Janet Davis (aka hipjan)
* how long have you been writing poetry?
In a more or less disciplined way, just
a couple of years. Before that, I dabbled a little without knowing much
about "good" poetry. I wrote some dreadful poems long ago! I've
been writing in other capacities, though, pretty much ever since I could
put sentences together - and also in my career.
* where all do you post/publish?
I don't post all that much; in 2004,
I posted in a few groups more regularly, such as Beginnings. Nowadays,
in addition to hanging out at MUG, I occasionally show up at Desert
Moon Review and at a tanka forum. I'm now a member of the Tanka Society
of America, so I plan to regularly participate in some of its activities
and publishing opportunities.
In terms of publishing my poems, I submit
some of them to a variety of online and print venues. To my amazement
and with some effort on my part, my poetry has appeared in quite a few
places here and there during the past year and a half. In the new year,
for example, I'm supposed to be in red lights (a tanka print
journal), The Sidewalk's End, LYNX, and a few other places.
But I've gotten my share of rejection notices too - that's for sure. There are tons of publications,
of course, that I can't even think of getting into. And I've about
decided the whole submission process practically nauseates me. Still,
I encourage other MUG-ers to clean up and submit their work too. It
can be a very educational experience, sometimes even gratifying.
* tea, coffee, or neither?
Huh? Give me the hard stuff: herbal tea.
* favorite vowel?
Huh again? What's yours?
* favorite word?
Another huh? Hippopotamus, maybe?
Supercalifragilisticexpealidotious (however you spell that)?
* favorite poet now dead (up to ten)?
(See next answer.)
* favorite poet still alive (up to five)?
Maybe I'm ashamed to say I don't
have favorites, per se, though I've really enjoyed reading poetry
by our recent Poet Laureates, such as Kooser. I like work by Oliver,
Dunn, various Modernists, and on and on. And lately I've been studying
short-form poetry (e.g., haiku and tanka). Actually, I'm probably
more into individual poems than the poets themselves. To me, a good
poem is a good poem, whether it's written by a Pushcart Prize winner
or by Fred, the guy marking receipts as you leave Sam's Club.
* where were you born?
Houston, smack dab in the middle of what
is now the city's main Medical Center. Growing up, we also lived in
New Jersey and then England for a while. I went to college in Waco,
Texas.
* why do you write?
I guess because I'm "supposed to."
You know, we all have our things that we do. I need to express myself
through writing, whether or not anyone listens to me, though it can
be nice those times that they do listen.
* what's the longest you've gone w/out writing creatively?
Most of my life, maybe? That's so bad.
I try to write a lot more regularly these days, though I'm not a prolific
writer and I often experience "blocks" - like right now!
* how young are you?
Well, that's one
way of asking me my age! My husband has told me I'm twelve or, when
I've managed to really irritate him, even five. When my young niece
asks my age, I tell her. But the public, nah! Suffice it to say I'm
deeply entrenched in middle age, making me, I suppose, the "granny"
of MUG (or at least mother, ha, ha). I'm at that place where you've
begun to seriously regress and just swear you're in your early twenties
(emotionally).
* How'd you find MUG, again?
Surfing. About two years ago I was searching
for informal sites where "new poets" would feel comfortable and
where I could hide beneath a username - until now,
that is! MUG looked like such a place.
* best feature of MUG?
Its funky, laid-back nature. Also, its
great, user-friendly website design, its overall functionality, its
zany but thoughtful webmaster/publisher (that's you). Its eclectic,
free-spirited poetry and other writing.
* worst feature of MUG?
Its funky, laid-back nature. Not really.
Seriously, I suppose I sometimes wish more posters would interact with
each other a bit more and also maybe that there'd be greater interest
in "workshopping." But on the other hand, I can't stand when poems
are workshopped to death; at some
poetry forums, posters can get pretty obnoxious with their comments
too. I'm also not
completely fond of the voting (smile), though it can be pretty interesting
and can at times give posters an indication of how well their poems
are accepted.
* what is/was your career?
I studied journalism in college and then
worked for ages in technical publications and marketing communications/advertising.
As an editor, one of my various job functions, I've marked up or have
rewritten thousands of pages of text. The creative director at a little
agency where I once worked labeled me the "Red Menace" and even
framed a picture for me of a giant red pen. I chucked my career a while
back, though, for assorted reasons.
* why do you take the time to critique poetry on MUG?
I don't feel that I critique a whole
lot here, but I guess "critiquing" or editing is almost second nature
to me. Sometimes I'm nearly chomping at the bit to edit. I've seen
quite a few poems at MUG that I consider to be promising, and occasionally
even pretty great, in a literary sense; maybe they just require some
more tweaking or rework to be really polished and have the most impact.
On the other hand, it's also cool with me if MUG-ers choose to write
mainly for self-expression and want to leave their work rougher. Whatever.
Anyway, it's pretty time-consuming
to critique the bulk of the poetry that gets posted at MUG. And I don't
like spending my time that way if what I say is only going to end up
bothering someone. But if I know a poster is interested in receiving
more extensive comments, or just some mechanical editing help, I'm
happy to humbly oblige when and if I can. And I do mean "if":
we're all writers and subjective readers too, after all.
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