June 2010 - Vincent Turner vs. Jenifer

Jenifer: Hello Vincent. I'd like to kick off the Ping Pong by asking you some general questions. You know, how old are you? Where do you live? Are you married? Do you have children? What do you do for work? Can you fly?

Vincent: Hey Jen. Age 28, 10 days short of 29, this at present is a slight sore point for me, as my girlfriend has just informed me that I am developing love handles, she says it a result of my nearing the 30 mark Before I got your email I was considering partaking in some sit-ups, but then I started to reply to your message and settled on the sofa with a beer.

Currently I am living in a small snobbish town called Hutton, which is about a 40 minute train ride from London. I ended up here after losing my house to the bank, could not keep up with the payments and all that shit, so had to declare myself homeless ( kind of ironic given my job). Luckily me and the family were given a flat by the local authority- its a lovely area, with little crime and gangs, but the people living here are transparent and fake, simply because they have money, although the majority of them have earned their money through dodgy deals, and are nothing but East- End gangsters who've struck it lucky. Some are doctors and business men, and all of them are aresholes!- Married, no, not yet. Family, yes, I have two hyperactive boys, Luke 10 and Robin 6, me and my partner have been together for about 9 years. I have just realized that this appears quite long, hope you don't mind. As for work, I work for the social services supporting those who have drug and alcohol problems along with mental illness. My job in short is to get them off the streets and support them to live in their own home, there is some success and much failure, but its something i enjoy, and I can't ask for more than that. As for flying, surprisingly I can, or could. I was once in the air cadets ( the R.A.F for youngsters) and learned how to fly both a glider and a light aircraft, it was great, and I did well, until i discovered music, and drugs, and I was soon kicked out for pissing on the union jack. Is it bad to say that I am enjoying this, that I am relishing the opportunity to talk about myself, as to be fair, the chance to do so doesn't come around to much. My girlfriend has heard it all, and my mum buries her head in shame, praying to lord to erase that part of my youth!

Anyhow, how about you? Tell me a little about you, as to be fair I know very little. It's strange because I feel ok about asking you, and telling you about me now, because of the format, but would never have messaged you to ask such questions. Can I ask your age? Or would that be rude, I'll hazard a guess and say 32, if you don't respond, and delete my account at LM, I will understand!

Jenifer: Laughing. I read that as 'If you don't respond, I'll delete my account at LM.' I've heard that so much I just default to threats of account deletion. I'm thirty six years old. I would never have a problem with you asking me personal questions, for interview or just because. I have four kids. They are 12, 8, and 3 year old twins. Their names are Ward, Carter, Lola and Jack. I was married for 12 years but am recently separated and almost divorced. The kids and I now live with a man you might have heard of, who's name is Father Luke, in a little place in Portland, Oregon. Aside from writing, I work at First Unitarian Church of Portland as a sexton. No, I am not a member of the church, but I don't find it too bad a place to work. How long have you been writing? What made you decide to start writing?

Vincent: Yes I remember there was quite a few problems at LM. I did not have a clue what was going on but I know i was annoyed when the original LM was stopped. I had just joined the site, and was really excited after receiving some really great advice on a few poems I had posted. Thankfully you must have got rid of the twats and started up LM, the rest they say is history, and here I am conversing with you via ping pong.

So you and Father Luke, two cool people- cant go wrong- congrats, did you meet through LM?

As for writing, the romantic in me likes to tell people that i was doing my GCSE ( end of school exams). I was sitting my science exam and was seriously struggling, so i gave up trying to remember what osmosis was and decided to write a poem. Factually this is wrong, as I had been attempting poems for at least a year before this, so I guess I was about 14, although they were not really poems, more lyric inspired self confessions. I was heavily into a band called the Levellers ( folk punk) and both Echo and the Bunnymen and Joy Division. I would read their lyrics on the sleeve notes and more or less copy them, then show them to my friends. But I was dedicated, if not a little obsessed and continued to write lyric type stuff for some time, until my mum found an old tattered book of poems by Seamus Heaney. It was then my reading began to broaden and my writing began to change, although I would say it has only been in the last three years that I have wrote poetry that I can be happy with, and even that is changing, as my reading and learning improve. Thinking about it now I think I started writing to impress or become my older brother, he, at the time, was going through some shit, staying up late listening to some seriously morbid music, dressing like a tortured rock star, writing Manic Street Preacher quotes on his hands. I think I wanted to be him, of course I could not really see that he was unwell and things would get worse for him, at the time he just looked cool, his room looked cool, and I wanted that.

What about you Jen, can you actually pin point when you started writing, was there a specific time, or has it been a gradual process from when you was a child?? Or was you late coming into this nonsense!

