpected) words, phrases, and images.
Your tour has been bookended by a few nominations, both for your poetry outside of Trailer Park Elegy and for the book itself. How does this well-timed good news help you on the road?
Since last fall I’ve read with more than forty other poets. I heard amazing poems; I read with very talented people. Trailer Park Elegy’s League of Canadian Poets’ finalist position sets my book apart, which is rewarding and humbling. Likewise, the CBC shortlist of my long poem, “Tourists Stroll a Victoria Waterway” was an exciting ride of radio interviews and social media. Very fun.
Cornelia Hoogland’s book-length long poem Trailer Park Elegy (Harbour, 2017) is her seventh book. Cornelia Hoogland grew up on Canada’s West Coast and has returned home after many years of living in cities across Canada. She lives on Hornby Island with her husband Ted Goodden, a visual artist, and their dog, Drummer.