Poetry Month in Ottawa 2021
These fabulous Ottawa poets were kind enough to answer a few questions about themselves, poetry, and the world we live in.
Paris Barnes
Amanda Earl
Zarah Maria
Conyer Clayton
Charlene Herrera
Ellen Chang Richardson
Namitha Rathinapillai
Kelsey Rideout
Frances Boyle
Sandra Nicholls
Aedan (Feature Interview)
Paris Barnes
For the first day of National Poetry Month we’re featuring Ottawa’s Paris Barnes @paris.barnes.writes
The spoken word artist says, “I find my inspiration for my poetry from my own experiences and from what I go through as a young black female who stutters. I also get inspiration from what’s going on in the world and issues that I care about.”
“I write for a nonprofit organization called Empower’em. You can find some of my poetry on their website. As well some articles that correspond with the poems.”
Amanda Earl
Amanda Earl is a writer and visual poet. Seen here is Amanda’s ninth chapbook with #abovegroundpress When asked about a poet Ottawa should know about Amanda says we should all be reading Ellen Chang-Richardson
Zarah Maria
‘Everything is poetry’, and Zarah Maria is definitely poetry.
“I think that poetry will do for people what it has always done; connect, inspire, advocate for, embrace etc. Poetry can be whatever you need it to be but ultimately it has the power to bring people together.”
“Recently I've been focusing on developing my unique voice and style in relation to storytelling and poetry. I have a couple of projects coming up that are helping me to do that. I am questioning my own boundaries when it comes to my creativity and I'm having fun doing it.”
(Where do you find inspiration for your poetry?)
“Everywhere. There is something to be said about everything and anything. Sometimes poetry is watching a father remove his shoes at the park to follow their child, also barefoot, up the trunk of an old maple tree. And you think about how they must feel, and it begins to burn it your chest. That feeling is what inspires me.”
“There are so many talented creatives in this city. Some I have the pleasure of connecting with deeply. @cslackdesign @pourjule @lacollins_ @_celestialbean_ are all wonderful human beings and soulful creatives."
Conyer Clayton
Conyer Clayton is one of the first Ottawa poets that I followed on this page. Her poetic output is remarkable: from collaborations, readings, music and video productions, an audio book and producing beautiful thoughtful collections.
“I am a member of a creative collective called VII, which consists of formerly and presently Ottawa-based poets: myself, Ellen Chang-Richardson, nina jane drystek, Helen Robertson, Margo LaPierre, Manahil Bandukwala, and Chris Johnson. We founded in March 2020 and have been writing together since. "Towers," our first collaborative chapbook, is coming out May 2021 with Collusion Books (@collusionbooks). You can follow us on IG @vii_poetry, and on Twitter at @viipoetry. The chapbook is available for pre-order now at Collusion Book's website.”
Charlene Herrara
Poetry, stickers and prints, oh my! Check out poet and artist, Charlene Herrera aka @agit.jeepney who says ‘the revolution will be typewritten’. I first came across this artist in my research into @anakbayan.ottawa (the Ottawa chapter of a worldwide national democratic comprehensive mass organization for the Filipino youth). Charlene is a member and does a lot of work with Anakbayan Ottawa.
Ellen Chang-Richardson
Ellen Chang Richardson is an Ottawa poet I was thrilled to interview last year (link in bio). She wants you to know about a fantastic project in Ottawa.
“I’d love to platform Riverbed Reading Series — our second season starts this coming May (May 19 2021 to be exact) and features a killer line up. I’d also like to highlight nina jane drystek. She’s my co-founder extraordinaire and a brilliant visual poet and sound performance artist.”
Namitha Rathinapillai
Namitha Rathinapillai released the chapbook “Dirty Laundry” in November 2018. To purchase, you can reach out to the publisher at battleaxepress@gmail.com
Kelsey Rideout
Kelsey Rideout is the Ottawa writer, poet, and actor who in my opinion offers a unique and special voice of ferocity and vulnerability. Her words are never shying from the truth and ever empowering her readers.