Jenifer: Father Luke and I did meet on the internet, sort of on LiteraryMary. He had registered and taken a bunch of shit from some previous staff and deleted his account. Then later, I found some talk about LiteraryMary on Bukowski.net that I took offense to and went to confront the person who I felt was making the offensive remarks. It happened to be Father Luke. He says he added me to his msn messenger so that he could keep any arguments off the forum he was moderating at the time. I still say he added me because he thought I was cute. Anyway, I thought he was going to give me a bunch of shit but instead he charmed me and we hit it off and the rest is history.

We have been happy to have you at LiteraryMary. You've been a dream member for us. You're eager to improve, yet you possess a lot of knowledge yourself. Plus you have a thick skin and don't take things personally.

I love Joy Division still. I've never heard the Levellers. Should I check them out?

For me, let's see... I began writing probably around the age of 12. It was really bad stuff. I would write for a bit and drop it for a bit and then I really started writing again when a guy I worked with gave me a copy of Bukowski's 'Love is a Dog From Hell'. I was probably about 17 at the time. I picked up my pen and didn't stop. I got compliments from some of my teachers, which kept me at it because I seem to be a praise driven sort of person. After I had my first child I quit writing. I felt like I didn't have the time and that it wasn't important. After having my second I picked up my pen again after returning to college. Since then I've been writing more or less steadily. I have my up times and my down times.

Who do you enjoy reading now? Do you read more fiction or poetry? Were you wild as a kid or more tame? Do you enjoy being a father?

Vincent: Thanks Jen. If you like bands with dirty hair, violins, raw energy, and fantastic live, then yes go check out the levellers, although in truth, like many bands their more recent stuff is pretty pants, check out their early albums anything from 1991-1995.

My reading varies dependent on my mood. I am a keen supporter of buying second hand book from charity shops, unless the writer is someone I am actively looking out for and is small in regards to worldwide publication, then I will be their books first hand.
The last three book I have read have been Revolutionary Road- which I have not yet finished but feel bold enough to say that it is quite easily one of my favourite and mirror raising books I have ever read. Oxygen- Andrew Miller- another wonderfully evocative book documenting the lives of three strangers all going through a personal revolution, death, doubt, undeserved fortune. I'm not scared by Nicocolo Ammaniti.
I prefer fiction, and don't read much crime or sci-fi. I prefer to watch that on t.v, although I must admit I still, when in the mood, read a little horror, cant beat a bit of Stephen King or Shaun Hudson. Poetry, I read most often, mainly on my way to and from work. I often return to Kim Addonizio's books, I recently bought "Birthday Letters" by Ted Hughes- another Charity Shop buy, to be fair, he or his estate hardly needs the money!!!

I am finding it a real challenge to read. That is not to say I am not enjoying it, rather that it is poetry written on a different level, much of it is autobiographical, which is fine as i have read much about Hughes and Plath. I think it will have a knock on effect on my own work. I cant really offer much more than that about the book at the moment, as I have only got to the third poem. It is one of those where you need to read the poem with no distractions, over and over again, to fully appreciate it. Another of my old faves is Larkin which brings me nicely onto your question about being a father..

This Be The Verse

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
  They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
  And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
  By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
  And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
  It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
  And don't have any kids yourself

I said goodbye to the old me, the moment I held my first born in my arms, everything suddenly stopped being about me, my bubble was burst, and all my worries and anxieties about my own life were replaced by endless worries and fears about my son. I am far from perfect, and know as they get older there will be even more testing times, but my kids are respectful, they know right from wrong, they have a good house of fun and laughter, and we do as much as we can with them. They are my life and my reason to get out of bed, they are my best friends and at times my biggest enemies!!!

My dad was/is a good man and loved and treated me very well, however he was very reserved and insular, and i don't remember having to many "chats" with him. This is something I want to change with my boys.

I was a bit of a fucker as a kid, never a bad kid, always respected those more in need or older than me, but I was a whirlwind, the doctors said it was ADD, but thankfully my mum refused the offer of Ritalin. I caused them much stress and worry and of course, now I have my own kids, I deeply regret this. When my own kids are climbing the walls, and being cheeky and fighting with each other, my Mum likes to remind me of my own youth and tells me this is Karma!!

What about you, four children that must keep you busy, how on earth do you find the time to read, write, study etc.. you must be very organized! are you?

I noticed on LM you was a fan of vampire diaries, me too, True Blood is also great...there is so much attraction to being a vampire, yet also much tragedy especially if you fall in love with a human... do you know of any decent vampire poetry! if not maybe there is a market here for someone to exploit!

