Tom Chandler, Rhode Island
Studied Poetry: I studied at Brown and the
University of New Hampshire.
Writing: I started writing poems probably
as soon as I learned how to write. I still have some poems
I wrote at about age ten, and their horribleness still makes
me cringe.
Inspiration: I
don’t generally write
from inspiration.” I write all the time and hope for
the best.
Favorite Poets: I’m
a big fan of Whitman, Frost, Williams, Bishop. Among the
living I like Philip Levine, Billy Collins, Ted Kooser, Baron
Wormser, Denise Duhamel, Mekeel McBride. I like reader-friendly
poets.
Challenges: I’m still hurdling. Tell
the guy at the gas station that you’re a poet, and he’ll
probably think of scented candles and Yanni albums.
Advice: There
is no such thing as a “career” in poetry. You
can teach creative writing (which is what I do), but people
who write poems by and large do so because they find they
cannot not write poems.
