Wondering who Kahlil Gibran and Alphonse de Lamartine are? Read my posts here and here.
Welcome to part 3 of The 'After the Fires of Day' Series, in which I answer questions from people around the world about my new book, After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine.
Would you say that someone's work inspires you when (1) something in particular about it strikes you in a certain way or (2) you feel the need to write something based on it?It depends on the writer.
In the case of Kahlil Gibran and Alphonse de Lamartine, for example, pretty much everything in their bodies of work inspires me. I have favorite poems and books, of course, but overall, it is their styles and the flow of their words that really tug at my creative heartstrings and make me want to write.
I like Elizabeth Bishop, but only one of her poems has inspired me to write. Studying "One Art" at university and on my own led to the creation of two poems. What attracts me to that particular piece is the way Bishop talks about loss and grief, inviting the reader to embrace and accept both of them.
How do you determine when the haiku you have written is edited to perfection? Do you have a particular feeling when you reach that point?The same way as when I read a haiku written by someone else. If the piece hits my with a bang or leaves me with a deep sense of peace, the haiku is done!
The first two lines are usually quite easy to write. It's the last line that is the most challenging, as it contains what I call the emotional part (or twist) of the haiku. So it can take me a long time just to find the concluding words.
What was the longest amount of time you spent crafting a haiku to get it to a point where you were satisfied with how it is constructed?The longer a haiku takes me to write, the more satisfying it will be.
The longest amount of time was almost three days. I struggled because the image I wanted to evoke had too many layers. The words refused to come out.
Then, I realized that I was trying too hard. I was obviously doing something wrong. I asked myself: "What would you want the reader to see?" The haiku popped up in my mind shortly after:
This post is part of the "After the Fires of Day" Series, which celebrates the upcoming release of After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine.Do you have other questions for me? Feel free to leave them in the comment section below!
