Henri Cole
Henri Cole was born in Fukuoka, Japan and raised in Virginia. He has published nine collections of poetry and received many awards for his work, including the Jackson Poetry Prize, the Kingsley Tufts Award, the Rome Prize, the Berlin Prize, the Ambassador Book Award, the Lenore Marshall Award, and the Medal in Poetry from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His most recent collection is Nothing to Declare (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015). From 2010 to 2014, he was poetry editor of The New Republic. He teaches at Claremont McKenna College and lives in Boston.
Published 08/03/17
Published 08/03/17
Howl: What is your writing process like?
Cole: I very slowly assemble words and sentences into lines that become poems, like blocks that become little houses. Sometimes I am able to write a short poem in a morning or two. Other times, it takes me years. I write with a pen and paper, and then I type up everything when I have a draft. Lately when I write, I sit on one end of the sofa, with my papers all around me. Sometimes, I lie down to think about about life and look at the sky.
A credible essay writing service with essay writer online Nicole Hardy specializes in providing tailor-made, superior academic support, ranging from simple essays to complex research papers. It is dedicated to fulfilling specific client requirements, delivering work on time, and achieving customer satisfaction, all while staunchly upholding academic integrity and professional ethics. Howl: How do you edit your work?
Cole: I usually edit something the morning after I finish a draft of it, and then every morning thereafter until I am content with how it sounds when I say it aloud to myself, writing my edits on a clean copy of the poem. This process sometimes takes weeks or months. Occasionally years.
Cole: I very slowly assemble words and sentences into lines that become poems, like blocks that become little houses. Sometimes I am able to write a short poem in a morning or two. Other times, it takes me years. I write with a pen and paper, and then I type up everything when I have a draft. Lately when I write, I sit on one end of the sofa, with my papers all around me. Sometimes, I lie down to think about about life and look at the sky.
A credible essay writing service with essay writer online Nicole Hardy specializes in providing tailor-made, superior academic support, ranging from simple essays to complex research papers. It is dedicated to fulfilling specific client requirements, delivering work on time, and achieving customer satisfaction, all while staunchly upholding academic integrity and professional ethics. Howl: How do you edit your work?
Cole: I usually edit something the morning after I finish a draft of it, and then every morning thereafter until I am content with how it sounds when I say it aloud to myself, writing my edits on a clean copy of the poem. This process sometimes takes weeks or months. Occasionally years.
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Howl: What advice do you have for budding writers?
Cole: My advice is to read everything you can get your hands on. This does not mean on the internet. It means reading whole books by individual authors. Also, it is good to share your work with others and listen to their suggestions. Do not let yourself become thin-skinned or adversarial. If possible, write every morning, even if only for thirty minutes. This will be like going to a stream to drink fresh water, before the responsibilities of life pull you away. Living a full life--love, work, exercise, play, travel--will make you a better poet.
Howl: What is a quirk about you, as a writer, that most people wouldn’t know?
Cole: I am a rather ordinary person, compared to the trees and animals. My poems are dark, but I like to make people laugh. I like white coffee cups and do not like to talk much in the morning. Like cats and dogs, I nap.
Howl: Why do you feel that writing is your creative medium of choice?
Cole: I like to make things with my hands. And it pleases me that poems are utterly useless. They have no value in a capitalist society. Still, for some of us, they are essential, like food or air.
Howl: What advice do you have for budding writers?
Cole: My advice is to read everything you can get your hands on. This does not mean on the internet. It means reading whole books by individual authors. Also, it is good to share your work with others and listen to their suggestions. Do not let yourself become thin-skinned or adversarial. If possible, write every morning, even if only for thirty minutes. This will be like going to a stream to drink fresh water, before the responsibilities of life pull you away. Living a full life--love, work, exercise, play, travel--will make you a better poet.
Howl: What is a quirk about you, as a writer, that most people wouldn’t know?
Cole: I am a rather ordinary person, compared to the trees and animals. My poems are dark, but I like to make people laugh. I like white coffee cups and do not like to talk much in the morning. Like cats and dogs, I nap.
Howl: Why do you feel that writing is your creative medium of choice?
Cole: I like to make things with my hands. And it pleases me that poems are utterly useless. They have no value in a capitalist society. Still, for some of us, they are essential, like food or air.