Notes from his interview John Foulcher Notes from his interview

What poetry means to Foulcher Doesn’t regard himself as poet Sees himself as someone who writes poetry in spare time Poetry is one person’s experience being communicated to others Makes his poetry simple and clear so it can be enjoyed

Why did he start writing poetry? He’s a teacher – lots of people write but you don’t realise how many Didn’t like poetry at school Teens like writing poetry because it helps them work things out Wrote his first poem when 15, about unrequited love – it didn’t work!! But it helped him

How do you go about writing poetry Hard work Two stages: the end – easy part; trying to find the poem in the words – hard part Poet is like a mechanic – tinkers about with words like it’s an engine

Is there a lot of wasted paper? Les Murray (Australian poet) said there is a great waste paper basket One poem works for every eight or nine that don’t A lot of what is written is rubbish Sometimes it just isn’t going to work – you’ve got to throw it away

Did he like poetry at school? NO!!!!! Preferred music – Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix Even though music gets to more people, why not write music? You don’t always have to make points to be heard Wants to talk about what he thinks, but it might not be what he set out to say Inspired by Wilfred Owen in Year 10

Wilfred Owen’s inspiration The lines stayed with him about the horror of war Listening / reading the poem made him see more than what he heard in Dylan song The poetry was more real than Dylan’s songs Other inspirations TS Eliot and WH Auden - complex

Australian poets Compare well with American and English poets Australians more experimental now – Les Murray in particular; also Robert Gray – “great imagist” Poetry is a minority art Poetry is rewarding; it lasts afterwards

Concerns Violence and the struggle to survive Beauty and violence of nature Lighter and darker side Reveals a lot about himself in his poems- a risk of writing poetry Conscious references to the Biblical Writes about isolation unconsciously