Interview with poet Carole Mertz

I’d like to introduce you to today’s guest writer, poet Carole Mertz. We’re chatting about her new collection, Color and Line.

Bio:
Carole Mertz is a graduate of Oberlin College with a concentration in music performance and fine arts. She is Book Review Editor at Dreamers Creative Writing, a Member of the Prize Nomination Committee at The Ekphrastic Review, and served as advance reader for Women’s National Book Association’s 2018 poetry contest. She also judged the 2020 Poets & Patrons in Illinois International Poetry Contest, in the formal verse division.

Carole has published poems and reviews in literary journals in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Africa, and India. These include Arc Poetry, Copperfield Review, CutBank, Eclectica, Indiana Voice Journal, Into the Void, Main Street Rag, Praxis, The Bangalore Review, The Ekphrastic Review, With Painted Word, World Literature Today, and elsewhere. She is both a contributor to, and a reader, for Mom Egg Review.

What do you enjoy most about writing poems?
A poem is always a mystery to me. Where does it come from? And where will it go? Often a poem seems to have a mind of its own, taking me in a direction I hadn’t expected. In Color and Line, a number of my poems are ekphrastic. I enjoy ekphrasis because I enjoy looking at art. This appreciation includes artworks from almost any historical era. A number of my ekphrastic poems have appeared in The Ekphrastic Review. These are responses to 21^st C. artists as well as those from a wide range of well-known classical painters spanning from the 18^th to the 20^th C. One poem I wrote was inspired by female artist Sofanisba Anguissola, who painted The Chess Game in the year 1555. My poem “Learned Ladies” (based on that painting) appears in Color and Line.

Other sources for themes I addressed in Color and Line derived from literature, such as “The Bequest,” one of my favorite poems, which took its inspiration from Virginia Woolf’s fictional narrator, Mary Beton, and which I blended with a personal event.

Can you give us a little insight into a few of your poems – perhaps a couple of your favorites?
I wrote “That This Blue Exists…” in response to a playful challenge from Wilda Morris’s blogsite. She asked us to write a “Title Poem.” For mine, I used titles of 14 different authors’ works and formed them into a little story. It was so much fun to write, and has since been so much fun discovering how people react to it.

I’d like to do more work in writing poetry in form, as opposed to free verse.

What form are you inspired to write in the most? Why?
Of late I’ve been especially attracted to the haibun. If I’m responding to a painting, I like to form my personal reaction to the painting in prose form. I find, frequently a haiku wants to follow the prose. Extending still further, I’ve begun adding the two lines of seven syllables each, to form a renga. Sometimes I join with my sister, a visual artist, in writing these. We share back and forth through emails.

What type of project are you working on next?
I believe my next collection will be one of short essays and more prose poems. I haven’t yet found the time or persistence to work in longer forms, such as short stories. Poetry works better for me and fits with my personality. (I describe myself as a “water-colorist” vs. an “oil painter.”)

When did you first consider yourself a writer / poet?
This began about a decade ago. First I started writing fiction—wrote and published short stories, and began a novel. But poetry soon became my favorite genre. I had to rehearse saying “I am a writer, I am a writer.” Even after publication, I couldn’t allow myself to define myself this way. Now writing is so much a part of my life that I’ve begun to trust the label. One of my earliest published poems was at Page & Spine, a wonderful site for emerging writers.

Of late I’ve begun doing something I thought I could never do: public readings. This year these are taking place online as part of a group of poets I’ve joined through Glenn Lyvers, owner of Prolific Press. I’ve read my own poems at three reading events thus far, hosted by Lyvers and posted at his Facebook site. Something I’d always feared has become, unexpectedly, a rather exciting occurrence. It’s even led me to thinking about the possibility of creating podcasts in the future. Doing informal readings for family and friends is a good way to practice for public readings which bring extra exposure to your writing and publications.

How do you research markets for your work, perhaps as some advice for not-yet-published poets?
In looking for markets, I try to spot various bloggers’ lists of general or specific calls for submission. Angela at her blog WritersWeekly.com frequently offers lists of paying markets, for example. Two large reputable sites to consult are NewPages and Poets & Writers. Through these last two sources, the writer can readily identify sites that accept submissions free-of-charge, or sites that are themed, or are sorted by other categories. Overall, like a driver out on an excursion, I try to follow my nose, delving into sites and poetic styles that interest me.

Until about one year ago, Becky Tuch’s The Review Review was a place to learn specifics about editors and literary magazines and their characteristics, as each online edition offered an interview with an editor / owner. Now Becky publishes a monthly newsletter issued by subscription only, at a low monthly or yearly rate.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I don’t know about interesting writing quirks. (I’m sure I have them.) But I have a quirky bit of information that stems from my life as a professional musician: it’s that I once played a solo on a triangle. (This is rather rare for a percussionist, as not too much music features the triangle of all the little instruments.)

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always knew I wanted to be a solo pianist. But when I had to declare my intentions, as a H.S. Junior, writing came up a close second. For either profession, one has to choose deliberately and dedicate energies and time consciously and devotedly. In my case, I had to wait until I was semi-retired as a musician, in order to fulfil my desire to write. No life experience is wasted. Things I learned as a musician have transferred over to writing. In both cases, one has to spend time alone, practicing one’s craft. From that fundamental starting point, you go forth into sharing your output with others. And that’s where the added fun begins.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
The joys of reading and writing, and getting to know other readers and writers are always increasing. It’s an exponential growth. Poets and writers have to find the positive elements that truly nourish them. When those discoveries are made, the writing life flourishes.

Links:
Website | Poets & Writers profile

Thanks for being here today, Carole.
It’s been such a pleasure to talk with you.