Get to know the poet:
1) What is the theme of your poem?
Drama
2) What motivated you to write this poem?
Watching the documentary leading to Amy Whinehouses’ death
3) How long have you been writing poetry?
Since I was 12 after I received my first diary and got into it actively after signing up for a poetry writing class back when i was a sophomore in 1998 at Western Michigan Uni Kalamazoo
4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
It would be Sylvia Plath
5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
Just the mere thought of having someone else read it for others to hear and hopefully relate to is we inspiring
6) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
Short stories and copywriting
7) What is your passion in life?
Seeing and encouraging others esp young women to ultimately live their lives to the fullest (put aside their careers, family, issues etc) for themselves first and to experience some form of joy and contentedness going through a journey of creativity whilst witnessing a sense of fulfillment it brings.
Performed by Val Cole
1) What is the theme of your poem?
Is there a moment of clarity preceding the final darkness that is either night or death?
2) What motivated you to write this poem?
My friend, the photographer Andrew Guest, took a picture of a dead dragonfly that I found oddly beautiful. I started thinking of the insect’s life, one defined almost completely by constant aerial movement, now finished, attested to by still and iridescent corpse on the ground.
3) How long have you been writing poetry?
More than 50 years
4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Sushi with Jane Austen
5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
I hear my poetry read by a voice inside my head. Oddly enough, it sounds just like me. I was curious as to what it might sound like read by someone with a beautiful voice, someone I didn’t know.
6) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
Even when we are at our worst, there is still a splinter of hope.
What motivated you to write this poem?
We have been invaded with horrific news day after day, and in today’s world, there is a lot of fear and a lot of hate. And I fear that would kill humanity, but then natural disasters happen. And we move past all that monstrosity and remember the most important thing: To be human.
How long have you been writing poetry?
I started writing poetry in middle school and really got into it later in high school.
If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Sam Waterston. Seems like an interesting guy, and he was great in The Newsroom.
What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
Words carry weight, but when spoken, that weight resonates more.
Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
I have written numerous short stories over the years. A lot of my short stories have been published by various Ezines such as Gadfly Online and Antarctica Journal, and recently, I have self-published a few short stories on Amazon Kindle.
VaN ) I was exploring the theme of Summer with reference to India . As against to western poetry cannon of poetry. As you find summer related poetry more romantic which one would not find in India . In India and eastern countries one would find hot unbearable summer which would make you think of hell. The spiritual experience associated with Summer.
FFP ) What motivated you to write this poem?
VaN ) The impulse running underneath the is letting go of physical and realising the spritual.
FFP ) How long have you been writing poetry?
VaN ) I have now been writing poetry since more than three decades .
FFP ) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
VaN ) Dinner reminds me of the last supper. I wish i was with nine Disciples of Christ.
FFP ) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
VaN ) To me poetry is performance as well along with reading it out aloud with certain specific rhythm.
And Festival for Poetry has come out with indescribable idea for performance reading my some one who
for other field of arts. An actor. It is always exciting to see how your poetry gets performed.
FFP ) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
VaN ) I practice writing poetry in Gujarati language ( my mother tongue ) besides translations
I often translate Gujarati language poetry into English language besides my own Gujarati language poetry .
FFP ) What is your passion in life?
VaN ) The ultimate passion in life is to be human. I love this life where we are human beings.
Is it not true that when you wake up to see the world and switch on your television
and you see all nations torn apart and that centre cannot hold …
Vihang A. Naik : Indian poet writing in English. He also writes in poetry in Gujarati and translates from Gujarati into English language. He lives and works in Gujarat, India. He can be visited athttp://www.vihang.org
The poem is about my turmoil of thoughts and doubts, between my recently departed wife, and my starting up of a new relationship.
What motivated you to write this poem?
Lots of bad dreams and guilt.
How long have you been writing poetry?
I’ve been writing poetry for twenty-two years, although I’ve only been going public with my writings for the last eight years.
If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
I’d love to have dinner with Leonard Cohen.
What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
The curiousity factor of listening to my words being articulated by some-one else, and to have my poem heard by the large audience of Poetry Festival’s readers.
Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
Basically I only write poems, however I have written a few short stories.
What is your passion in life?
I’m an Australian, and my main passion is to travel to Canada and America, and visit family/relatives
Never prematurely judge things by appearance and always expect the unexpected.
Also, secondarily, it is intended to simply be a scary thriller.
What motivated you to write this poem?
I was doing some genealogy research and found one of our family names to be “Isadore.” Isadore is kind of a spooky name to me, a name you would expect to find in a Transylvania manor. So I pictured this old, isolated manor on a hill with bats and moon glow and all the other “eerie” stuff and was inspired to write a poem about what it might be like for someone’s car to break down on a cold evening way out in the middle of nowhere and they have to take shelter in this old stone manor on the hill that is spooky and creepy, and this guy named Isadore lives there.
How long have you been writing poetry?
47 years
If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it would be a lot more fun to have dinner with someone who is alive rather than dead. I’ve had some dates I thought were dead and it wasn’t fun. Ha! Seriously, it would be cool to have dinner with Robert Frost.
What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
Thought it would be cool to have a scary poem performed and that it might be a good promotional tool for my other work, so I went for it.
Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
I write short stories and have three published. I write business and quality of life articles, many have been published. I write articles about managing personal finances for GOBankingRates . com. I write articles about poetry and writing and I write essays about life, the world, society and more. I write science fiction/fantasy stories and am working on a novel. And of course, I write poetry, I have two full collections of poetry published, both have been received very well and I get some great reviews.
The passing of my Grandmother in 2015. She passed a day after my birthday, February 26th. It rained that day and snowed a bit. Pretty much the whole week leading up to her funeral, the weather was like that. But the day of her funeral the sun was out. I guess she had a warm welcome that day.
How long have you been writing poetry?
This is really like the second poem I wrote. I not really a poet. I wrote a poem a little before that called “No More Mr. Nice Ty”, it was like the opening of a short script I wrote of the same title. I thought it was sorta wack though.
If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
I’m not really trying to have dinner with a zombie, bro. I don’t know. Maybe the old Kanye.
What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
I got email out of the blue about submitting a poem. This was like the only poem I’ve really had. I’m writer battling writer’s block right now. Maybe my Grandma and my fam that I named in the poem knew I needed some inspiration and trying to align the universe up for me.
Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
Yeah, the short script I mentioned earlier. I’m working on a pilot and feature right now.
What is your passion in life?
Writing, storytelling , creating. Just being able to create characters and come up with storylines. It’s like having a whole universe in your head. Right now I’m just trying to figure how to get it out.
POETRY FESTIVAL. Submit to site for FREE. Submit for actor performance. Submit poem to be made into film. 