with Catherine Graham and Jessica Outram
We share quotes by Virginia Woolf and Robin Wall Kimmerer. We talk about what connects us to the living world and explore the power behind hidden patterns. Plus birds, being present, and “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond.
We explore how songs make their way into our poetry. Jessica and Catherine read Jessica’s poem “Act 3” and talk about the balance of passion. letting go, and how with every blackout there’s always hope. Catherine reads her poem “I Thank You Burt Bacharach” and we explore how songs transport us and what it means to “live in the poem.”
We explore the blackout in the creative process—as pause, as gap, as moving deeper into surrender. Catherine shares her poem “For A Lost Stepdaughter” and how it came to be. Jessica and Catherine read Jessica’s poem “Act Two” and we explore what it evokes. We talk about what leads to worries and fears plus the never ending flux of the creative process.
We step into another creative portal by exploring voice. Catherine shares her poem “The Queen Is Not Welcome Here” and the story behind it. Jessica and Catherine read Jessica’s poem “Act One” and Jessica shares why the image of the jar continues to capture her imagination and work its way into her poems. We talk about the exchanges between the external and internal, beginnings and endings, and after each “blackout” the importance of hope.
What do we do as creators to tilt our journey towards a creative space? We discuss various ways to enter in. Catherine shares the story behind her poem “The Red Element” and Jessica shares her work-in-progress poem “Being Poetica.” We ‘ache and soak’ our way into the creative journey.
We kick off the season’s first episode by sharing a quote by Martha Graham about what it means to “keep the channel open.” We discuss our hummingbird vision through identity, signs and synchronicities. We also explore two poems: “Hummingbirds” by Patrick Lane and “Sketch in October” by Tomas Tranströmer. We are happy to be back!
We had some technical difficulties with sound in this episode as we get used to new equipment. By the next episode we will have sorted things out and they will be much improved. Thanks for your patience!
In this last episode of our season we explore the writing rule omit needless words. Jessica talks about revision through the four seasons of story. We chat about the importance of listening to the work, allowing for discovery through play, trusting our gut reaction and following our instincts. Also, Julia Child, dreams, Seamus Heaney and what leads us to this: who I am as a writer. All this and more.
What branches above us and spreads below: How two poets connect with the oak tree.
Catherine shares the story behind her poem “Oak” from The Celery Forest and Jessica shares the story behind her poem “On Being a Tree” from The Thing with Feathers. We talk about the thin line between the living and dead, dreams, ancestors, mothers, air-dancing and what it is to be inside a song.
Circles, beginnings, awakenings and bursts. Catherine reads her poem “Chthonic” from Her Red Hair Rises with the Wings of Insects. We explore a poem’s soundscape and how poems communicate with each other. Catherine talks about how the colour red is key to her work and Jessica talks about how ideas move towards us or away from us to find a home. We explore cycles and season and what thoughts are with us when we’re writing. Also process as art and writing by hand.
The Otherworldly: The ease and unease embedded in transformation. We explore fairy trees, the wee folk, thorns, blooms and portals. Also, secret gardens, hums and hummingbirds and the real estate of the poet. Catherine reads an excerpt from her second novel, The Most Cunning Heart, and Jessica reads her poem “If She Had a Secret Garden” from The Thing with Feathers. What is it to travel further into the self? Plus connections, relationships and how stories help us to see and be seen.
The Hummingbird Podcast 