“I think the pandemic has forced us to confront the pain of disconnection, and left us with a deeper hunger for connection, exposing the myth of the individual in a raw and collective way. It's forced us to become more honest about how much we love and how much it hurts to lose, something poetry has always done. I think in 2021, poetry can help us to stay here, in that vulnerable place where we can be honest about how much we need each other. I think those are the grounds we need for the future, to rebuild our lives and the world with one another, not against. I think poetry says, it's been a lonely, wretched year, but you are not alone, nor are you wretched. I need your voice and you need mine. A future that centers and destigmatizes healing is the only way. I hope in 2021, people feel more than ever, that their truths deserve a home.”
“I am presently working on my first collection called I Can No Longer Live Without Me, to be published in 2022. In the meantime, you can read and support my writing at www.patreon.com/kelseyrideout. I also offer peer support and facilitate creative workshops at @eternity.arts.”
Poets and artists that Kelsey suggests you check out:
@thevpoet
@priya_9_
@zarahxpoetbarber
@ashfordscx1
@lucilaalmar
@saintmely
@dharder
@kathrynjvd
Photo by: @_._._merritt_._._
Frances Boyle
Frances Boyle is an award-winning writer of poetry and fiction. Check out her IG and website for more about her life in writing and how to purchase her published works.
“This year, poetry can do for people what it often (hopefully always) does; insert a new fractal into our kaleidoscopic view of the world, providing a slight – or large -- shift of perspective, be it personal, political or ethereal.”
“My new poetry manuscript, which has the working title Openwork and Limestone, is looking for a home. It continues my fascination with myth and women’s lives, and delves into connections between the domestic and the elemental, from prehistory into an imagined future. I published four solo works in the past three years (my second poetry collection, a novella, a book of short stories and a chapbook), so there’ll be a pause (of likely several years) before the new book appears.”
She finds inspiration for her poetry from: “Words, sounds, images. Very rarely indeed from ideas.”
“I’d suggest that you talk to Deborah-Anne Tunney. After a book of short stories and a novel, she published her first book of poetry, A Different Wolf, last year with McGill Queens University Press. The poems engage with the films of Alfred Hitchcock and readdress his ‘cool blondes’ from the feminist perspective of a woman growing up in her era.”
Sandra Nicholls
Sandra Nicholls is the Ottawa fiction and poetry writer behind titles like ‘The Untidy Bride’.
“I think that what poetry could do for people in 2021 is what poetry has always been capable of doing: slowing down time so that we can try to understand that which is often vast and incomprehensible, distilling and clarifying the inexpressible mush of thoughts and feelings swirling inside us so we can stop long enough to grasp them. The pandemic has brought many feelings to the surface of daily life, feelings of dread, isolation, helplessness, and perhaps poetry can help us understand and manage them, knowing at least that we are not alone in experiencing these feelings.”
“For the last ten years or so I have focussed on writing novels, but finally poetry called me back. I have almost finished a new collection of poems called Songs for Invisible Ladies, written with the help of a grant from the City of Ottawa. As an older woman, I find that society often makes us feel invisible, and I wanted to slam through that idea and celebrate the perspective that comes with age, and offer a kind of meditation on its obsessions. I am also working on the lyrics for a suite of songs, with music by my husband, composer Roddy Ellias, that focus on life during the pandemic. The songs will be performed later in the year by vocalist KellyLee Evans.”
Where does her poetic inspiration come from?
“Everywhere! For me, the best poetry is that which finds the extraordinary within the ordinary. Billy Collins has a wonderful poem ostensibly about the gooseneck lamp on his desk, which ends up being a meditation on life and death and aging and memory. I think it does exactly what I want poetry to do…. forcing me to see things in a different light, poking around at buried feelings and thoughts and nudging them out of hiding, helping me find new ways of looking at the world. To me, this is what poetry is all about. And in this sense, there is poetry all around, in everything. What a gift!”
