Two Poets, Susan Grimm And Larry Smith, Share Their Craft
Two Ohio poets trade verses on Sunday, October 26, at 2 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium. Larry Smith is the founder of Bottom Dog Press and has written books of poetry Lake Winds, Each Moment All, biography, Kenneth Patchen: Rebel Poet in America, and fiction, The Free Farm. He also translated Zen poetry in Songs of the Woodcutter: Zen Poems of Wang Wei and Ryokan. Susan Grimm was named Ohio Poet of the Year in 1999. She is the author of works of poetry such as Lake Erie Blue, Almost Home, Roughed Up by the Sun’s Mothering Tongue as well as the editor of Ordering the Storm: How to Put Together a Book of Poems. Before their Sunday with the Friends appearance, Larry and Susan take the time to answer some questions about their craft:
LPL: How did you first start writing poetry?
SG: I can remember writing my first poem when I was seven years old sitting in our kitchen on Mapledale Avenue and looking at the moon. But I didn’t start writing seriously until much later, probably when I was in my thirties. I took classes, joined writers groups, went to events organized by the Poets’ League of Greater Cleveland (now unfortunately defunct), read, read, read. I wrote in fits and starts because I had two young children.
LS: In junior high, my English teacher asked us not only to memorize some poems but to also write one. I was amazed that she believed we could do it, and I've never stopped.
LPL: What themes speak to you most?
SG: When I’m writing, I don’t ever consider theme. Image, language, and clarity are so much more important. Once I step back, I can see that I write about family, Cleveland, Ohio, Lake Erie, what it means to be a human being, what it means to be a woman.
LS: I write about daily life, the importance of family and Nature, but also how we come to know ourselves.
LPL: What about our Lake do you find so inspiring?
LS: Nature is a constant, though always changing; it's a great teacher and friend.
SG: Lake Erie is the most prominent feature of our landscape. There’s a kind of power attached to it, a power that can only be partly controlled. It’s a kind of reservoir of metaphor for me—threatening, beautiful, unexpected, enjoyable, deadly. Even though I’ve lived by it, looked at it, swum in it, it still feels unknowable.
LPL: Larry, how did you get the idea to start your publishing house?
LS: Bottom Dogs was a 1930's novel by Edward Dahlberg, who lived in Cleveland for awhile. It's about working-class life and how people get by. I began Bottom Dog Press after my father's death and following my research of the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance. I saw what they did and believed we could do the same here in Ohio.
LPL: Larry, what do you look for when discovering new poets?
LS: We publish writings that matter to people, stories told in a clear yet deep voice. Human life captured in a moment of stillness and shared.
LPL: Susan, what do you enjoy most about teaching?
SG: I teach mostly at the Cleveland Institute of Art—the introduction to creative writing and the poetry workshop. The best thing about teaching is how much you learn—when you prepare, in the course of the class, from student interaction. Teaching has changed the way I think about poetry, and there’s sometimes great energy in the classroom when people are excited about what they’re reading and writing.
LPL: Larry, why translate zen poetry?
LS: Zen poems affirm while they challenge us to come out of our dualistic view of life.
Susan Grimm and Larry Smith will read their poetry at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 26 in the Main Library Auditorium. Their books will be available for sale and signing at the event. For more information, visit www.lakewoodpubliclibrary.org/friends.