If you was a vampire for just a day what would you do?... my girlfriend says she would walk into a bank and glamour the person into handing over all the banks money!

June 2010 - Vincent Turner vs. Jenifer

Jenifer: I love Larkin, and am familiar with the poem you included. It's a good one, and several of his have had a lasting effect on my life.

I know what you're saying about being a parent. I was a total fuck up before I had my first son, and after he was born nothing else seemed to matter but that he was safe and okay. All the gripes and grudges I carried with me before then, all the addictions, just melted away. I remember after having my first son, calling my mom after a couple of months and saying to her 'Oh my God, you were totally right and I was wrong about everything. I'm so sorry.' I'm glad I got to say that to her before she died. At the time, she got a kick out of it.

I'm not really a very organized person now. I truly fly by the seat of my pants. Day to day is impossible, so I just wake up and take it one minute at a time. There are always things I think I could do better, mainly parenting, I never think I'm a good enough parent or that I'm giving them enough. I always think they've suffered too much drama. Then I think about all the drama I suffered as a kid and how much I loved my mom and I figure, in the end, they'll know how much I love them and everything will be okay. School is just something I do. I got lucky and I'm good at it, so it goes as it goes. I have a lot of help at home. Father Luke watches my babies when I'm at work, and all the kids when I go to night class on Wednesdays. He does a LOT of driving, spends a lot of time commuting. He's a really great cook too, something people might not know about him. He also does laundry. I mean, he does a lot. I figure it must be a really devoted man to take this life into his hands, this crazy woman and her four kids, and do his best to love them all and care for them and keep them safe.

I haven't watched Vampire Diaries yet... but I hear it's good. I'm a huge fan of True Blood. I've read all the books too. My sister got me started on them as well as Twilight, which I am not embarrassed to say I'm horribly addicted to. I love love love vampire drama of all sorts. It started with the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles when I was like fifteen and the fascination has never left. I've wanted to be a vampire for that long. The thing is, I couldn't be a vampire for just a day. If I got it, if I held it in my hand, I would do everything I could to keep it. What could be better than immortality and never having to age? I could read all the books I've always wanted to read! Watch all the films I've missed. Learn all the things I've always been interested in but haven't had time to learn.

So what about film? Do you like it? I've been taking a lot of film classes in school lately. What are some of your favorite films?

Vincent: When I was single and smoking lots of weed, films were a major part of my life, I was usually to stoned to write or talk, so sat on my bed, isolating myself from the world, living my life through the actions and emotions of others. Some films from that period which have stuck with me up till now are “Leaving Las Vegas”- Nicholas Cage is a creepy son of a bitch but in this film, he is thoroughly convincing as an alcoholic drinking himself to death whilst falling in love and balancing his death wish and newly discovered love- Cage’s acting and a wonderful jazzy, hypnotic soundtrack make this one of my most treasured films. Other films I hold close to my heart are “Gran Torino” Finding Neverland (this one made my cry) Happiness

Boogie Nights “Pans Labyrinth”- I don’t have as much time as I once did for films but watched a really good film just last week called “A History of Violence” with Viggo Mortessen, its been out for some years but I only just discovered it.

Currently I am watching a lot of films from my own youth, which my children have discovered and enjoyed- Ghostbusters, Home Alone, Batman ( Tim Burton) Big- Tom Hanks and lots of early Bond Films. It's great to see my children watching the same films, enjoying them and repeating the same old quotes as I did.

Film Classes. That sounds something I would very much enjoy. Sounds like a silly question but what do you have to do in terms of learning etc?

Another question if I may, probably one that’s been asked a million times before but hey ho!

When I write, I often have no clear intention as to what and where I want to go, unless I am responding to something I have seen or witness and feel compelled to write about it. Usually I sit at my desk hovering my fingers above the keys like a puppeteer, until a line or word runs through my head and onto the page- things sort of go on from there, it’s a very unconscious action, like driving a car, I do not think about what I am doing whilst I am writing, its not so much a frenzy as there is some form of control whilst writing things down but I do not consider what I am doing until it is done. Where I then think fuck where did that come from, then follows the editing etc- So my question to you is do you set a specific time for writing? Do you have an idea as to what you are going to write? Do you write you poems at the computer or at first with pen? Do you feel at peace, almost removed from the world whilst writing (like I do?)

June 2010 - Vincent Turner vs. Jenifer

Jenifer: I love rewatching films from my youth with my kids. We recently went through the entire Star Wars series with them. Also, last week we watched 101 Dalmatians. They loved Home Alone. Have you seen Where the Wild Things Are? I didn't think I was going to like it nearly as much as I did.

