John Ashbery
With over twenty volumes of poetry under his belt and a Pulitzer Prize, John Ashbery is one of America's most beloved poets. Ashbery has lectured at Harvard University and won the National Book Award.
Interviewed by Conner Houghtaling & Justevia Lewis
Howl: Your poetry masterfully utilizes various tones from philosophic to humorous, and sometimes both. How do you ensure that your tone effectively comes across in your poetry?
[See the response to the next question]
Howl: Considering poetry is made of words, how do you choose the perfect diction for your particular poem and has there been a particularly challenging poem you’ve fought through, and if so, how did it come out?
Ashbery: Your questions: “How do you ensure that your tone effectively comes across in your poetry?” and “How do you choose the perfect diction for your particular poem?” seem to imply that there is the poem on the one hand and tone and diction, with which it must be clothed by the poet before setting out into the world on the other. I feel that words and tone are inseparably woven into the weft of a poem.
Howl: When you were very young you considered art as a pursuit and during your years growing up, you came across many writers. What makes poetry your specific creative medium?
Ashbery: Yes, when I was a child I thought I would become a painter when I grew up, but I gradually lost interest in doing this when I went to college and no longer had space to paint, and had already discovered poetry and decided to pursue it. I don't think that was my only stimulus, though it might have been an important one. After all, William Carlos Williams painted when he was young, and later said that he found it easier to carry a manuscript around with him than a stack of freshly painted canvases, so practicality is a factor, though maybe not the determining one.
Howl: Do you have any advice for budding writers?
Ashbery: Advice for budding writers would certainly start off with reading poetry enough to know that you want to pursue this path, for which the material rewards are slim. That covers question 6 [see below] as well. The “younger generations” should read poetry—if they feel like it—to know what satisfactions poetry, and only poetry, can produce.
Howl: Why do you think it is important for the younger generations to read poetry?
[See above]
Howl: Are there any works of yours that stand out from the rest to you and why?
Ashbery: I tend not to reread my own work, except when giving poetry readings, but as it happens I've just been rereading my long poem Flow Chart, which has just been translated into German. Though I have only sketchy notions of German, I was curious to follow the translation and see how it might have varied from my original. I got rather interested anew in that work, which is undoubtedly my longest poem. In fact, I may go back and read some more of my old works to see if they can still do it for me.
Howl: Growing up, you admired the work of W.H. Auden. In 1956, your collection of poetry Some Trees was selected by the same poet for the Yale Younger Poets Series. What was it like earning such an accolade from someone you so admired and likewise, what do you look for in modern poetry today? Likewise, who has helped and supported you in your writing career?
Ashbery: Yes, when I was in my teens Auden was my favorite poet. He was also the first modern poet I read with something approaching understanding. It was, of course, thrilling to be chosen by him for the Yale series, though I'm not sure how involved he was in my work. One older poet who was perhaps even more supportive was the late John Malcolm Brinnan, who as a judge, chose my work for the Discovery Prize of the 92nd Street YMHA in New York in 1952 and also chose Self Portrait for the National Book Award. Though I saw him very little, I felt he was a true friend.
Published: 4/7/14
[See the response to the next question]
Howl: Considering poetry is made of words, how do you choose the perfect diction for your particular poem and has there been a particularly challenging poem you’ve fought through, and if so, how did it come out?
Ashbery: Your questions: “How do you ensure that your tone effectively comes across in your poetry?” and “How do you choose the perfect diction for your particular poem?” seem to imply that there is the poem on the one hand and tone and diction, with which it must be clothed by the poet before setting out into the world on the other. I feel that words and tone are inseparably woven into the weft of a poem.
Howl: When you were very young you considered art as a pursuit and during your years growing up, you came across many writers. What makes poetry your specific creative medium?
Ashbery: Yes, when I was a child I thought I would become a painter when I grew up, but I gradually lost interest in doing this when I went to college and no longer had space to paint, and had already discovered poetry and decided to pursue it. I don't think that was my only stimulus, though it might have been an important one. After all, William Carlos Williams painted when he was young, and later said that he found it easier to carry a manuscript around with him than a stack of freshly painted canvases, so practicality is a factor, though maybe not the determining one.
Howl: Do you have any advice for budding writers?
Ashbery: Advice for budding writers would certainly start off with reading poetry enough to know that you want to pursue this path, for which the material rewards are slim. That covers question 6 [see below] as well. The “younger generations” should read poetry—if they feel like it—to know what satisfactions poetry, and only poetry, can produce.
Howl: Why do you think it is important for the younger generations to read poetry?
[See above]
Howl: Are there any works of yours that stand out from the rest to you and why?
Ashbery: I tend not to reread my own work, except when giving poetry readings, but as it happens I've just been rereading my long poem Flow Chart, which has just been translated into German. Though I have only sketchy notions of German, I was curious to follow the translation and see how it might have varied from my original. I got rather interested anew in that work, which is undoubtedly my longest poem. In fact, I may go back and read some more of my old works to see if they can still do it for me.
Howl: Growing up, you admired the work of W.H. Auden. In 1956, your collection of poetry Some Trees was selected by the same poet for the Yale Younger Poets Series. What was it like earning such an accolade from someone you so admired and likewise, what do you look for in modern poetry today? Likewise, who has helped and supported you in your writing career?
Ashbery: Yes, when I was in my teens Auden was my favorite poet. He was also the first modern poet I read with something approaching understanding. It was, of course, thrilling to be chosen by him for the Yale series, though I'm not sure how involved he was in my work. One older poet who was perhaps even more supportive was the late John Malcolm Brinnan, who as a judge, chose my work for the Discovery Prize of the 92nd Street YMHA in New York in 1952 and also chose Self Portrait for the National Book Award. Though I saw him very little, I felt he was a true friend.
Published: 4/7/14