Deirdre Dwyer is the author of three poetry books: The Breath that Lightens the Body (Beach Holme, 1999), Going to the Eyestone (Wolsak & Wynn, 2002), and The Blomidon Logs (ECW Press, 2016) She lives on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia.
You can read Swim in the October 2025 issue.
Would you like to tell us a little bit more about your poem?
I am an avid swimmer and live right on Musquodoboit Harbour where I swim & kayak. I also swim at Clam Harbour Beach, East Chezzetcook’s beach and lakes nearby–all on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore. Every time I swim I feel like a new amphibious creature.
Is there a collection of poetry that never leaves your (perhaps metaphorical) nightstand?
The first book I carried around as a young poet was Gwendolyn McEwen’s ‘Meditations of a Seamstress’ and I still go back to that book.
How do you revise your work?
I leave my poetry and prose for a few weeks or more –and come back to it later with fresh eyes and my editing pen.
As a poet, what does creative success or achievement look like for you?
Good question. The first time I showed my younger sister a poem about the birth of her firstborn, she said that she didn’t know anyone else was thinking about the things mentioned in the poem. That was one definition of success.
How or where or with what does a poem begin?
A first line or an image or a feeling seed.
Are there other art forms that inspire or inform your poetry?
Visual art often inspires poetry.
What are you reading or watching or listening to lately that intrigues or inspires you?
I am reading ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ by Shelby Van Pelt and it inspires me to write about the intelligence of animals.
How did you begin writing poetry? Was there a specific inspiration or reason?
In grade four or five my teacher taught my class about the form of the haiku, which I love. So I wrote haiku for some time and in grade 11 or 12 started writing longer poems.
In terms of poetic style or craft, is there a big question you are trying to find an answer for?
Yes, but I haven’t framed the question or answer …yet !