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Try Poetry: Emily & Elspeth + Catherine McNeil
Catherine McNeil provides insight as to why she chooses to not capitalize in her poems—how she places the words on the page by giving breath and space to the lines. Read this this musical approach below in McNeil’s poem ‘before leaving the west coast’ from the collection Emily & Elspeth (Caitlin Press).
An Interview with Poet Catherine McNeil
ALU: When was the moment that you decided you wanted to write poetry? Describe it for our readers. Was it reading another poem? Was it listening to a poet read? Was it something different entirely?
Catherine McNeil: I grew up going to my Aunt Florence McNeil’s readings and receiving one of her poetry books every few years. I decided I wanted to be just like her and I took her poetry class at the University of British Columbia in grade 6, at which time I plagiarized another author’s writing because I did not think mine was good enough.
ALU: If you had to pitch your featured poem to someone who had never read poetry before, how would you do so? What kinds of things do you think the new-to-poetry reader might find fascinating about it? What could you share about the poem’s writing process?
Catherine McNeil: The form of poetry varies. I don’t use capitals other than for proper names. I pay attention to how I place the words on the page, like musical scores – giving breath and space to lines.
I use onamatopeia as in “oo la la” & “fa la la la la la.” I record what I write and listen to the musicality of the lines.
The use of alliteration like summerspill, someone, swallows the sky.
Also in poetry, one can take non-sensical leaps of the imaginations and explore philosophical ideas.
ALU: What’s a poetry collection or individual poem that you’d recommend to anyone looking to get into poetry?
Catherine McNeil: I would recommend Florence McNeil’s Swimming Out of History.
‘before leaving the west coast’
From Catherine McNeil’s collection Emily & Elspeth.
slipping away from herself emily watches her body get up
salutes the sun someone spies on her
has rented the suite across the street
emily picks up the coffee pot
pours summerspill
through the window
someone has turned on the sun
frigate birds hitchhike
on BC ferries
the mountain in prayer swallows the sky
rose petals dust the heath
pigeons
like wings speed to the finish
writers are caught
in her mind
this is my home Emily
thinks takes little bird notes her hurried hand
cats wave “oo la la” as she passes by she sings to bones
“fa la la la la la la la”
eats what falls out of the sky
when closing her eyes
tears fall ever since her car accident
she cuts the tears in half puts them in a jar
there is always a staying before a leaving
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catherine mcneil is the author of under the influence (Bedazzled Ink) 2016 which won Milieu’s National Emerging Writers Competition. She has been widely published in literary magazines, including Event, Queer Chroma, Sinister Wisdom, and the Capilano Review, and in anthologies throughout Canada, the United States & England for the past thirty years. emily & elspeth came out with Dagger Editions in the fall of 2022. She lives in Halfmoon Bay, BC, with her dog, Gaia and her cat, Lavender. She is alsoa singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist; learn more about Catherine’s music at catmacmusic.com.
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Thanks to Catherine McNeil for walking us through the very day she got into poetry, making a solid recommendation, and sharing ‘before leaving the west coast’ with us for Try Poetry (Why Not?).
Remember, if you purchase a copy of Emily & Elspeth or any of the other featured Try Poetry collections, you’ll receive a free digital sampler containing all of our featured poems. (Purchase from All Lit Up or from your local independent bookseller; send proof of payment to hello@alllitup.ca if you purchase from your local!)