I've taken a few film courses now. Somehow, the satisfy some of my English requirements. The style of class really depends on the teacher. For the utopia/dystopia class we are only required to attend and do a final project. We watch a film in class each week. That is pretty nice, except it puts a bit of pressure on that last project. In my other film classes it's been more like watch a film every couple of weeks coinciding with a book or a text about film and then do a quiz or a paper or reflection or something like that.

I don't have a set time for writing. I am so busy that there is no way I could just set aside time to write. What usually happens is that, if I get an idea while I'm out I'll scribble it on a paper or run it through my head over and over. Then when I get near my computer I'll type something into a notepad document and then I'll come back to it when I have a minute. The result is all these notepad docs sitting on the desktop of my computer waiting for me to return. Someday, when I'm old, I'll have a lot of fodder.

Tell me about your kids. Also, what's the worst thing you've ever done? What's the best thing you've ever done?

Vincent: Luke 10 is a gentle giant, he is very sensitive, but will only tolerate so much before he explodes, and when he goes he goes. He has actually started to write some poetry of late. I think partly this is to do with wanting to be like his dad, and part due to his own interests and imagination. He is young for his age, by that I mean he is actually more true to his age than the majority of other kids in his class, who like so many other children nowadays appear to act and behave well beyond their actual age group. They seem to be overly concerned with fashion, and talk as if they are teenagers, they think playing with your toys is for babies ( which in my opinion they are still are at that age, babies) Luke still plays with his toys, he has tantrums and says stupid things, but that's what being a child is about. He does not wish to gel his hair, and has no concerns when him mum buys his jeans. His innocence, I envy, let it last as long as it is safe. Luke loves football and plays in Goal, he is obsessed with Call of Duty a shooting game on the XBox, and loves to have a hug.

Then there's Robin, 6, a loving, intelligent, funny, inquisitive, particular, sneaky, naughty, little devil. Much of him reminds me of how I was when young, but he also has many of his mothers traits as well. He is a bloody fidget and a nightmare to share a bed with. The amount of times I have woken find his feet in my mouth is too many in my book. Yet I know this too will end as he grows, which I will end up missing. They fight like cat and dog but are very protective of each other and all in all I couldn't ask for better kids.... as you can tell I am writing this on a good day, and they have been behaving!!!

I was never really a bad kid, by bad I mean robbing old woman, nicking a car etc. I was more mischievous than bad. I was always in trouble for stupid things, like getting my then girlfriend to forge a school report for me, the original one was full of comments and remarks and grades which I knew my mother would not like. So I managed to sneak into the school supply room and nick a report. I did originally get away with it, how I don't know, given the stuff i got my girlfriend to write, and the grades I got her to put... all A. Things took a turn for the worse when parents evening came along. I will never forget the look of disappointment from my mum's face as the teachers, showed her the original school report, the confusion they both shared, then the realization on her face that the report she had in her hands was a fake... Needless to say I didn't see much of the outside world for some months after. At the time it was I who felt aggrieved, and only as I got older did I see how painful and shameful that must have been for her, I suppose I upset my mum and dad a fair old bit when i was young, but never intentionally!!! But on the flip side they had instilled the differences between right and wrong, and whenever i was out and about I was always pretty respectful towards other people.

The best thing I've ever done...? That's a hard one. On a selfish level I would say becoming a father, but on a more ethical level I suppose its the work I do on a daily basis. I have helped quite a few pretty despondent people come back from the brink, helping them to get off the streets and to get they help they need, many of who I still see around the area in which I work, and to see them now, living a life, and enjoying each day is quite a buzz on my part. Naturally there are many that don't see the light at the end of the tunnel, be it through heroin, crack, mental illness and quite often all of them combined, its hard as a worker to let go, but there is often little choice, as they are either not ready, unable, or unwilling.

Jenifer: Let me take it back to writing a bit now. Since I've seen you first on Mary, you've developed quite a bit as a writer and I know you've done some publishing.

What sort of advice would you give to someone who is just starting to write?

Vincent: My advice is to write, write, write, and when doing so do not overly worry you with how it reads, or compare it to other peoples work. I don’t know if my way was the correct way, yet in saying that, I do not believe there is a right way.

There are the obvious fundamentals. Reading and reading diversely is hugely important. Do not focus on one poet or one style of poetry- its always good and helpful to find a poet you click with, someone you can relate to and connect with.

