Poetry Quebec: Are you a native Quebecer? If not, where are you originally from? Why did you come to Quebec?
Anne Cimon:Yes, I was born and grew up in Montreal.
PQ: When and how did you encounter your 1st Quebec poem?
AC: The first poem that I remember learning in school was "Le vaisseau d'or"by Émile Nelligan. I studied in French schools till I studied English Literature at Concordia University.
PQ: When and how did you first become interested in poetry?
AC: At the age of twenty-five or so, I enrolled in a women's poetry workshop and this changed my life and my writing as I studied Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Margaret Atwood, Adrienne Rich and Denise Levertov. This workshop led to joining a writers' group and writing poetry seriously from a woman's experience inspired by these other women writers who led the way to a new emotional openness and honest lyrics.
PQ: What is your working definition of a poem?
AC: I like this definition that I came across lately by John Fox, author of Poetic Medicine
"Poems (are) incandescent lamps of language."
PQ: Do you have a writing ritual? If so, provide details.
AC: The ritual that I have is to write daily in my journal and the notebook that I keep in my purse when I go out. These entries help to keep me aware of life around me and I often draw from them for my poetry.
PQ: What is your approach to writing of poems: inspiration driven, structural, social, thematic, other?
AC: I would say that it is inspiration that begins any poem for me and I find it most often on walks in my neighbourhood, or experiences with friends or strangers.
PQ: Do you think that being a minority in Quebec (ie. English-speaking) affects your writing? If so, how?
AC: As a French-speaking person, I wanted to exercise my choice in what language I write in and I felt more of an affinity with the English language (and literature) than with the French language. I have felt in a minority in Quebec this way.
PQ: Do you think that writing in English in Quebec is a political act? Why or why not?
AC: I don't think it is necessarily so but others might make it so. I don't want to be political but rather free to write in the language of my choice.
PQ: Why do you write?
AC: I believe that I write because it is something I have felt passionate about since childhood and that gives me pleasure and meaning since it relates to sharing experiences with others.
PQ: Who is your audience?
AC: My primary audience is generally friends who write poetry and strangers who come to readings and respond to my work.
PQ: Do you think there is an audience, outside of friends or other poets, for poetry?
AC: Yes, I do think there is a wider audience for poets. I remember in the 80s and 90s there was real excitement for the art of poetry, and readings by writers like Margaret Atwood, Irving Layton and other well-known poets were attended by hundreds of people (though sometimes by less than twenty..!) I believe that poetry touches people and the interest comes in waves, though right now it is quiet. But this may change again.
PQ: Does your day job impact on your writing? How?
AC: I do freelance work such as editing, book reviewing, etc. I try to keep my work in the literary realm since that is what interests me and my lifestyle is modest!
PQ: How many drafts (beer too) do you usually go through before you are satisfied/finished with a poem?
AC: It really depends on the poem but generally there will be at least ten drafts and up to twenty for a more recalcitrant poem!
PQ: Do you write with the intention of “growing a manuscript” or do you work on individual poems that are later collected into a book?
AC: I usually begin by writing poems that come to me without a theme but eventually after maybe about ten, I begin to see a connection and can begin to see a manuscript take shape with its own themes and style.
PQ: What is the toughest part of writing for you?
AC: Finding the words to express something that is interior and to make it evocative and meaningful to someone else.
PQ: What is your idea of a muse?
AC: A muse for me is often another artist whose work captivates me and their life struggles inspire me to continue in my own art. I have had at one time Henry David Thoreau as a muse and read all his works and his biographies, went to visit Walden Pond where he lived. Eventually I wrote a series of poems - "Hearing his Music" - which was included in my book No Country for Women published in 1993. I also wrote articles about him that were published. Lately it is Vincent Van Gogh who stirs my imagination and is inspiring new poems.
PQ: Do you have a favourite time and place to write?
AC: I write poetry usually in the early evening when it is dusk. I like to write most of the time at my tiny kitchen table for two (me and my muse!) or else in my wing chair in the living-room!
PQ: Do you like to travel? Is travel important to your writing? Explain.
AC: I don't like to travel much, but at one point it was important for my work as I used to go to Cape Ann in Massachusetts and this inspired many poems since it has a lot of literary associations (it is near Boston, Salem, Concord).The Atlantic ocean is such a beautiful and powerful place for being inspired and renewed also.
PQ: Do you have a favourite Quebec poet? If yes who and why?
AC: I would say that my favourite Quebec poet is the late Irving Layton as he stood tall and spoke in a strong and tender voice of his experiences, and he cared about the younger poets in his classes of which I was one.
PQ: Do you write about Quebec? If so, how and why? If not, why not?
AC: Yes, I write about Quebec because I like to write about where I live and the landscape and people around me. I now live in Côte-des-Neiges and have written poems about this neighbourhood. I have also lived in the Eastern Townships and have written poems set there. I love Montreal and plan to write more poems about it.
