Poet Interviews I Saw this Week

 This week I watched several video interviews with two poets.  Actually multiple interviews with each one. 

The poets were Jorie Graham and Mary Karr. I have not read Graham for a while but my exposure to her in the past has been with fascination toward her work.  I did not know that she was raised outside the United States. 

The second poet I looked for interviews with was Mary Karr. There were several interviews a couple of short ones and two longer ones. My interest in Karr is twofold. As a poet and a memoir writer, I have developed an interest in this genre over the past three or 4 years. 

Karr is a captivating individual whose conversation is very easygoing and especially witty. If I got nothing else out of the interviews, the entertainment value alone would make it worth the time. 

But Karr's interest in biographical reading on writers is similar to that of my own. I suppose, like Kerr, that is what has given way to interest in memoirs. The fact that she considers herself foremost a poet in spite of successful books of prose on memoirs makes me feel it is okay to explore the possibilities.

Karr comes across as quite authentic and hysterically funny. The humor is what has convinced me that she is totally cool with herself talking in public. 

Jorie Graham

                                                                       

                                                                         Mary Karr