The Story Behind the Story with Poet Claire Conroy of Sanford, Maine.

 

One of our former guests, Donna Allard, introduced me to Claire and she has agreed to be our guest this week.

 Discover Claire’s world of poetry.

Read on, my friends.

 

 

 

Claire Conroy has a deep affection for words and their effects on readers. Be it quietly read in one's head from a page or launched from a stage though a microphone, she is willing and able to provide poetic prose. .

Having self-published two books of poems (“Listen” 2018 and "Silent" 2022) Claire has also been published in the following anthologies: "Poetry as a Bridge to Japan", "Remembering Jack Kerouac", "Goddess Anthology 2022", "New Generation Beats", “Ship of Poetry", " Natural Words” and “Beat Style Love Poems”. She was thrilled to have four poems from her first book translated into Hindi and published online by Devesh Path Sariya in 2019 on Sadaneera.com.

Claire collaborated with the dance troupe Sisters Phoenix and her cousin Erich Kenison on guitar for the book launch of her second book “Silent”, combining music, dance and poetry.

She’s a proud board member of the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program and active in many open mic poetry readings. Claire is also involved with the National and International Beat Poetry Foundation and the Portland Poets Society. You might find her at a coffee shop twisting words around while high on caffeine.

Working Title: Of my next book?  Well, with my first two books, the titles have something in common.  “Listen” and “Silent” are anagrams!  They share the same letters!  Words are fun.  So my next book might be titled “Inlets” or “Tinsel”.  I did compose a chapbook in January of this year that is titled “Rumors From Dead Lips”.

 

 

Synopsis: My first two books are random, free form poetry.  Many different themes throughout both.  The chapbook is about Goddesses visiting while we sleep to tell us the secrets of life, told in Haiku form.  My next book will have a focus on format poetry, which I love.

 

 

The Story Behind the Story: Alright.  Although it’s no secret. Poetry is my therapy.  It’s my safe space to share the things in my head.  I needed an artistic outlet to explore my feelings in my late 30’s and came back to my childhood/adolescent passion for writing.  Now I can’t stop.

 

Website: Facebook

 

 

From "Earthly Delights in the Dirt", in my first book "Listen".

 

Perfect setting for writing?

Most common is all set up in bed, surrounded by cats.  Sometimes I will sit at a desk.  I also enjoy taking a hike w/a notepad to see what happens.  Very much enjoy stealing a spot in a favorite coffee shop for hours and feeding off the vibe of people, sights, sounds, smells.  Let my senses take the keyboard.

 

Music or quiet? I’ll often have a documentary about the topic I am writing on in the background.  I really enjoy writing while listening to jazz.  But I can appreciate the quiet of the woods or the sound and smell of water while I create.

 

Coffee or Tequila? Water, coffee, tea, wine…in that order.  I do enjoy a vodka drink.  Tequila in moderation (so usually no).  I like port, but that’s a treat to celebrate completion of a project or publishing.  I love cannabis.

 

Neat or notes everywhere? I would have to say notes everywhere.  But I almost always write on my laptop, so my “mess” is having far too many open tabs.  Often followed by a traveling thoughts notebook nearby.  Maybe a few notebooks.  A few loose leaves from an older notebook getting further crumpled and marked.

When I am formatting my books, that’s a paper nightmare.  I spread out all my poems all over the floor and slowly put them in the order it decides to become.  I get frustrated, step away, cry, blast some aggressive music.  Perform acts of divination for the love of my cats.  Play in the dirt.  Rinse off and make food.  Try it again.

That’s all we can do, right?

 

 

 

Thank you for being our guest this week, Claire. Wishing you continued success with your writing.

 

 

And another BIG thank you to all our visitors and readers.