Rae Armantrout
Rae Armantrout is an American poet and professor of poetry at the University of California, San Diego. In 2008 she earned a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2009 she earned a National Book Critics Circle Award. And in 2010 she earned the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
Published 07/19/2017
Published 07/19/2017
Howl: What is your writing process like?
Armantrout: I often start when I feel puzzled by something. I might be puzzled about what makes a certain movie popular or why I find a certain sight beautiful or even why light has a speed limit. I write toward what I don’t understand, hoping to at least clarify the terms of my confusion. On a more practical level, I start by making notes in a notebook. I write down things I see, hear, or read – usually things that trouble my mind somehow. There will usually be several such sources in any given poem. As you’ve noticed, my poems often come sections. The parts are, I hope, both independent and related.
Howl: How do you edit your work?
Armantrout: I try to compress, to say the most I can in the least space possible. Often that entails looking for just the right word – perhaps a word that will mean or do more than one thing in the context of the poem. Sometimes, when I feel something isn’t working, I just have to let it sit for awhile and then come back to it. Then sometimes I scrap a whole section. My poetry is a bit like that game called Jenga. I take out as much as I can and see if the structure still stands.
Howl: What advice do you have for budding writers?
Armantrout: Read as much as you can. If you want to write poetry, you have to know the poetry that was written in the past and the poetry being written now. When you find a writer you really like, read all their books.
Howl: What are your views on the state of contemporary poetry?
Armantrout: Actually, I think there’s a lot of good poetry being published now. For instance, poets are responding to the various political and social problems we face in interesting ways. Of course, there’s a lot of dull poetry too. Unfortunately, more people seem to want to write poetry than to read it.
Howl: Why do you feel poetry is your preferred creative medium?
Armantrout: My mother read poetry to me when I was a child. Of course, she read me stories too. I liked both, but I was particularly drawn to the music of poetry. Poetry doesn’t have to use regular rhyme and meter to be musical. Poetry is a way of preserving your thoughts in a form you’ll want to revisit later – if it works that is. It’s also a way of singing to yourself.
Howl: What is a quirk about you, in relation to your writing, that others wouldn't know?
Armantrout: Hmm. I say my poems aloud to myself as I’m writing them.
Howl: You were originally going to study anthropology at San Diego State University before switching to English. Some of this can be seen in poems such as "Natural History". From where do you like getting your inspiration?
Armantrout: I talked a bit about this in my response to your first question. I get my inspiration from anything and everything. It’s true that I have an interest in science. Right now I’m reading a book about paleontology and mass extinctions. I’ve also read physics (for lay people) and neuro-science. Sometimes what I read triggers a poem.
Howl: Not that it's something you've encountered in a long time, but how do you deal with rejection, as a writer?
Armantrout: I still get rejected once in awhile. If I submit work to a magazine like The New Yorker, for instance, they don’t always publish what I send. Anyway, everyone is bound to encounter quite a bit of rejection. I have two pieces of advice about that. First, you should cultivate a group of fellow poets who read and like your work and can give you constructive feedback so you aren’t dependent on the mysterious decisions of strangers. Second, always read magazines before you submit work to them. You want to see whether your work would fit in that particular journal. It may be that you and the editor have a really different aesthetic.
Howl: Much of your poetry tends to experiment with the use of language. What is it about the manipulation of words and line breaks, denotation and connotation, that attracts you to writing?
Armantrout: Well, we think in language, for the most part. To take a close look at language is to take a close look at how we think, how meaning is constructed. I think it’s a good idea for all of us to pay attention to that, whether we’re poets or not. And then playing around with multiple meanings, connotations, etc. can open a poem up so that it explores various possibilities at once.
Howl: When writing a poem, how do you know when the poem is finished and have you ever re-read your work and wanted to change something? If so, what and why?
Armantrout; Yes, once in awhile I think something is finished and then, after a month or two, I take another look and see how it could be better. Usually it’s a matter of changing one or two words. Recently I sent a version of a poem to a journal and then discovered that I wanted to change it. That doesn’t happen too often though, fortunately. If you start compulsively changing your “finished” work, you’ll drive yourself insane and, after all, you might be making it worse!
