Can you tell us something about yourself?
I'm 55 years old. born and raised in the Pittsburgh area. I think I learned
even as a toddler to watch and gauge people because I spent quite some time in
hospitals. Who was coming to comfort or to hurt depending on tone of voice and
body language. I became an observer though out my childhood and I also read
quite a lot. I can not remember a time that I did not want to write. Well,
except for the usual little girl "want to be a ballerina" stage.
How and when did you start
writing?
I started writing in grade school. I started poetry in jr. high school when I
found out that poetry was more than just the classics that we were required to
learn. I developed a greater feeling for those later. at the time they just
made me want to throw the textbook against a wall. In high school I
really began to write seriously. I was spending a lot of time in the city and
Pittsburgh is pretty much loaded with colleges. I had friends that went to
many of them and they took some of my stuff to different teachers for them to
read. They liked my poem and were surprised that they were written
by a 16 year old girl. sort of raw and knowing for a kid I guess. Their
reactions made me feel more confidant but I would have continued even if they
had trashed me. I just would have never shown anyone else ever again.
Are there any other writers in your family?
No no one else before me tho my nephew is taking some courses in creative
writing and i think he shows talent.
Did your family encourage you to
write?
No I was never encouraged to write. I come from a pretty traditional
home. My grandparents were Italian immigrants and even tho they became very
American they still had no ambitions for me, I think, beyond wife and
mother. Pittsburgh has always had the reputation of being 10 years behind
the times and I was caught with 1 foot in the 60's movements and the other
in a 50's sort of time warp. I had to dig in my heels to continue to write
and even now I have gotten some puzzled looks from some when I say that I am
a poet.
Was there anything that particularly drove you to write?
I've had depression since grade school and I know myself well enough to know
that my poems would never have seen the light of day after that. I write
because I have to. I hope that makes some sense. I try to write poems
that readers can see through their reality, their experience, personalize
them.
Where there any particular influences on you as a writer?
When I was in grade school I read "The Lady Or The Tiger" by Stockton. It
has stayed with me to this day. So I'd much rather each reader put
themselves into my poems, get their own feeling from them. I aim
for feelings, emotions, memories, much more that a specific form. there are
forms in poetry that I love. that I read for my pleasure but I don't care to
try to write in. Life is short, even if it seems long. there are
too many things that have to be, must be done. I don't want my
writing of poetry to be cut to fit. Some enjoy the exercise. I
just end up feeling tired and "less than." I am so happy that
poetry keeps evolving, changing, becoming. there is something for everyone and
my hope is that everyone will find it for themselves and take it into
themselves.
Do you have any particular writers that you enjoy reading?
tThere are so, so many. Robert Gibb is a big one and Bukowski. That throws a
lot of people, as if a woman can not find anything in Bukowski's writings.
I enjoy finding books like "The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry" while
wandering the local half priced book store. That book has been a favorite
for the past few years. I also love all of the different styles of
the poets of the PK list, they are varied and so free and yet so personal
and multi-layered.
How do you write? do you have any particular method for writing?
I get my ideas from watching people or hearing a word or two, maybe in a
conversation or a song will jog a memory loose. It may be something
written in a newspaper a billboard, whatever. I scribble it down on a piece of
paper. I carry a small notepad in my purse and I have pads of paper all over
the house. mainly to write myself notes so I won't forget to do something but
also for the words and thoughts that pop up at any time. Then I
type them out. I used to write longhand in spiral notebooks then I used
my daughter's old word processor now I use a computer and that makes things so
much easier.
Do you make much use of the Internet?
oh my, yes. I do most of my work via the computer. I used to have to buy
envelopes in bulk, type out my poems on that old word processor, get up money
for postage then mail out my stuff and wait and wait and wait. sometimes I got
replies, sometimes not which meant I'd have to write again. plus I had to
write out by hand what I had sent, where I had sent it and when. then put that
somewhere that not only would be safe but where I would remember it.
now, it is simpler, faster and neater. it also allows me to read and find many
more poems than I ever could just at a library or book store, though I love
the feel of a book in my hands.
So the Internet is important to you?
I adore the internet for that same reason. I can find whatever and whoever
I am in a mood for or just let fate find something for me. It's like having
all of the libraries of the world for my very own.
Why do you write poetry instead of some other creative outlet?
Poetry touches in a way, at least for me, that a short story or a novel can't.
it is closer to a painting or a sculpture or a song, It is like food.
There are all types of food, it might be a steak dinner or popcorn,
chocolate with wine, or beef jerky and a shot of cheap whiskey. It's what you
crave at that time.
Thanks for your time Sherry, is there anything you would like to add?
I can not think of anything to add unless it would be the fact that I
feel like I have found a "home" on the list and that I credit it with making
me a better poet and a richer human being because of the people that I've
met.