A Little Chat with Constance Bourg
Constance is somewhat of a late starter when it comes to writing. Growing up in a regular working-class family in the Flemish coastal region of Belgium, she didn’t have access to the right support network to be able to realize her dormant literary impulses.
Later on, while living in Ireland, she became ill with a complex chronic illness. In learning to cope with this illness, Constance had the opportunity to reinvent herself. She was no longer able to work. So, instead, she started studying for a humanities degree at the Open University. It was there that Constance discovered poetry, and she hasn’t stopped writing since.
When did you become a poet? How did you know it was the right medium for your stories?
I didn't start writing poetry until I was an adult. It's actually fairly recent. I kind of stumbled into it while taking a creative writing course. I wanted to write short stories. But the immediacy of poetry and the strong visual element really appealed to me.
What inspires you to write?
Life inspires me to write. I write to make sense of my experiences, good and bad.
What are you currently reading?
Under The Weight Of Blue by Tihana Resch (poetry), The Craft: A guide to making poetry happen in the 21st century, ed. Rishi Dastidar and Everything Under by Daisy Johnson (novel).
What are you working on next/what was your last project?
I usually have several projects going on at the same time. I'm currently on a break from my book-long erasure poetry and collage project, in which I'm transforming Tove Jansson's The Summer Book. I'll continue that after the summer, but I wanted to record some poetry readings and work on digital collages for a change. And I have tentative plans for a small collection of themed poems.
Tag three of your favourite IG poets we should read:
I have more than three favourite poets that are active on IG, so this is an incredibly hard choice. I'm going to choose three people that I have been following for a long time and that have become friends as well. @my.valiant.soul, @notesfromhim, @writing.by.sa
What are some common themes you see in your own work?
Recurring themes in my poetry and art are chronic illness/familial trauma, womanhood/rejecting motherhood and hope/resilience.
How many unfinished or unpublished books do you have?
I'm working on lots of little projects at the same time. I should probably just pick one and work at that until it's finished. I have an idea for a small collection, a chapbook, probably. I'm feeling quite positive about it, but I don't know if there will be any interest from publishers.
What/who influenced you to become a poet?
I fell in love with poetry while taking a creative writing course. I was writing short stories before that, but I learned that the type of things I wanted to write about were better suited to poetry. Then I kind of migrated into poetry through flash fiction. It was a gradual process. I can't say that it was any one poet in particular that influenced me in the beginning. I read widely then, and I still do that now.
Do you take poetry classes or read books on poetry?
I have taken several creative writing courses and I have bought books on the craft. I like to know the nuts and bolts of things. I'm one of those people that genuinely believe that anyone can write poetry. It's not a gift; it's a skill you can learn. But you need a strong interest in it, and you need to take a class or buy a craft book and work through the exercises.
Do family and "real life" friends read your work?
Unfortunately, I have yet to find a family member or real-life friend with an interest in poetry. That's why my website and Instagram page are so important to me. It feels good as part of a like-minded community.
What does "good poetry" mean to you?
For a poem to be good, it needs to draw me in, initially with strong imagery or a rhetorical question. While I continue reading, I look for pleasing sounds and rhythm. I like poems that show a bit of craft, especially when it comes to lines. No chopped up prose! A line is a unit of attention, and you need to work that. The exception of course is prose poetry, which is presented as a block of text.
What is your revision process like?
I tend to be happy with poems after the first draft. Any changes made will be minimal. Perhaps I'll swap a word for better internal rhyme, assonance or alliteration. I might delete extraneous words and change the punctuation. Punctuation in poetry is something that continues to elude me.
What is your writing process like?
I write quickly once I have an idea for a poem. Usually, I know more or less what I want to write about, and I start looking for suitable imagery. I keep a file of words and line fragments that just pop into my head or that were inspired by something I read or heard. I'll go through the file to see if there's anything there that I can use for the poem I'm working on. Not only that, but I like to work with some constrictions because I find that I create stronger poems that way. One of my favourite forms is the Golden Shovel.
How do you research for your poems?
Most of my poems don't need research. They come from personal experience. But if a poem has a historical or scientific element, I conduct an online search, or in the case of mythology-based poems, I can fall back on my extensive book collection.