Catherine Graham’s eighth book, Æther: An Out-of-Body Lyric,was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award, Toronto Book Award, and won the Fred Kerner Book Award. Published internationally, her poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, shortlisted for the Montreal International Poetry Prize and appear in Best Canadian Poetry. She teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto SCS where she won an Excellence in Teaching Award and co-hosts The Hummingbird Podcast—part of the WNED PBS Amplify app. Put Flowers Around Us and Pretend We’re Dead: New and Selected Poems is her latest book. Visit catherinegraham.com
You can read The Float Garden in the October 2024 issue.
Would you like to tell us a little bit more about your poem? For instance, how or why you wrote it, or perhaps provide some extra context?
I continue to be inspired by lines of poetry that appear in my dreams. As mentioned in previous Pinhole interviews, I keep a notebook by my bed and in a state of half slumber, I jot the lines down. One night the phrase “the float garden” appeared. The next day, when I read what I’d written, I knew there was something alive there. I took out my notebook, followed the current, and out the poem came.
Why was the poetic form the best fit for this particular piece of work?
The poem as one stanza seemed to fit best, to mimic the state of floating and lift it to the liminal.
How do you revise your work?
I write by hand on the right side of a spiral notebook when beginning a poem. Having visual access to the first draft, I then rewrite it on the left side to iron out the glitches and to deepen my sense of what the poem is or might be. I continue this process until I have a strong enough version and then type it up on the computer. I play with the content and form to find the most satisfying shape. I also read it aloud throughout these stages. Then I let the poem sit—hours, days, weeks—and return to the poem with fresh eyes to hone what’s there. Pause. Repeat.
As a poet, what does creative success or achievement look like for you?
Creative success is a return to flow. It’s the inner journey that sustains me. The outer journey takes its toll. Will the poem find a home? Will the book be published? Perhaps land on a shortlist or win an award? How will the readings go? Will there be any invitations? The outer journey can wear you down. It helps to have coping strategies to protect the inner core where the creative stirrings happen and where a poem begins. Tapping into my imagination to play with words—the music, the meaning, the silence—is where I feel the deepest connection to what creative success means to me.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on my next poetry book. I’m also working on another hybrid book, similar to the format of Aether: An Out-of-Body Lyric.
Do you belong to a writer’s group? If not, where do you find poetry community and feedback?
I don’t below to a writer’s group at the moment. I do have cherished writing friends with whom I exchange poems. I’m grateful for these exchanges.