New Canaan’s Gwen North Reiss this year saw one of her poems, “After Watching Film Clips of Calder and His Circus,” published in the Connecticut Literary Anthology. Her poem can be read here, and the short audio recording above includes a reading by North Reiss.
We put some questions to the poet about her art and background.
Here’s our exchange:
New Canaanite: Tell us a little bit about yourself as a writer and poet. What is your educational background and how did you start as a poet?
Gwen North Reiss
Gwen North Reiss: I studied Literature at Yale, concentrating on poetry, but I didn’t start writing poetry until I was in my 30s. I began my career in book publishing and turned to doing my own writing when my children were young. It was years before I had any publications. Once I had published a few poems, I applied to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and attended as a contributor in 2009. That spurred me on to pursue some post-graduate studies at the 92nd Street Y’s Unterberg Poetry Center and later at a private workshop class in New York run by poet Sharon Dolin. She also runs a program on ekphrastic poetry (poetry inspired by art), which I attended in Barcelona. I have also studied at the Westport Writers’ Workshop. Pen + Brush in New York City published a group of my poems as an e-publication, and I’ve written a chapbook called Notes on Metals.
I am always working on poems (usually early in the morning). My other work includes writing about art and/or architecture for The Glass House and Silvermine Arts Center. For the last two years, I’ve also been writing a book on preservation initiatives that helped New Canaan’s modern houses. The New Canaan Museum & Historical Society will publish it next year.
How did you come to be published in this year’s Connecticut Literary Anthology?
The Connecticut Literary Anthology is published by Woodhall Press. It is an annual publication, and they are open to submissions each year. Writers based in CT can submit their work to be considered. The editors welcome both established and emerging writers. I was very fortunate to be chosen by writer Victoria Buitron, who served as this year’s editor.
Let’s talk about the poem itself, “After Watching Film Clips of Calder and His Circus.” How closely does that title speak to the inspiration and subject matter of your poem? Are you a student of Calder’s work?
In the poem, I zeroed in on the individual pieces in the circus, so I had to use the title to explain what you are reading about. One of my teachers once said that the only place in a poem where you can explain things is in the title! I have always loved Calder’s work. Gallows and Lollipops, which is now in the Yale Art Gallery courtyard, was the first work of his that I encountered on a regular basis. Over the years I’ve seen many of his sculptures at museums, and it wasn’t until more recently that I discovered the films of the circus. They are available on Youtube. So much of his later work comes from the quality of movement in his circus. For those who are Calder admirers, the Bruce Museum has several of his larger pieces on view in their current Connecticut Modern exhibition.
One other element that comes into the poem is Pedro Guerrero’s photograph of Calder’s studio. Guerrero lived in New Canaan for many years and worked for Frank Lloyd Wright, Louise Nevelson, and Calder. I got to meet Pedro when he visited The Glass House and I read his book when I was preparing for his interview. The photo of Calder’s studio appears as a full spread.
The rhythm of this poem reminds me of creativity itself, a sort of lurching activity that follows its own instincts. For me, part of the magic of your poem is how it moves so effortlessly from one creation to the next, using words that describe materials and forms. It also feels to me that the meter you have chosen—and, specifically, the way the lines and stanzas start and finish each other—also feels like what happens during artistic creation. How deliberate is all of that, and how much was your own inspiration and instincts as a poet?
Thank you, I love your description. You picked up on the enjambments. One line runs right into the next. That helped me give the poem some sense of movement and surprise. The poem is not written in a traditional meter. Poems always have a form, even if they are free-verse poems. There are decisions you make about every detail. Some things take shape as you are writing, but then as you revise, you’re continually refining the mechanics of the poem. So, to answer your question, it is both instinctual and deliberate. If you’re too deliberate, you can ruin it. You have to let it come to life. In this poem, I wanted to make sure every piece of it had both the lightness and gravity of Calder’s work.
I think “the trumpeter’s/sock face” is one image that will stay with me. And like a lot of poetic images that fall into that category, I like that I’m not sure what it means. It just feels right. What does it mean to you?
For me, Calder’s trumpeter or “little clown” looks like a sock puppet. It’s a little cloth figure with wire hands and yarn for hair, and the head is leaning a little to the side like a shy toddler. It’s one of the most endearing figures in the circus.
Really beautiful. Bravo.