Greetings, GROGgers. It's National Poetry Month! How will you celebrate? Let us know in the comments! And for more poetic inspiration, check out these prior GROG posts: here, here, and here.
You may be feeling that you're not a poet, or that it's too late for you to learn to write poetry. Today I have the enormous pleasure of introducing someone who proves that you are wrong: poet Libby VanBuskirk, who at 91 years young is currently anticipating the publication of her first poetry collection, Living With Time, by Kelsay Books.
 |
| Libby VanBuskirk |
Libby and I have been writing partners for many years. Her feedback is always kind and wise. She models a whole-hearted embrace of living authentically, and has dedicated herself to continuing to practice and grow in her writing, finding fresh inspiration in each new decade.
Libby took a few moments out from her writing regimen to share some thoughts on poetry and on her soon-to-be-published collection, which was inspired, in part, by the loss of her husband in 2019.
GROG: Libby, your forthcoming poetry collection takes its title from your poem "Living With Time." Tell us a little about the book.
LIBBY: Most of the poems in the book take place at a northern New England lake which feels almost holy to me. Through poetry and living close to the natural world, I have observed and explored the changes that time brings—present, past and future. I am intrigued by the movement of time, how it shapes our lives.
GROG: I found the title poem deeply moving -- you can read it here. Libby, why do you write poetry?
LIBBY: I love the sounds in poetry. I also have seen that the beauty and power of poetry can help us explore themes we sometimes avoid. Poems can lead to thought-provoking discussions about our changing lives, aging, and death.
GROG: Agreed those are topics we sometimes want to avoid. What inspired you to write the poems in your collection?
LIBBY: I was inspired by growing older, by the increasingly common experience of loss, and especially by the sudden loss of my husband by drowning. As some of my poems describe, loss can bring us terrible, shocking moments.
GROG: I'm so sorry that happened, Libby. I think you convey these feelings, moments, and images so beautifully in your poetry. What do you want readers to gain from reading your collection of poems?LIBBY: I hope my poems help readers see the beauty in life at all ages. And maybe the collection, "Living with Time," can be helpful as a gift to mark an advanced birthday or to give to a relative or friend suffering a period of loss.
GROG: I like that, "an advanced birthday." Tell us about the poems in the collection.
LIBBY: The book includes about 65 poems. Some are lyric and others are formal poems, in forms that I’ve been learning over the past few years. I have loved reading and experimenting with these forms.
GROG: Yes! Poetry forms can be really fun. And how did you select and arrange those 65 poems?
LIBBY: The poems in Living with Time fall into three parts, all centered on the theme of time’s power to change our lives.
Part one probes life’s changes as I see them reflected in the natural world.
In the Part two poems, monumental change comes with my husband's sudden death. These poems address themes such as: How can I live without him, when our lives were so intertwined? Through metaphor and imagery and the clarity of poetry, I reflect on loss as I look for him everywhere and try to bring him back in odd ways, re-visit incidents in our lives together, or want to escape alone to a spot by the sea.
In Part three, the poems are about how I feel ready to grow again, and strive to build a new life through poetry.
GROG: So, it's not about loss only, but time, and living, and growing, and beauty. What steps did you take to get your collection published?
 |
Libby's drafting process: "To Recycle"
|
LIBBY: It is very hard to get a poetry collection published! But, once I focused on wanting to write and publish poetry, over the last five years, I started submitting and publishing in poetry journals and anthologies.My publisher, Kelsay Books, publishes both books and The Orchards Poetry Journal. Twice in recent years, the editors there accepted poems I wrote for the journal. I especially appreciated their kind words when they said they loved my work. Their enthusiasm encouraged me to submit my collection to Kelsay for publication, and I am so relieved they accepted it.
GROG: And of course it takes a village, right?
LIBBY: Right! I am grateful to the many people who helped me make this book happen. I was lucky that a good friend, the poet Jeanne Svensson, served as my editor as I’ve worked on the book. In the very beginning of my dream to collect the poems into a book, she chose which poems to include and even helped to shape their order. Other friends have read and critiqued the poems.
I learned a great deal from Vermont poet David Weinstock, the leader of my weekly poetry group, and from studying with another Vermont poet, Rebecca Starks. With her, I have explored poetic forms—the sonnet, the villanelle, haiku and haibun, a beautiful Arabic form, the ghazal, and others.
GROG: Thank you for sharing these insights, Libby. I'm so excited that your book is on its way, and can't wait to hold a copy in my hand!
***
And here's more from Libby about her colorful life -- including that she once interviewed TS Eliot (!!) and has a passion for the indigenous textiles of the Andes:
I began my avid years of writing at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, studying with the poet Gray Burr. Since then I have studied writing at Radcliffe Seminars, the University of Vermont and recently in weekly intensive poetry seminars with Vermont poet Rebecca Starks.
Soon after college, I won a national writing award from Mademoiselle Magazine which led to an interview with T.S. Eliot. (GROG: !!!)
I received a Barbara Carlin grant from SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) for a picture book text, and won a poetry prize from Writers’ Digest.
My poetry has appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, Orchards Poetry Journal, Quartet, Blueline Literary Review, and elsewhere. I published a book of short stories for children, Beyond the Stones of Machu Picchu, in 2013 (Thrums Books, Colorado). The stories offer a close-up look at Inca families today and their powerful ways of celebrating the natural world.
I have also followed my interests as an educator and a fiber artist, traveling to Peru eight times to research and write about indigenous Andean textiles and their meanings. My husband and I helped a Peruvian Inca weaver to found the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco. I co-taught courses on Inca history and culture at the University of Vermont, and guest-curated the exhibition, “Weaving the Patterns of the Land” at the Robert Hull Fleming Museum.
Currently, I am focused on poetry, my long-term love.
***
Visit Libby's beautiful website to read some of her poetry.
You can also peruse the entire Summer 2024 issue of The Orchards Poetry Journal, here.
Why not try a poetic form today? See this post for some ideas. And leave a comment about your own poetry practices.
Happy Poetry Month to one and all!
