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- Custom Article Title: Poet of the Month with Ellen van Neerven
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- Article Title: Poet of the Month with Ellen van Neerven
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Ellen van Neerven is a writer and editor of Mununjali and Dutch heritage. Their books include Heat and Light (2014), Comfort Food (2016), Throat (2020), and Personal Score (2023). Ellen’s first book, Heat and Light, was the recipient of the David Unaipon Award, the Dobbie Literary Award, and the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Indigenous Writers’ Prize. Ellen’s second book, Comfort Food, was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Kenneth Slessor Prize and highly commended in the 2016 Wesley Michel Wright Prize. They live and write on unceded Yagera and Turrbal dhagun.
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Which poets have influenced you most?
Lisa Bellear, Samuel Wagan Watson, Jericho Brown, Joy Harjo, and Charmaine Papertalk Green.
Are poems chiefly inspired or crafted?
Both.
What prompts a new poem?
The thought: ‘But can I … really?’
What circumstances are ideal for writing poetry?
Any.
Roughly how many drafts do you produce before ‘finishing’ a poem?
Five to ten.
Which poet would you most like to talk to – and why?
I miss my mate, CPG. Shout-out to her and her blazing beautiful work: False Claims of Colonial Thieves (2018), Nganajungu Yagu (2019), ART (2022).
Do you have a favourite Australian poetry collection?
I cherish Dreaming in the Urban Areas (1996) by Lisa Bellear.
What do poets need most: solitude or a coterie?
Solitude.
Who are the poetry critics you most admire?
Raelee Lancaster and Felicity Plunkett.
If Plato allowed you to keep one poem or poetry collection in his Republic, what would it be?
Roger Robinson’s A Portable Paradise (2019). Mum and I love the title poem. It always makes me think of her and my grandmother.
What is your favourite line of poetry (or couplet)?
I am a shitting, leaking, bloody clump of cells,
raw, murky and fluorescent, you couldn’t take it.
Emily Berry, ‘Drunken Bellarmine’
How can we inspire greater regard for poetry among readers?
Will a poet laureate help? Maybe we need multiple: one for each city and community.
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