Poetry Online Slam was created by Bristol based Poet Matt Duggan who won the erbacce prize for poetry in 2015.

You can find out more about Matt here http://www.mattduggan.webnode.com  

Why did I create the Online Slam? I wanted to connect poets from all over the world who wouldn't get to see some poets reading LIVE! Plus, None of that dodgy judging or rent a room Poet B/S. I hope this project works and you have enjoyed the poems so far, hopefully I can continue this small project. In future the plan is if this does work, then 7 or 8 months down the line I will arrange a LIVE Slam in a venue in Bristol, inviting all the winners over the last several months, Sound Good ?  

 

Our First Winner for July is Myriam San Marco  

INTERVIEW - BETWEEN MATT DUGGAN AND MYRIAM SAN MARCO

1. How long have you been writing?

This is a question I often get asked and always feel hesitant in answering. My poetry mentor advised me the first time I was asked, to lie, and in so doing, keep the mystery alive, and this because a judgement follows whatever answer you give. It seems that worth as a writer is associated with the length of time you have spent at your craft. I prefer to be measured by what I write and not by how long. Consequently, I don't think I have ever given a straight answer. The truth is always more complicated than a simple date. Before putting things on paper, I write in my head, tell myself stories, and play with words and sentences. If I reflect back, I have been telling myself stories since early childhood, writing them down in colouring crayons. I have been writing ever since, stories, poems, diaries and long Facebook statuses. But I have only been calling myself a poet for the last 18 months. That was when I finally accepted that being a poet has always been my identity, who I was, who I am.

 

2. Where did the inspiration come from for your winning slam poem?  

The Murder poem has very little to do with being inspired. It came about after discovering Julia Copus and the mirror poem form at a writing workshop. I wanted to challenge myself to write using that specific form because I mostly write prose poetry and free verse and my competitive nature demanded it of me. I felt driven to write it and for the poem to be good and to get it published. I started with the first line 'Last night, limping, I walked all the way to the edge of myself.' which I wrote at the top and bottom of a blank page. I then worked solidly for about 60 hours in a gloriously sunny week to wrestle a story down on paper. The editing process took about the same time, mostly working out where to place a comma or a full stop. I had a guest slot coming up and I started to learn it to perform. This proved nigh on impossible because of the way the piece is structured and I kept making mistakes. After performing it a few times, I made further changes in the rhythm and pacing, which altered the punctuation in the written piece. Eventually, I submitted it to Interpreter's House and it was published in TIH #58. Writing this poem gave me a deeper understanding of what it means to work and perfect your craft as this quote from Flann O'Brien illustrates: "What you think is the point is not the point at all but only the beginning of the sharpness."

 

3. What type of poet would you say you were, and what poets inspired you growing up and why?  

I am a poet who tries not to be labelled. It is difficult, especially with my pain-orientated mind, my writing has a bent towards the grit that gets stuck in your eyes after a long day on the beach. I aim to bring the page to the stage and vice-versa. I feel there shouldn't be a divide between page poetry and performance poetry so I try to blend both in my writing. I want my poems to work on the page and as performance pieces because, for me, this defines what a poet should be.

Growing up, I was inspired by a gang of French poets: mostly Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Verlaine and Apollinaire. I saw myself, Heathcliff-like, joining in with their wine and opium soirees in which they would read to each other, the essence of being a romantic poet. But I was and still am also inspired by music: Jim Morrison, David Bowie, Janis Joplin, Robert Johnson, The Cure and many others as well as by movies. I nearly always write with music playing in the background and my writing style tends to vary according to the style of music I am listening to.

 

4. Finally Myriam, what are your future writing plans?  

I am at the start of the process of putting a collection together. I am writing a story told from the perspective of the tree who listened to it and exploring the meaning of 'Haragei', which a Japanese concept, literally translated as 'stomach art'. The intent is to express real intention and true meaning through implication, exchanging thoughts and feelings that are implied instead of explicit. There will be prose as well as poems interweaving throughout in a non-linear fashion so that the reader would be able to pick and choose where to start and finish to find different strands of the story. This will be accompanied by a memory stick with audio and videos of some of the pieces. Although I have a definite idea of the finished product, it is a work in progress at the moment which I hope to get a press interested in.

 

Thank you Myriam, and Congratulations again on winning our first SLAM, and best of luck with your future plans.