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Editing your own poetry: Q&A with Robert Berold
Thu, 13 October 2022
As the AVBOB Poetry Project deadline looms, the last workshop in a series of six well-attended online workshops focused on how to edit poems. On 15 October 2022, veteran poet and editor Robert Berold joined series host and poetry teacher, Liesl Jobson, sharing generously on how aspiring poets can edit and improve their poetry.
Berold is the author of four poetry collections and four books of non-fiction. He’s also been a literary editor for 30 years, is publisher of small poetry press Deep South, and co-founded the MA in Creative Writing at Rhodes University. As a much-loved teacher and editor to many, he has been a major influence in South African poetry.
Is language skill the most important thing?
Being a poet is only partly to do with language. The rest is about facing yourself, listening to yourself. When I’m not honest with myself, my poetry is weakened and no amount of skill can rescue it. More and more, I believe the only way to continue as a writer is to go with risky creative choices in your life as much as in your writing.
Why edit a poem?
Well, you want your poem to express itself fully, to have its own life. You won’t always be there to read and perform your poem – ultimately it has to perform itself. Sometimes poems come out perfectly formed, spontaneously, not needing any editing. But for most of them, some shaping or pruning is needed to get the right tone and form.
Where do you start?
You can’t edit a poem unless you can read it. You might say, well of course I can read it – I wrote it! But can you read it as something separate from yourself, something with its own life?
How can I tell the difference between the poem’s voice and my own creative voice? Aren’t they the same thing?
No. Listen for the poem’s unique voice. One of the best ways to hear that voice is to give it time and then look at it afresh. Put it away and forget about it for a while. Then try reading it to different people, or even to yourself, or your dog. After reading it 10 or 20 times, you’ll learn which parts of the poem remain exciting and which parts sound flat. It’s good to read a group of poems at different times, in different moods.
What are the common things that beginner poets should avoid?
Firstly, poems do not need explanations. Writers tend to explain because they don’t trust the poem to explain itself. Does a tree or a bird explain?
Secondly, don’t preach. The poem doesn’t need to tell the reader what to feel or think. Let the poem state its tone, mood, or story. That is sufficient. Let readers feel or conclude whatever they want to.
What’s your take on rhyme?
Many beginner poets think that rhyme is necessary for a poem to be a poem. It works in some contexts but not others. Rhyme should sound natural, and that takes skill. Many poets get bullied by their own rhymes, which sound artificial.
What questions do you ask when editing?
Before entering the AVBOB Poetry Competition, we trust these suggestions will help you sharpen your poems! Submit up to 10 poems in all 11 official languages at www.avbobpoetry.co.za. Entries close on 30 November 2022.
Berold is the author of four poetry collections and four books of non-fiction. He’s also been a literary editor for 30 years, is publisher of small poetry press Deep South, and co-founded the MA in Creative Writing at Rhodes University. As a much-loved teacher and editor to many, he has been a major influence in South African poetry.
Is language skill the most important thing?
Being a poet is only partly to do with language. The rest is about facing yourself, listening to yourself. When I’m not honest with myself, my poetry is weakened and no amount of skill can rescue it. More and more, I believe the only way to continue as a writer is to go with risky creative choices in your life as much as in your writing.
Why edit a poem?
Well, you want your poem to express itself fully, to have its own life. You won’t always be there to read and perform your poem – ultimately it has to perform itself. Sometimes poems come out perfectly formed, spontaneously, not needing any editing. But for most of them, some shaping or pruning is needed to get the right tone and form.
Where do you start?
You can’t edit a poem unless you can read it. You might say, well of course I can read it – I wrote it! But can you read it as something separate from yourself, something with its own life?
How can I tell the difference between the poem’s voice and my own creative voice? Aren’t they the same thing?
No. Listen for the poem’s unique voice. One of the best ways to hear that voice is to give it time and then look at it afresh. Put it away and forget about it for a while. Then try reading it to different people, or even to yourself, or your dog. After reading it 10 or 20 times, you’ll learn which parts of the poem remain exciting and which parts sound flat. It’s good to read a group of poems at different times, in different moods.
What are the common things that beginner poets should avoid?
Firstly, poems do not need explanations. Writers tend to explain because they don’t trust the poem to explain itself. Does a tree or a bird explain?
Secondly, don’t preach. The poem doesn’t need to tell the reader what to feel or think. Let the poem state its tone, mood, or story. That is sufficient. Let readers feel or conclude whatever they want to.
What’s your take on rhyme?
Many beginner poets think that rhyme is necessary for a poem to be a poem. It works in some contexts but not others. Rhyme should sound natural, and that takes skill. Many poets get bullied by their own rhymes, which sound artificial.
What questions do you ask when editing?
- What is the poem’s strength and charm?
- Can you identify its centre(s) of gravity?
- If the poem has a narrative, a story, is the story clear? Does it need some context to help the reader?
- Is every line or stanza (every word even) doing something, contributing? Do the line breaks make sense to the outside reader?
- Look at the first stanza – check if this is not just a wandering path to get into the poem. Would the poem be better without it?
- Look at the last stanza – make sure you’re not forcing a conclusion when the poem might not need one.
- Look at the title – is it doing something, helping the reader in some way? It is, after all, the first word(s) you plant in the reader’s mind.
Before entering the AVBOB Poetry Competition, we trust these suggestions will help you sharpen your poems! Submit up to 10 poems in all 11 official languages at www.avbobpoetry.co.za. Entries close on 30 November 2022.
