Maria Giesbrecht is a Canadian poet whose writings explore her Mexican and Mennonite roots. Her work has previously been published in Contemporary Verse 2, Talon Review, and is forthcoming in Queen’s Quarterly and Canadian Literature. She is the runner-up for the 2022 Eden Mills Poetry Contest and a graduate of the post-graduate Creative Writing program at Humber College. Maria is the founder and host of the writing table, Gather, and spends her days nurturing creative folks to write urgently and unafraid.
You can read Things I’ve Memorized Trying to Stay Alive in the January 2025 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?
This poem is a persona poem. It is written from one of my previous lives. Sometimes, when I’m in a writing rut, I imagine what I would have done/lived in another life and I write as her. In this poem, I’m a mistress in Montreal.
If you didn’t write poetry, how do you think you might access the same fulfillments that poetry offers in your life?
I’ve recently started experimenting with loose watercolour painting. I can get lost in the blurry colors for hours the same way I can with a poem. I’m in the early stages of this discovery, and I don’t want to jinx it, but I reckon one day I’ll have a bouquet of art forms from which I derive fulfillment. How exhilarating.
How do you revise your work?
Compassionately. I imagine how my work might exist in different contexts. I always keep all my rough drafts and each one is simply a different “version”. Each one gets to stay on the page. I simply choose which one speaks to me at that moment.
How or where or with what does a poem begin?
A poem begins with a shortened breath. A quickened heart. Sometimes, sweaty palms. Other times, a tongue dry as a pillow. But it’s up to you to take the poem home.
How do you make space for poetry in your daily routine?
I write as soon as I wake up. The more sleep is still lingering in my mind, the better. As soon as I “wake up” to the world, my creativity seems to dwindle.
Do you belong to a writer’s group? If not, where do you find poetry community and feedback?
I host a writing table called Gather. We are a group of bold, gutsy poets who like to explore the edges of our craft. Iron sharpens iron. I’m eternally grateful to host such an incredible table of writers.