My group decided to do Shane Koyczan. He is a spoken poet with amazing performances about Bullying, depression and suicide. He has exquisite poetry both on YouTube and TedTalks. It was a joy to learn and be inspired by this incredible writer.
Interview:
Before we begin, I was hoping you could tell us a little bit about your past and what made you want to become a writer in the first place?
I had a very unhappy childhood with a lot of problems, writing is the best way I’ve found to work through some of that trauma. Writing has always been a passion of mine and once I found out that I was both good at it and that it could help me work through things I stuck with it, bringing me to where I am now.
Tell us a little bit about your style and what genre you do.
I like to write spoken word poetry or slam poetry, I find that it works best for the range of emotions that I can express during a poem which helps me to understand the memory or trauma I’m working through. My style is one of both lyricism and flow, I like my poems to almost be songs in the way that they sound. So much to the point that some of my poems have backing tracks of musicians in the background.
Can you describe your writing process for us?
My process involves sitting alone and working through my past trauma, I like to just get everything out on paper as fast as I can, then add, take out specific parts and polish up for flow and lyricism. I like to work through my writing alone first then go to loved ones, other poets, and editors for feedback.
What advice do you have for the writers in the audience?
Just write, there is no trick or special way to write that will make you better. You just have to write on a consistent basis and believe that you’ll write something good. As long as it means something to you it should come to you without too much difficulty. Write alone at first to get your poem, then go through and ask for others opinions, but remember it’s your poems so your word is final in how it looks.
Who are your favourite authors?
I cannot say that I have one favourite author. In fact my list of favourite authors mostly includes other spoken word poets. As the genre is quite a small community it is very close. Most of my influences come from other spoken word poets not only by what they say but how they say it. We all love to bounce ideas off each other, so I’d say any spoken word poet is my favourite author.
Emulation:
Troll – Shane Koyczan (Lyrics here)
you talked strangers into death,
and laughed.
you made pain and sorrow
into a divine craft.
you created misery
and called it triumph.
we get fooled and elect leaders
of your kind like mr. trump.
you inflame love and create
an after burn of disgust and
left in the ashes is a pain,
too strong to stop.
but it’s something we must.
you hurt.. you steal..
you embark on a mission
of prejudice and hate.
you make children feel bad
about the dinners they just ate.
your not imaginary rather a missionary
of self-doubt and pity.
you sit on computer screens and
find the perfect insult to seem witty.
you use slang like lol to mock
others and appease yourself.
the dedication you put in poking fun at
disability and ability is unmatched.
you swim through the deep canals behind
usernames and passwords like you have a mask.
you convert digital to emotional
and pretend you are something phenomenal.
you are a plague, no…
you are a Troll.
What this Writer Means to Me
Shane koyzcan is an amazing author who really opened my eyes to the fact that poetry is not only about 500 year old expired love rather it can be about the life around us. whether good or bad we can find inspiration by looking for it. He also showed me how strong of a tool poetry can really be. He was also the first spoken word poet I have ever heard and it was a really incredible form of poetry that really sparks my interest.
Emulation (From Someone Else’s Presentation)
an excerpt from The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
“We fought a lot in Welch. Not just to fend off our enemies but to fit in. Maybe it was because there was so little to do in Welch; maybe it was because life was hard and it made people hard: maybe it was of all the bloody battles over unionizing the mines; maybe it was because mining was dangerous and cramped and dirty work and it put all the miners in bad moods and they came home and took it out on their wives, who took it out on their kids, who took it out on other kids. Whatever the reason, it seemed that just about everyone in Welch – men, women, boys, girls – liked to fight. (Page 164)
We always fought at home. I never liked it, but my sister sure seem to. She would tell me tales of her conquest: like the one of her punching the shit out of her ex-boyfriend for not remembering her birthday; or the time she beat up her best friend for wearing the same dress as her to a school dance.
“It’s like when yer gettin yer inside kicked out of you and ya just need a release by hittin the perfect left hook.” She would say to me when I ask her why she fights. Ma and Pa didn’t help. instead of stopping us the would beat us if we didn’t set the table right for dinner or if we came home later then when the sun went to sleep. When dad drank he didn’t see his children anymore rather he saw a fellow boxer and he needed to win. When dad would drink me and Suzie ran into my room and locked the door behind us and with it the pain, misery, and violence. This is where I could cry in peace and not worry about gettin hit. That’s when Suzie would interrupt my weeping to say, “Boys ain’t suppose to cry, you lil wussy boy.” She would be the reason my emotions get locked up in Pandora’s box and she refused to let them out. she would suffocate the demons like; Self-confidence and worth and sympathy. We all sure could use that last one.