Where and when were you born?
Could you tell us something
about your background?
My mother is Acadian French and MicMac Indian. Her family lived through the depression and as was common during that time, the children were sent to a Catholic convent school. After her schooling she met my father who was Irish, a mill worker at the S & W Card Factory in Maine. My mother gave birth to two boys before having me in 1952. A few years later she left my alcoholic father and Maine for California and remarried a sailor. We travelled up and down the west coast and settled in a Quonset hut in San Diego where she had three more children, two girls and a boy. My mother eventually returned to school and became a nurse and my step-father rose up the ranks to become a Chief Petty Officer and Computer technician for the Navy. We moved from the Quonset hut to a pre-fab house on a cul-de-sac, then to a larger house in the suburbs of San Diego. Throughout those years I was educated in the public school system which was mainly interested in passing students to the next grade no matter what. I received many passing D- grades.
Were either of your parents or grandparents (or any other relatives) writers? If not, were any of your relatives actively interested in literature?
My mother was given a classical education and learned to play piano in the convent school. She was a voracious reader and remains one to this day. My aunt is also a pianist, painter and singer with the Sweet Adelines, my uncle played piano and guitar and sang, and all my aunts and uncles played sang together when we were growing up, Old French songs from their childhoods and my mother and aunt always sang in the church choir. My mother and brother played organ for the church. All of them, at some time or another, tried their hand at poems though I never knew this until I became a poet in my early thirties No other relative that I know of became a writer. I do believe that the love of music and art that surrounded me as a child was a great influence on my becoming a poet.
Are any of your siblings
writers or involved in a creative profession?
All my surviving brothers and sisters play piano and guitar and sing as a hobby. I learned to play rudimentary guitar and piano chords but remain the only poet in the family. One sister is a nurse, another used to work for the Military Police and the Washington D.C. police Department, my brother works for San Diego Gas and Electric Company and my two full brothers from my mother’s first marriage were both in the service.
What was the first poem (or who was the first poet) that turned you on to poetry?
Aside from childhood rhymes the first poet I read was probably Frost. My mother read Frost, Sandburg and e.e. cummings when I was growing up. The first poet who really struck me was Pablo Neruda. Soon after, Sharon Olds and Carolyn Forche.
What age were you when you first began writing poetry, and did you receive any encouragement?
I was twelve. When I showed my mother my poems in my late teens, she was encouraging and still is. I have great support from my family, though I have written poems they have not particularly appreciated.
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?
No. And No. Though writing poetry was considered something one did as a hobby, for fun, and shared only with family and friends.
Did you ever get a poem published in your school magazine?
No. My first poem was published in a mental hospital newspaper put together by inmates. I was in my late teens and my sister and I were committed by my parents. My father was a child molester and the only way to protect us and to keep us quiet was to commit us.
Did you go to university, and
if so, which subject(s) did you study?
I returned to school in my thirties after having had a child. I studied English with Creative Writing Emphasis. I got my B.A. with Honors from Mills College. My teachers were Chana Bloch, Stephen Radcliff and earlier, in Jr. College, Steve Kowit.
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? (And if you received many rejections, was this off-putting?)
I think I sent my first poem to the New Yorker as that was the only place I’d ever seen poems as I read them as a waited to see my therapist. I was of course rejected. After taking some night classes at a local junior college I found there was a magazine in San Diego called the San Diego Poets Press and had my first poems accepted there. It was hit and miss but the few acceptances I got kept me going.
What was the worst rejection
you ever received?
I had written a poem from my first book, Awake, called What My Father Told Me, which was about my father being a child molester. The magazine wanted to print the poem but also suggested that I “tone it down”. I sent the poem elsewhere. It was accepted later by Five Fingers Review, a magazine out of San Francisco, in its original form.
What was your first published poem? Which poetry magazine published it? And what year was it published?
My first legitimate publication was in The San Diego Poet’s Press, sometime in the 70’s. A terrible poem. I firmly believe there are no copies left.
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?
Neruda was huge. I loved his heart, his imagery, his world vision. Later, Sharon Olds who I admired for her fearlessness and her metaphors, and Carolyn Forche for her worldliness, her images, her strong voice and stripped down style. And later, Anne Sexton and Ruth Stone.
Have you ever attended a creative writing course or been involved in a writers' group? If so, did you find it useful?
I was involved in writer’s groups early on. I was a junky and belonged to as many as would have me. I attended the Napa Valley Poetry Conference in the 80’s. The poets who taught there were Robert Hass, Carolyn Kizer, Robert Pinsky, Carolyn Forche, Frank Bidart and Tess Gallagher. I was also part of Alan Soldofsky’s Poems in Progress classes at UC Berkeley Extension. Among my classmates were Jane Hirshfield and Stephanie Marlis. Alan invited poets from all over the country to come in as guest speakers and conduct workshops. This was the first time I met poets like Sharon Olds, Jack Gilbert, C.K. Williams, and Louise Gluck. Those groups and classes were my life’s blood. I soaked everything up that washed my way. I had gotten a late start and had a lot to learn. I was lucky to have been in Berkeley during this time. Hass was writing essays for Twentieth Century Pleasures, Pinsky was writing The Situation of Poetry, Forche was putting together Against Forgetting. They gave lectures on these subjects and read us poems that would be soon entering the cannon. It was an exciting time for poetry.
When did you put together your
first collection of poetry?
"Awake" was put together over 15 years and was accepted by BOA Editions in 1990. I was accepted for a residency at Yaddo and finished the manuscript there and began sending it out. Philip Levine had seen my poems in Five Fingers Review and sent a note to the magazine asking them to tell me he liked my work. I sent him a note of thanks for noticing my poems and he wrote back and asked me for my manuscript. He sent "Awake" with a letter to Northpoint Press and BOA Editions. BOA accepted the manuscript within the week.