Armantrout: I often start when I feel puzzled by something. I might be puzzled about what makes a certain movie popular or why I find a certain sight beautiful or even why light has a speed limit. I write toward what I don’t understand, hoping to at least clarify the terms of my confusion. On a more practical level, I start by making notes in a notebook. I write down things I see, hear, or read – usually things that trouble my mind somehow. There will usually be several such sources in any given poem. As you’ve noticed, my poems often come sections. The parts are, I hope, both independent and related.
Howl: How do you edit your work?
Armantrout: I try to compress, to say the most I can in the least space possible. Often that entails looking for just the right word – perhaps a word that will mean or do more than one thing in the context of the poem. Sometimes, when I feel something isn’t working, I just have to let it sit for awhile and then come back to it. Then sometimes I scrap a whole section. My poetry is a bit like that game called Jenga. I take out as much as I can and see if the structure still stands.
Howl: What advice do you have for budding writers?
Armantrout: Read as much as you can. If you want to write poetry, you have to know the poetry that was written in the past and the poetry being written now. When you find a writer you really like, read all their books.
Howl: What are your views on the state of contemporary poetry?
Armantrout: Actually, I think there’s a lot of good poetry being published now. For instance, poets are responding to the various political and social problems we face in interesting ways. Of course, there’s a lot of dull poetry too. Unfortunately, more people seem to want to write poetry than to read it.
Howl: Why do you feel poetry is your preferred creative medium?
Armantrout: My mother read poetry to me when I was a child. Of course, she read me stories too. I liked both, but I was particularly drawn to the music of poetry. Poetry doesn’t have to use regular rhyme and meter to be musical. Poetry is a way of preserving your thoughts in a form you’ll want to revisit later – if it works that is. It’s also a way of singing to yourself.
Howl: What is a quirk about you, in relation to your writing, that others wouldn't know?
Armantrout: Hmm. I say my poems aloud to myself as I’m writing them.
Howl: You were originally going to study anthropology at San Diego State University before switching to English. Some of this can be seen in poems such as "Natural History". From where do you like getting your inspiration?
Armantrout: I talked a bit about this in my response to your first question. I get my inspiration from anything and everything. It’s true that I have an interest in science. Right now I’m reading a book about paleontology and mass extinctions. I’ve also read physics (for lay people) and neuro-science. Sometimes what I read triggers a poem.
Howl: Not that it's something you've encountered in a long time, but how do you deal with rejection, as a writer?
Armantrout: I still get rejected once in awhile. If I submit work to a magazine like The New Yorker, for instance, they don’t always publish what I send. Anyway, everyone is bound to encounter quite a bit of rejection. I have two pieces of advice about that. First, you should cultivate a group of fellow poets who read and like your work and can give you constructive feedback so you aren’t dependent on the mysterious decisions of strangers. Second, always read magazines before you submit work to them. You want to see whether your work would fit in that particular journal. It may be that you and the editor have a really different aesthetic.
Howl: Much of your poetry tends to experiment with the use of language. What is it about the manipulation of words and line breaks, denotation and connotation, that attracts you to writing?
Armantrout: Well, we think in language, for the most part. To take a close look at language is to take a close look at how we think, how meaning is constructed. I think it’s a good idea for all of us to pay attention to that, whether we’re poets or not. And then playing around with multiple meanings, connotations, etc. can open a poem up so that it explores various possibilities at once.
Howl: When writing a poem, how do you know when the poem is finished and have you ever re-read your work and wanted to change something? If so, what and why?
Armantrout; Yes, once in awhile I think something is finished and then, after a month or two, I take another look and see how it could be better. Usually it’s a matter of changing one or two words. Recently I sent a version of a poem to a journal and then discovered that I wanted to change it. That doesn’t happen too often though, fortunately. If you start compulsively changing your “finished” work, you’ll drive yourself insane and, after all, you might be making it worse!