Carolyn Finlay

Where and when were you born?

Sydney, Australia.

Could you tell us something about your background?

My father was a doctor – tropical diseases of the skin. My mother had been a teacher before and during the war years (1939-45). She taught French (having lived for five years in Switzerland as a child) and Botany, as it was called in those days. I went to school in Hobart, then one year at Melbourne University doing Comparative Religion, which unfortunately I couldn't pursue as a subject on moving to the U.K.

Were either of your parents or grandparents (or any other relatives) writers? If not, were any of your relatives actively interested in literature?

I don't think any were 'writers' in the modern sense, though they were all pretty literate. People discussed things, politics, art, books, plays, etc. Though Australians abroad are not regarded as particularly cultured in the main, in my childhood – in the 50s an 60s – it was perfectly normal to quite enjoy school and the worlds that were opened up by books and such-like. We got the latest films at a cool little cinema called The State, which is still going today - nowadays you can take a glass of wine or a cup of tea and a biscuit in with you. Television wasn't really so much a factor then.

Are any of your siblings writers or involved in a creative profession?

No siblings! Though my great-great-aunt set up a well-known girls' academy in Perth, Australia, in 1889, and to this day the Amy Jane Best prize for literature is still awarded at the University of Perth. (I only discovered this in writing tributes for my mother's funeral this year.)

What was the first poem (or who was the first poet) that turned you on to poetry?

Specifically at a certain point, Selima Hill. I found her first two books astonishing, so original. They gave me a certain permission to play with unexpectedness. Obviously there were lots earlier on - see below. But it wasn't really that any one book was the stimulus to start writing. It was more a question of what would be the best means of conveying the different kinds of reality that I constantly experienced. Language has always been like magic for me though, I couldn't have done it by painting or song or dance or acting. I don't mean magic in the slang sense it has now (though that meaning could also be valid), I mean magic in the sense that language effects a transformation, changes realities, intertwines with everyday life in a constantly shaping way. Or, to get back to you question, I could just say Bob Dylan who I think permeated our whole generation with an explosion of possibility as to what you could do with words. Music has often triggered poems – or a poetic state of being – for me though, also images very often too - in films, on TV, advertisements, anywhere.

What age were you when you first began writing poetry, and did you receive any encouragement?

As a child I wrote poetry about apple trees and stuff, and then stopped. In my late 20s it just came back again, suddenly, one day, completely formed – though that stopped too. Then at the age of about 40 it just flooded back and that was it, I knew suddenly what it was for, and why, and began to work at it seriously in terms of what it was and what to do with it, and to understand how scary it was and how prophetic.

When you started writing poetry did you have dreams about becoming a "professional" poet? If so, did anyone advise you against this course of action?

Not "professional", in the sense of earning a living from it. I have always felt a great freedom in the fact that poetry doesn't have to have a monetary value attached to it in order to be 'valued'. I think "amateur" in the original sense of the word, of being a lover of the art, gives far more liberation. But actually, professional in a different sense of being tied into some core of beingness. Poetry-writing was and is to do with some very essential aspect of who/what I feel myself to be, some kind of truth arrived at, inwardly. My grandmother used to tell bedtime stories about a pair of eyes, who had mischievous adventures. I felt, in myself, like a pair of eyes (though not the ones in her story). Still do, in a way.

Did you ever get a poem published in your school magazine?

No way.

Did you go to university, and if so, which subject(s) did you study?

Over the last five years I've done a BA at UWE in Linguistics and French, then an MA at Bristol in Medieval Studies (still finishing this).

When did you first start submitting to poetry magazines? And can you tell us how many rejections you received before having something accepted for publication?

Probably in about 1994. Quite a lot of rejections at first, then I focused more on a few magazines that seemed happy with my work.

What was the worst rejection you ever received?

Can't remember who it was and haven't kept it. Some well known London poetry magazine I think, but it was a very long time ago. Kind of, 'why would I want to read drivel like this?' sort of thing.

What was your first published poem? Which poetry magazine published it? And what year was it published?

It was called 'Revisiting the Valley', and it appeared in Eric Ratcliffe's Ore, Issue 48. I'm not sure exactly of the date, probably around 1994.

Round about the time that you started seriously writing poetry, who were your literary heroes? And would you say they had an influence on your writing style?

