Saturday, April 07, 2012

tennessee williams, on poetry

sign on broad hill, aberdeen, february 2012 -- part of an primary school art project challenging all the prohibitive signs in the neighbourhood. they are all very poetic in their own way.

Tennesee Williams is not really my friend at all (bit of a misogynist, that one) but I came across a quote of his recently that resonated with me, especially as I am in the midst of writing my dissertation, the process of writing an ethnography, and I am determined to produce academic writing that is inspired and creative, something full of image and life, something poetic. So this is a good reminder, because no matter what genre I am writing, I think I am a poet at my core. That is what I write, what I create.

I'm a poet. And then I put the poetry in the drama. I put it in short stories, and I put it in the plays. Poetry's poetry. It doesn't have to be called a poem, you know.
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, The Paris Review, fall 1981

2 comments:

Arinn said...

that's a great reminder/perspective! i definitely feel like your poetry carries over into prose--at least into this blog, anyway.

jenanne said...

thank you! that's really good to hear. i feel comfortable with this sort of prose, & i think i've managed it in certain academic papers, but with this dissertation, it's certainly a challenge.