How long did it take to get it accepted for publication? And, if appropriate, how many times was it rejected? (Please tell us the name of the publisher. Also, if appropriate, could you tell us who rejected it)
Probably at least 3 to 5 years from my first submission before BOA Editions accepted "Awake". The Yale Younger Series rejected it a couple of times with a nice note. I was in my late 30’s and you had to be under 40 to qualify so every year I had hope I would make it before I turned 40. The manuscript was rejected by many other fine presses as well, and I’m grateful to all of them as it helped to make the book stronger.
How long did you have to wait
between acceptance and final publication?
A year.
What sort of critical response
did you receive?
Reviews in APR, Publisher’s Weekly, Women’s Review of Books and others.
Would you say that your
publisher actively promoted the book?
Yes. BOA did a great job of promoting the book, bringing me out to read in Rochester and always had books available for readings around the country.
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?
I turned nothing down. I read anywhere and everywhere I could. Open mikes, the Spaghetti Factory, Cody’s Books. Many of these I organized myself, and others with the help of poet friends and bookstore friends. I do think readings sell books, though conferences and festivals seem to be the biggest and best arena for book sales.
How many copies of the book
sold?
Around 10,000 paperback, 500 hard cover.
Is it still in print?
"Awake" went out of
print a few years ago. It will be reprinted in August, 2007 by Eastern
Washington University Press.
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?
Yes, Yale Younger is the only one I can remember. I entered everything and got many rejections. Again, what I learned was how to rewrite the poems and revisit the manuscript. Each time it was returned I would look at it with new eyes and see, as if by magic, the changes that needed to be made. Each time the manuscript went back out, it was stronger in some important way. When I was sending out my manuscript, book competitions were read by the final judges. If my book or poems were rejected by an established writer I admired, that was an indication that I needed to rethink and rewrite. It seems now contests are often screened by MFA students. I trust that process less for obvious reasons. That said, I do think good books make their way through. The trick is to write poems that are un-ignorable.
Which of your poetry books has been the most successful in terms of sales, and how many copies has it sold to date?
My best selling book has been the handbook for poets I co-authored, The Poet’s Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry which has sold more than 60,000 copies.
Have you won any awards for
your poetry?
I’ve won two NEA’s, a Guggenheim, two Pushcart Prizes, and an Oregon Book Award. My second book, What We Carry, was a finalist for the National Book Critic’s Circle Award and my fourth book, Facts about the Moon was a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Award. These awards are great things, though I don’t believe they’re a true indication of the quality of the work. What I consider my best book of poetry won no award. What I consider my least favorite book of poetry is my best selling book. My own sense of satisfaction is primary and trumps all.
Do you make a living out of
poetry?
I teach poetry at the University of Oregon, Pacific University’s Low Residency MFA Program and at conferences and festivals around the country. I teach yearly at Esalen and have taught at the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, Aspen Summer Words, the Nebraska Summer Writer’s Workshops, The Napa Valley Poetry Conference, Hassayampa, Truro Center for the Arts among others.
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?
Yes, I make adequate money teaching at a university, though not as much as my male colleagues. No surprise there. I augment it through readings, conferences and workshops.
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?
I love my life, my child, my husband, my friends. Being a poet is something that helps me to understand the depth of that love. I think I would have been happy doing many things, but I would be unhappy if I didn’t write poems. If I hadn’t gotten a job at a University, with great luck considering my working class background and lack of upper level degree, I would probably still be a waitress. That would be fine with me, though my back would probably be in much worse shape than it is. I’m grateful to the university for offering me a living wage. On the other hand, I’m not particularly happy in my work there. I enjoy the students but find the system distasteful. If I could go back, I’d probably opt to stay in the food service industry. It’s a more honest way to make a living, and when you’re shift ends, your time is your own.
If a young would-be poet approached you, which poets would you recommend as vital reading?
As many as can be read in a
lifetime. Live, breathe, see, taste,
touch and hear
like a poet.
Which poetry magazines would
you recommend him or her to subscribe to?
I’ve been reading on-line mags these days: The Smoking Poet, The Quirk, Incendiary Lit, The Pedestal, Mipoesias…
Assuming that this would-be poet showed some promise, would you advise him or her to pursue a "career" in poetry?
There really is no career to be had in poetry. You can pursue a degree so you can vie for a teaching job in a market that’s dwindling day by day. I would rather suggest informal workshop groups, conferences, a low residency program, and a job with benefits, outside the university where a living wage can be made, with benefits, and enough time left over to write. Time is much more important to a poet than money.
If so, what further advice
would you give him or her?
Read and write as many poems as you can in a lifetime.
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?
I would participate only because it would be a great gift to have the time to read and write for an entire month without the demands of family or students or the distractions of phone, TV, email. I’d bring The Bible, Shakespeare and Sappho. And, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the plays of Tennessee Williams, Dostoyevsky, Brecht, Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion, The Day of the Locusts by Nathanial West, Li-Young Lee, Lucille Clifton, Gerald Stern, Philip Levine, Yusef Komunyakaa, Ai, Mark Doty, Marie Howe, Tony Hoagland, Doug Anderson, Frank Gaspar, Lucia Perillo, Joseph Millar, Adam Zagajewski, Milosz, Pavese, Lorca, Hernandez, Akhmotava, the poems of my students, teachers and friends, and all other poets I’ve named elsewhere here, and others unnamed but loved equally, a bird and tree identifier, and a dictionary, if I could sneak them past the screeners disguised as blocks of dark chocolate.
See: Dorianne
Laux's publications list
See: Dorianne
Laux's poem, "What My Father Told Me"
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