The Second Book Project Interview: Tracy Hamon
The Lowdown: I’m in the middle of writing my second book of poetry. I wondered how other poets who have finally published their second book approached it and felt about the process, etc. And then there’s all kinds of other quirks related to the writing, publication and reception of their second books that I wondered about. So I asked some poets. Here is one result.
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Who: Tracy Hamon was born in Regina, SK and grew up traveling between Regina and her parents’ farm near Edenwold, Saskatchewan. She holds a BA Hon and a MA in English. She is the current Program Officer for the Saskatchewan Writers Guild. Her poetry has appeared in numerous literary magazines, and her first book of poetry This Is Not Eden was released in April 2005. It was a finalist for two Saskatchewan Book Awards. Portions of her recent collection, Interruptions in Glass, won the City of Regina Award in 2005. She currently lives in Regina, Saskatchewan.
First Book: This is Not Eden. Thistledown Press, 2005
Second Book: Interruptions in Glass. Coteau, 2010.
The Interview:
IL: First of all, any second thoughts about your first book?
TH: My first thought was yay, I have another book! because there are no guarantees. Now, after three months, what I think about most is promotion: I worry that I don’t stay active enough talking about the book.
As for second thoughts, I’m not sure what that means. The poems are what they are. I can’t change them now. I can only hope that people will want to read them. Of course, I do hope that I improve in craft, technique, and perhaps even style with every book, though I don’t think I’ll be a good judge of the process. I guess my thoughts are always hopeful that there will be more books, and I can only trust that each book improves from the last.
IL: How important do you think staying with the same publisher is, and why?
TH: Good question. I almost believe that staying with one publisher is a bit of an anomaly these days. I changed publishers due to a variety of factors, but mainly because of communication problems. I find my current publisher Coteau suits me quite well, but I’m also wiser after the publishing experiences of the first book. Although they are a small press, they are generous with their time and assistance, and the communication between us remains good. I don’t think that changing publishers has had, or will have, any negative impact on my career, but what do I know?
IL: Was your approach to the second book different than the first, and if so how?
TH: Not really and yes. Both books are collections of poems though not in a thematic sense the way my third manuscript is, and they weren’t written with any formative topic in mind; however, certain narrative threads did became obvious as I pieced the manuscript together. Writing poetry is an evolving process for me. I have no set routine and find this process changing every year. While I was editing the second book, I was finishing a BA, starting an MA, and writing another manuscript of poems as my thesis. Therefore, the second book took much longer to develop than the first as I continually set the poems aside in favour of writing new poems for the thesis. In addition, my first book seemed to thematically pull together much easier than the second. I think that by taking my time with the second manuscript, it altered in theme and consequently in structure, which in turn took more time. The editing process after acceptance was more intense the second time around, but extremely helpful to the experience of being a writer, and the poems improved because of it. The five-year gap between the first and second books was good for me as a writer; I’ve learned to slow down somewhat, to take a step back and look more cloeley at what I’m doing.
IL: Was your second book easier or harder to write, and why?
TH: Neither. The second book was as easy and as hard as the first book. I believe my second manuscript is stronger than my first and is somewhat riskier, though I took risks in the first book as well. Writing poems is the easy part for me, and editing them to my satisfaction is the hardest part. I think my expectations for myself have increased. I expect more of myself–I want to write better poetry each time. I enjoy the process of writing poems and gain satisfaction from tinkering with language, line breaks, forms of poetry, and it’s satisfying to know that I can write poems, and that one day, they might be published as a book. I want my craft to develop with each book, and I hope that I take nothing about the craft of writing for granted. There’s always something to learn.