For poets, Eliot, obviously, Ezra Pound, Ginsburg, Plath, Lowell, Carlos Williams; Hughes, Heaney … loads of them – also more modern poets here, Barry McSweeney, Sheila Murphy, Kerry Sowerby. A lot of men here, I should rebalance that! Also, fabulous prose writers like Keri Hulme, Louise Erdrich, Helen Dunmore.

Have you ever attended a creative writing course or been involved in a writers' group? If so, did you find it useful?

Yes, lots of both. Some more helpful than others. I think a good writers' group is very valuable, like Jay Ramsay's group that has been running in Gloucestershire now for years. Having said that, it depends how much effort you put into what you do there, as a participant!

When did you put together your first collection of poetry?

In 1996-7. The title of the book is Giveaway. I self-published my second collection, Foreigner, in 2001.

How long did it take to get it accepted for publication? And, if appropriate, how many times was it rejected?

The publisher was Rupert Loydell at Stride. He took it on as part of a series of books for which funding was forthcoming. I didn't approach any others.

How long did you have to wait between acceptance and final publication?

Can't really remember, perhaps a few months.

What sort of critical response did you receive?

Pretty minimal.

Would you say that your publisher actively promoted the book?

In so far as a small publisher could.

Did you do readings and signings at bookshops to help promote the book? If so, did you organise these yourself, or were they organised by your publisher? And would you say that they had a significant effect on sales figures?

At the time this was hard for me to do because a lot of family stuff was going on, my children were suffering from divorce and needed me to be at home, not away at poetry readings. I regretted this, but that's just how it is sometimes. What is it they say, for women writers each child equals two novels unwritten?

How many copies of the book sold?

Peanuts.

Is it still in print?

Well, the first one only exists in its few remaining copies. The second exists in a lot of remaining copies.

At the beginning of your writing career did you enter any poetry competitions? Did you enter a lot or just a few? Did you have any success? And, with hindsight, what are your thoughts about the relative merits or demerits of poetry competitions?

I did enter some over the years. My poems have never got anywhere in competitions. I think competitions are probably quite a good idea, in that at least some people get a boost out of them. Winning something is a yardstick that non-writers probably do relate to, so it might give someone's career a bit of impetus at the time.

Which of your poetry books has been the most successful in terms of sales, and how many copies has it sold to date?

Neither has sold significantly, for the reasons given above.

Have you won any awards for your poetry?

No.

Do you make a living out of poetry?

No.

If not, do you make an adequate living through poetry related activities such as teaching creative writing workshops? Or do you have to supplement your income through unrelated activities?

Unrelated activities.

With the benefit of hindsight, are you glad that you pursued your dream of being a poet? Also, if you could turn the clock back, would you do anything different?

Glad, of course - but that doesn't even begin to cover it. It's one of the two central things which inseparably form the whole central resonance of my life, even if I'm not actually writing much at any given moment. The other thing would be shamanic practice, which is an ongoing constant in my life even if, again, it's dormant for a bit. Dormant often seems to mean that progress is occurring silently, and then when you re-start miraculously you're further along than you were when you paused.

If a young would-be poet approached you, which poets would you recommend as vital reading?

Sherman Alexie, the North American Indian writer; Barry McSweeney; people who free the mind.

Which poetry magazines would you recommend him or her to subscribe to?

I'm out of touch here at the moment. In the past it would have been Terrible Work.

Assuming that this would-be poet showed some promise, would you advise him or her to pursue a "career" in poetry?

I would never advise anybody to do anything, unless they were under the age of twelve.

If so, what further advice would you give him or her?

Take advice from someone who really knows the ropes.

Finally (and extremely hypothetically), you are selected to appear on the hit reality TV show, "Desert Island Poets", where you are marooned on a tropical island for three months with a typewriter and several reams of paper. You are provided with all necessary provisions, but you are only allowed to take three books with you. Your appearance fee is more than you could hope to earn in a decade and the show is so popular that all previous participants have become best-selling poets. So, would you participate? And if so, which three books would you take with you?

What's to lose? The three books would be The Bone People by Keri Hulme; Louise Erdrich's tetralogy Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, The Bingo Palace and Tracks, set on and around (in both time and space) a North Dakota Indian Reservation. (I'm not trying to cheat here! Essentially these four are different parts of one story.) Also The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, by Barbara G. Walker, which would provide much inspiration and entertainment.

Read: Carolyn Finlay interview

Read: Carolyn Finlay's poetry

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