Check It Out

Sage Cohen donated her two poetry books, Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry. (2009) and Like the Heart, the World(2007) to the Bridget Zinn Auction.  Writing the Life Poetic  provides readers with lots of activities and strategies for writing poetry.  According to Sage, “Poetry is as unique and personal as fingerprints.” 

I interviewed Sage for Poetry Friday today.

How long have you been writing/ illustrating?

I had a daily poetry practice starting at age 14. It was something I did without much self- consciousness…something I did to stay alive…like breathing.

Why Poetry?

Why not poetry?! We all have our chosen lenses for making sense of our lives and our worlds; mine has always been poetry. I suspect that more people would enjoy exploring their emotions and experiences through the lens of poems if they felt more comfortable there. My goal was that Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry offer a friendly invitation into the adventure of poetry–so that anyone who reads it is assured that poetry is available to them.

When you aren’t illustrating/writing, what might we find you doing?

I am a new mother, so much of my non-writing time is spent nursing, adoring and marveling at the wonder of my son Theo. Every morning, I hike with him and the dogs in any number of lush parks and forests in Portland. And these days, I’m out maybe one night a week or so lecturing about Writing the Life Poetic or reading from it. It’s so much fun to celebrate poetry with other people who love it or want to know more about it.

Who influenced you as a writer/illustrator?

My mother honed my writing and editing skills. My father saw the spark and named the “writer” archetype in me. My teacher Albert Cwanger in sixth grade affirmed my intelligence and boosted my self-esteem. And my teacher Matthew Carr in high school was the matchmaker in my love affair with literature. From there, every poet and writer I’ve ever read has awakened some new possibility in me. I am grateful for the incredible wealth of genius available to all of us in books.

What books are on your nightstand?

The Darkened Templeby Mari L’Esperance, Kindleby Paulann Petersen, The Lettersby Fiona Robyn, the anthology of Portland women writers VoiceCatcher and a whole smorgasbord of books about baby development, sleep, food preparation, massage and yoga.

Where do you find inspiration?

In chapters 35 and 36 of Writing the Life Poetic, I propose that readers cultivate a writing ritual and that they also cultivate a writing anti-ritual. Both are important for me. I have my tried-and-true freewriting practice as a reliable way into writing. Also, any type of repetitive motion such as dishwashing or hiking seems to open the gates, allowing poetry to enter. I also like to experiment with location, timing, light and music stimuli and other such variables to shake things up a bit and see what might be possible in unfamiliar circumstances.

What can you tell about “Writing the Life Poetic Zine”?

The Writing the Life Poetic Zine is a free, monthly publication that just launched this week! Every month, ten fabulous poets and writers based in Portland, Oregon will help you get informed, get inspired–then get those poems on the page!

We’ll invite you to tune into the poetry of your life with writing prompts, interviews, publishing tips and markets, guidance in cultivating a poetry practice, wisdom about the poetic life, tips about cultivating poetic community and more.

You can sign up to receive the zine at www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com.

Favorite time of the day to work?

My creative writing really gets cooking from 4 p.m. to midnight or so.

Chocolate: white, dark, or milk?

I hope you’re sitting down; I don’t like chocolate!

Coffee or tea or —?

I am hopelessly addicted to chai tea lattes.

Dance: Funky chicken or the tango?

Yes! I love freeform as well as highly stylized dance. Contact improv is also of great interest to me-learning to communicate body-to-body about the exchange of weight and navigate together the possibilities of relatedness in space.

Thanks, Sage.  You can bid on her books here.  If you live in the Portland area, Sage will be speaking at Barnes and Noble in Vancouver, WA on June 10. 

 Poetry Friday is hosted by Susan today at Susan Taylor Brown.

Happy Reading

MsMac