Guddi Sharma and Poetry

Today's interview is with Jagjeet, or Guddi, Sharma

She is a poet, a host on CKCU 93.1FM, and a past board member of the Ottawa Independent Writers.

What first attracted you to poetry?

I guess it is the rhyme and the rhythm, the depth and substance. I have always enjoyed the weaving and unraveling of words.

 

Who were your favorite poets at the time?

English literature has been one of my favorite subjects –William Wordsworth, Keats, Robert Frost and of course Leonard Cohen–they were and still are

 

Name three of your favorite books and why they are your top picks—

Franz Kafka’s works, especially the short story Metamorphosis, Charles Dickens's David Copperfield

 

What form does your poetry take?

My form of poetry is very journalistic. I am a news junkie, devouring news from around the world which BTW sometimes becomes the basis of my short stories, I see, observe, feel, and write.

 

I write about women and their conditions around the world. And I write about children

 

What is your idea of happiness?

Happiness is feeling nature –touching leaves, and flowers, walking and consuming all the fresh air from trees

 

What are your ideal writing conditions?

Anywhere – or sometimes in the middle of the night –I write a few lines then leave it to rest –another few lines that I think will go with it

 

When or where do you feel most inspired?

When I am surrounded by the beauty of nature –the seas, the beach,

 

What do you appreciate most in your friends?

Understanding and listening

 

Where would I like to live?

Tuscany, Italy

 

Who are your greatest influences?

My parents, and mystics

 

If there was one recommendation you could give to poets starting out what would it be?

Write what you feel in words that are easily communicated.

 

What are the characteristics you believe make beautiful poetry?

Choice of words and how you use them – metaphors, similies, and the like

 

What is the title of your latest collection of poetry?

Under a Maple Tree

 

Can you give us an overview of it?

It is a mixed, random collection, a social, and political discourse put in a poetic form, reflective of the times we are living in. Some of the poems are focused on COVID-19, others on nature and the news stories of 2022, among them, the truckers convoy and dreaded findings of the residential school children. Globally, due to COVID-19, the political dynamics have changed, and Canada too was inevitably pulled in. causing instability in all sectors of the country.

Are you working on anything else at the moment?

I am working on another collection of poems, a collection of short stories and a COVID-19 Anthology coming out in June.

 

Thank you,

Jagjeet Sharma