Interview #46, with Dutch author/poet, Jen Minkman!
Describe yourself in 5 words:
Romantic, generous, philosophical, genuine, emotional.
Share a short excerpt and blurb of your work (10-100 words):
It has been said that emotional intensity is bursting beneath the surface of my poetry, each and every poem riding on top of an undercurrent (hence the title).
Excerpt:
The Collectors
They were standing
there, silently
in the slant of the
early morning lightThey had come for me.
Nice! Share an excerpt of your favorite poet’s work (10-100 words):
‘Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.I do not think that they will sing to me.
I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.’(T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock)
Did reading a poem first spark the desire to write poetry, or was it an experience?:
To me, the things I write are always inseparably connected with what I feel. I first started writing (and drawing) to make sense of the world around me and escape it at the same time. When the world tends to get too overwhelming, I withdraw and create my own. Words are the tools to describe the emotional undercurrent of my life.
I’ve a similar experience with writing + drawing ;) What goal do you seek through your poetry?
My main goal is to express myself through poetry, but I would also like to touch the hearts of my readers and make them look at the world in a different way after reading my work.
Please share your #1 tip for poets/writers:
Be curious. Always look at the world around you as if you’re seeing it for the first time, and inspiration will never leave you.
ITA. Your websites/blogs/etc:
http://www.facebook.com/jenminkman
http://www.twitter.com/JenMinkman
http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/jen-minkman.html
* * * * *
Much thanks to Jen for stopping by!
+ JEN’S BIO +
Jen is a writer of paranormal romance in Holland. She is currently the first and only writer of this genre in Dutch (all the other books on the market are translations of bestsellers from the US and the UK), so she is proud of making paranormal romance more well-known in her own country.
An English version of her book, Shadow of Time, is coming out in 2013. Her website is www.jenminkman.nl
P.S. She is having a free promotion of her poetry collection, Undercurrent, on Kindle 30 April & 1 May!
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