Ask the Author: James C. Morehead
Answered Questions (6)
James C. Morehead
The best advice I can offer is to write every single day - even if you throw away a lot of what you write, even if you have no idea what to write. Don't wait for inspiration. By writing every day you'll find inspiration and develop a habit.
James C. Morehead
I'm planning to read as much poetry as I can. Books by Billy Collins, A.E. Stallings, Threa Almontaser, Forrest Gander and Gregory Pardlo are all on my nightstand. The wonderful thing about poetry is you can jump from book to book and read poems in any order.
James C. Morehead
I asked the musician St. Vincent that question once and she advised changing your location - go someplace new - and by seeing something different or trying to create in a new space you'll likely be inspired.
James C. Morehead
I was introduced to writing poetry by a creative writing teacher in high school. I had always enjoyed writing (and was a shy, voracious bookworm) but hadn’t experimented with poetry. I had the typical high school student’s impression of poetry: boring, hard to understand, and worst of all nerdy. But that teacher was the spark, and during the section on poetic forms I discovered the extraordinary power of poetry: the ability to capture emotion, sound, and movement in a few carefully crafted words. Reading E.E. Cummings, more than any other poet, taught me the design language of poetry.
I'm usually inspired by powerful images. "tethered", which brings a bell buoy to life, was inspired during a Pacific Ocean stroll. Seeing a solitary buoy floating in the distance I thought what it would be like to be that buoy, floating year after year, through every season, protecting ships. That was the spark - the challenge is to turn that spark into poetry.
I'm usually inspired by powerful images. "tethered", which brings a bell buoy to life, was inspired during a Pacific Ocean stroll. Seeing a solitary buoy floating in the distance I thought what it would be like to be that buoy, floating year after year, through every season, protecting ships. That was the spark - the challenge is to turn that spark into poetry.
James C. Morehead
I'm currently working on my next book, a second collection of poems, and already have several pieces that are "book worthy".
James C. Morehead
Over the past forty years I’ve had bursts of creativity and long lulls of blank pages, but always lurking was a need to capture my experiences in words. The year 2020 and its pandemic-induced solitude inspired the poems of which I’m most proud; they lead this collection. Most are autobiographical, in particular the title poem “canvas,” and collectively form a fragmented memoir of memories and melancholy. Some are fanciful, like “tethered,” inspired by a fleeting image seen while hiking the Pacific coastline. All strive to paint images in the reader’s mind through the thoughtful selection and careful placement of words.
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