BEVERLY — Poet January Gill O'Neil, who lives in Beverly with her two children and works as a writer and editor at Babson College, has published her first book of poetry, "Underlife."
She will give a reading Saturday at Cornerstone Books in Salem. She recently answered some questions from The Salem News. Here's an edited version of the conversation.
How did you get interested in poetry?
I can remember writing song lyrics when I was young and always liked English class, and stories. I started as a business major at Old Dominion, but I had an 8 a.m. class, and that wasn't for me.
I really chimed into the English classes. I heard an audio recording of Allen Ginsberg reading "Howl" and thought, "You can say all those things in a poem?" Then I met Sharon Olds, started meeting poets, and knowing what goes on in that world.
You have a graduate degree from NYU in creative writing?
Philip Levine was my thesis adviser. It was an awesome, awesome time. I had 25 or 26 poems by the time I left. Some of them are in the book.
What did Levine teach you about writing poetry?
Don't settle. Go deeper. You really have to work. Don't be afraid of revision.
What is "Cave Canem"?
It was founded by Toi Darricotte and Cornelius Eady. It's an African-American writers group, an affinity group for writers with common stories. It's based in New York. There are 270 fellows who have done the workshop. It gives grants and scholarships, emphasizes power in numbers, the collective.
Was it founded to compensate for an imbalance in writing programs?
The majority of the people in the writing programs are white. Sometimes you feel like you're being judged by a different set of standards.
Is "Tangerines" a villanelle (a strict form that repeats two lines several times)?
Yes. I started reading poems to my daughter out of the book, and I read her "Tangerines," which is about her. Now she quotes lines back to me.
How do you handle form generally?
I'm a free-verse poet. I am not one to rhyme.
You have a poem called "The Kerning," a typesetter's term for adjusting the space between letters in print. How does that apply to your subject?
The whole idea of kerning — a family is like that, the spaces have to be worked out, tightened. I originally thought of that as a title for the book, but the publisher wasn't enthusiastic.
Where does the book's title, "Underlife," come from?
Sharon Olds uses that in a blurb she wrote for the back of Toi Darricotte's book. It's about the things you're thinking about that nobody says.
What poets do you read?
I tend to read a lot of contemporary writing. Joseph Legaspi. On my nightstand now, I have Kim Addonizio, Jericho Brown, Kelli Russell Agadon. Phil Levine has a new book. Michael Weaver — he's at Simmons, we'll be doing a reading.
I go back to Elizabeth Bishop, Frank O'Hara, Audre Lord, Lucille Clifton, Sharon Olds and Sam Cornish, poet laureate of Boston.
How does what you read affect what you write?
I read sometimes when I get stuck. I read other people to relax, and to get a perspective — in lieu of being able to ring up a poet on the phone and ask, how would you do this, it's nice to see how they would do it, reinterpret it.
How do you fit writing into your work life?
I write when I can, when the kids are asleep. After 8 p.m., 8:30 p.m., I've been known to head to the Beverly Starbucks for two hours. Generally, it's at night. I have a long commute, and when things come to me, I record them on my iPhone.
I wonder if they thought of poets when they invented the iPhone.
There are a lot of poets who like social media. Lots of writers on Facebook, in the blogosphere, now some are tweeting. Not just to promote themselves, although there is that. For poets, it's about community.
If you go
What: January Gill O'Neil reads from poetry collection "Underlife"
When: Saturday, Jan. 9, 3 p.m.
Where: Cornerstone Books, 45 Lafayette St., Salem
More information: Free. 978-744-1831.
