Exploring fragile connections in poetry: Juniper, by Kerri Huffman

Kerri Huffman is the author of Juniper, published by Frontenac House. Her poetry has appeared in Acta Victoriana, Contemporary Verse 2, Taddle Creek Magazine, The Antigonish Review and The Fiddlehead. She lives in Toronto. Kerri encourages writers to be adventurous in what they read and what they write, and to send their work out often and to a range of publications. Here is poet Kerri Huffman exploring fragile connections in poetry.

Poet Kerri Huffman

Finding the emotional core in everyday details

OCW: What life experiences have shaped your writing style?

KW: I’m an only child, and while I had lots of friends growing up, I also spent a lot of time alone. I was pretty happy to be alone, because it gave me space to explore my creativity. I was always making things or making up stories and that has continued throughout my life. Having time alone gave me opportunities to look closely at small details of the everyday things around me and to think about how they fit into the world. In my writing, I examine these small details and see how the seemingly inconsequential everyday items and experiences reflect the emotional core of our lives.

A contemporary writer exploring fragile connections in poetry

OCW: Can you trace any common themes across your writing?

KH: Absolutely! Throughout my years of writing, I’ve been very preoccupied with representations of the female body – in pop culture, art and everyday life. Many years ago, I wrote a series of poems about Pamela Anderson (Baywatch era) and Courteny Love related to the construction of femininity and expectations of the female body for cultural consumption. I’m still working with those themes but on a much smaller and personal level – there’s a lot of preoccupation of the body and control of the body in Juniper, along with a good dose of body horror.

OCW: Which authors and/or types of books do you like to read?

KH: I try to read as much poetry and as broadly as possible, although I mostly read contemporary work. I usually have a few books on the go at any given time – right now I have Conor Kerr’s Beaver Hills Forever, Isabelle Baafi’s Chaotic Good and Richard Siken’s I Do Know Some Things on my bedside table. I try to read as much of the current Canadian poets as possible – they’re my peers, I want to see what they’re up to!

I’ve also always been very influenced by visual art and often write ekphrastic poems – Juniper has poems about Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry and the incredible Canadian artist, Jennifer Murphy (whose Orchid Spider is featured on the cover of my book). I feel there’s an alignment with art and poetry – in writing poetry you’re trying to say as much as possible with the fewest words and with art, the artist is conveying their message usually with just one image.

Juniper, by Kerri Huffman

Writers - be adventurous in what you read and write!

OCW: What advice/guidance would you give to writers?

KH: Be adventurous in what you read and what you write. Use writing prompts to approach writing in different ways – it can be a great trick to shift the voice, structure or topic of your poems. I love to try writing in forms; your poem may not end up staying in that form but the music of the rhyme structure or constraints on the language can be carried over into free verse.

Have people look at your work once you have a solid draft – it’s good to get feedback while you’re still in the writing stage. It can be very demoralizing to spend a ton of time writing and revising a poem that you think is perfect only to get feedback that shows you all the holes and problems with it. Send things out everywhere and all the time, and once you get a rejection, just send it out again. I used to feel crushed when I got a rejection – now I feel only slightly less crushed, but I recognize it means I’m being productive! I’m writing and I’m sending things out.

Lessons in the craft of deep revision

OCW: Do you edit as you write, or write and edit later?

KH: I always write, write, write and then edit. I’m a pretty good writer and a pretty terrible editor. When going through the process of working on Juniper, I realised that I have so much to learn about editing and deep revisions. One thing that’s a challenge for me is catching parts of the poem that don’t always make sense. In my mind, I know what I mean but I don’t always see how the reader might stumble or need more clarity. When I first started working with John Wall Barger (my editor at Frontenac House) none of the characters in Juniper had names. They were just identified by initials – it was incredibly confusing for the reader! I’m learning how to catch those kinds of things when revising.