The Poet as Teacher: An interview with Pushcart-prize winning poet Ellen Bass February 6, 2 !

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Many of our poets in the 2012 lineup are also teachers at universities and high schools, balancing the life of writing with the responsibilities of education. Ellen Bass lives in Santa Cru , C!, and is a faculty "e"ber at #acific $niversity%s low& residency M'! progra" in 'orest (rove, )*. +n the low&residency M'! "odel, students wor, independently with a "entor and gather for intensive residency periods twice a year. Bass usually "entors four or five students at a ti"e through this progra". +n 2011, #acific $niversity%s progra" was ran,ed as one of the top five low&residency M'! progra"s in the country. -essica (igot, one of the S,agit *iver #oetry #ro.ect co""unication directors, had an opportunity to tal, with her about her e/periences as a teacher of poetry and her life as a poet. -(0 1ow long have you been a poetry teacher2 EB0 + have taught poetry for a long ti"e, over forty years. Most of "y teaching has been in the co""unity and + teach at retreats and conferences nationally and internationally. 3his is "y first ti"e teaching in a university progra". +n the past +%ve taught "ostly alone and it%s really wonderful to be part of a tea". + have been teaching for five years at #$. -(0 4hat do you thin, about the low&residency "odel2 3his see"s to be a "ore co""on option for M'! progra"s. EB0 3he low&residency "odel "a,es it possible for students who have established lives, .obs and fa"ily responsibilities, to be able to study poetry deeply. !lso, developing poets can choose a school based on who they want to wor, with, rather than be li"ited to the schools in their area. Students co"e to #acific $ because there are poets there who they want to learn fro". +t%s li,e an apprenticeship. Most of our students are serious about wanting to beco"e the best poets they can possibly be. !nd all of our students beco"e insightful and .oyful readers of poetry. -(0 1ow do you connect with your students2 3he residencies are a 10&day i""ersion, so in addition to wor,shops, craft tal,s, readings, and discussion, we also eat "eals together and have ti"e to tal, infor"ally. 3hen, over the se"ester, "y students send "e their wor, via e"ail along with letters in which they tal, about their process of writing, the poets they%ve been reading, as, 5uestions, discuss issues of craft, and bring up anything else that%s i"portant to the" about writing. + send the" bac, criti5ues of their wor, and a long letter responding to their interests and concerns, "a,ing suggestions and including notes on the craft that + hope will be useful to the". 3his is an on&going conversation about their wor,, their reading, and the life of a poet. +t%s an inti"ate and in&depth relationship.

-(0 +s it hard to teach poetry2 EB0 67augh8 3hat is a great 5uestion. +t is challenging to teach poetry. 3hat challenge is part of why it continues to be interesting. + li,e wor,ing one to one, teaching each person as an individual. Every student has different strengths and wea,nesses, and as a teacher "y .ob is to learn how to teach each person. )ne of the challenges in teaching poetry is the sa"e as it is in writing poetry9you learn "any aspects of the craft, "any s,ills, but the art is in when and how to apply the". :othing applies all the ti"e. 'or e/a"ple, you learn so"ething about how to create a "etaphor, but then you can run wild with the" and "a,e a "arvelous poe" or you can clutter up a poe" with the". +f we could .ust learn so"ething and do it all the ti"e, it wouldn%t be so hard; But that%s what "a,es it infinitely challenging both to write and to teach. So"e students have strengths that are apparent fro" the beginning, but with others they go along on a plateau for a while and then "a,e leaps into territory that + couldn%t have anticipated. + a" a very, very, very slow learner and + didn%t really show "uch pro"ise early on. -(0 67augh8 + find that hard to believe. EB0 3he learning process for "e was slow and arduous. + a" particularly s,illed in teaching, + thin,, because of this. Much of what + do was not instinctual, but a learned process, so + really can teach strategies of how to wor, the poe". !nd part of "y slow learning was because for "any years + suffered fro" a lac, of e/posure to good teachers. -(0 4ho was your favorite teacher2 EB0 My "ost a"a ing "entor has been <orianne 7au/. + began wor,ing with her in the late nineties after a long ti"e being away fro" writing poetry. + had been writing non&fiction and + longed to return to poetry, but + was at a stuc, place and needed a teacher, the right teacher. #eople often say, + couldn%t have done it without so and so, and so"eti"es it%s .ust a way of e/pressing appreciation9they really could have done it. But in this case, it%s literally true. My poe"s started to change really fast after + started wor,ing with <orianne. 3he other teacher who was essential to "e was !nne Se/ton who + studied with when + was getting "y M! in Creative 4riting at Boston $niversity in 1=>0 6in those days they didn%t yet call the" M'!%s8. !nne%s public persona was dra"atic, fla"boyant, but as a teacher she was very thoughtful and respectful of students and she loved teaching. !nne encouraged "e to e/pand and write "ore and she pluc,ed "e out of the waters of acerbic criticis". 4ithout her, + "ight have given up right then. -(0 + love the poe" ?*ela/.@ Can you tell "e where this poe" ca"e fro"2

EB0 )f course, +%" "ainly tal,ing to "yself in the poe". + a" not so"eone who is rela/ed. +%" a little high&strung. So + tal, to "yself and try to cultivate the perspective of this poe". !lthough + don%t have a for"al "editation practice, + try to "aintain an infor"al practice in the "o"ent. 3he principle of the Buddhist story in this poe" is one +%ve been chewing on for a good forty years. 3he poe" also was inspired by a friend who was in a long depression. 4hen you love so"eone you want to be patient and not co"plain that you%re getting tired of their depression, but of course you are getting tired of it. So the poe" was an outlet for "e. + needed to present "y "ost patient self to her, but in the poe", + could .ust tell her to rela/; 3hat%s one of the best things about poe"s9they are there for you to say whatever you want; -(0 +s it hard to find a balance between the teaching and writing process2 EB0 Aes. + a" wor,ing on being "ore selective and devoting "ore ti"e to writing. -(0 Aour "ost recent boo, is 3he 1u"an 7ine, published by Copper Canyon #ress. Can you tell "e how these poe"s ca"e together2 3here see"s to be a strong the"e of science and our relationship as hu"ans to our own biology2 EB0 !ll of these poe"s were written in a five&year period between when "y last boo, 6Mules of 7ove, 20028 was published and when this boo, was published in 200>. !t that ti"e + had a lot of stability in "y personal life and + thin, that gave "e the ability to focus outward to the actual world, the science of the world. 4hen + was a young person + thought science was boring. + too, a long ti"e to loo, outside "yself at all. :ow +%" always thin,ing about the fact that we are on this planet "oving around in this incredibly "ind&boggling space with all of these natural laws governing us. 3here isn%t anywhere that you can loo, that isn%t interesting scientifically. My partner is an ento"ologist and + have so"e new poe"s co"ing up on insects. + don%t feel li,e + have a lot of control over "y sub.ect "atter. 4hen the "use gives "e so"ething, + .ust say yes. Chic,ens are also showing up recently in "y poe"s. -(0 + hope we will get to hear so"e of these new poe"s at this year%s festival2 EB0 + a" loo,ing forward to it. http0BBwww.s,agitriverpoetry.orgBinterviewsB2012B02Bthe&poet&as&teacher&an&interview&with& pushcart&pri e&winning&poet&ellen&bassB