As mentioned earlier for me it wasn’t so much a poet, rather a singer who happened to write like a poet. Unless you are hugely gifted it is unlikely your first 300 hundred poems/scribbles will be any good- but I believe they are vital, even if you receive no feedback or critique, because even when writing crap you are learning both discipline, patience, how to accept the struggle for the right word. I like to liken the whole beginning process of writing with the comparisons to learning a musical instrument-

at first you will only know a few notes, and will play these to a death, but in doing so you are flexing your fingers, maybe discipline your breathing, getting to know how to hold it, to clean it and care for it, you might not yet know how to properly plan it, but are slowly getting to know it.

Also be wary of internet poetry sites where you can publish you work and allow others to comment. I spent quite a few years with one and became engrossed in the feedback of others, it was such a drug to write a poem on the bus in the morning, post it on the site by the afternoon, and by evening have 15 peoples comments and views on your work. As such it became a necessity to post and hear back from people and the real reason for writing was put aside, yet in the same breath, I did become more varied in my output due to the ever demanding need to impress, I began experimenting with couplet poems, children poems, humour poems, limericks- which took the empathize of my work away from the I- the poems were of course shit but the period of expanding and experimenting had begun. Thankfully there was a few poets on the site who took exception to my work and really went to town criticizing my work, using words I had never heard of- meter, syntax, music, pseudo- poetry- which pushed me into furthering my own knowledge just so I could come back at them with some form of ammunition. So my advice when posting on those sort of sites is understanding the difference between feedback and critique, advice and suggestion. I do not by any means regret my time there as I feel it was all part of the journey.

The next logical step after such sites is those like LiteraryMary (Workshops)as the level of critique is far more beneficial but possibly more ruthless, and might be off-putting for such a early writer. I don’t mean that as bad thing, merely sometimes it's good to have your ego massaged by sites like Poem Hunter and Poet Freak before getting down to the hard, gritty, maddening, wonderful world of Literary- Mary

Much of poetry is about personal journey, luck, vanity and openness to learning and personal taste as well as chance- - Chance for me was vital. I only discovered Bukowski through having a row with my girlfriend, leaving the house in a huff and without a coat, wherein it started to rain, so I had to pop into a charity shop to buy a coat and whilst there I found one of his books on the shelf- the title seemed to suit my mood – Love is a Dog from Hell. Bukowski work was completely new to me and opened up a whole new reading world.

There are hundreds of guides out there both in the shops and the internet which are obviously a great help, but much of the writers journey is through experience alone. Lastly don’t be afraid to send your work in for publication ( although be carefully of the ones that make you pay or the vanity publishers) do your research first, there are lots of good sites listing decent publishers- the reason I say this, is I think its better to get familiar with rejection early on!

And a question if I may- What inpired you to create LiteraryMary and are you as fond of it now as you were in its infancy- it must please you to know that many writers have reported to seeing a major improvement in their work through the use of LiteraryMary.

Jenifer: I'm chuckling at your story about finding Love is a Dog From Hell. That's what turned me on, I mean really turned me on, to poetry also. It was given to me by some guy when I was working a retail job. He worked the film counter and I worked the register. I remember reading it and being like, ewwww gross and ohhhh wow. I was only like fifteen.

I agree with what you are saying about internet poetry sites. I have felt that addiction before also. I remember being a member of another forum before Mary and getting addicted to the praise. I'd look at the number of reads I was getting and the praise that others were leaving on my work and it became instantly necessary for me to write a poem almost every day. Although it doesn't directly foster growth as a writer and can encourage bad habits, at least it does get one writing often. Hopefully, as the writer matures and reads more, the work matures also. But I found, for me, nothing has beat the learning experience of a classroom workshop setting. Teachers who have dealt with growth and are knowledgeable about publication as well as capable of pointing you toward poets you might enjoy are irreplaceable.

You asked me what inspired me to create LiteraryMary and if I am as fond of it now as I was in its infancy... Hmm. Let me think... In all honesty, I was a moderator at WritingForums.com, which is a site much like the ones you've described. I worked there as a moderator for some time. It was mostly the kind of place where you post and everyone says it's great and maybe one or two people suggest improvement, but it was mostly a bunch of teenagers or young adults. I had done all the growing there I could. I was also not able to stay for reasons that are far too personal and painful to mention. I needed to disconnect from what I was doing there and move on. So I quit that forum but soon felt like I wanted something similar in my life. I was taking workshopping classes at school and I was really enjoying them and I felt like I was growing. I wanted to create that sort of experience online. So, with an enormous amount of help from friends, I launched LiteraryMary. We experienced a period of slow growth, then quicker growth. Then we were operating with a lot of people. The trouble is, we were becoming a place like Writingforums.com. It was becoming all lazy, all praise. Too much back patting and not enough growth. Enter Father Luke. A period of intense controversy followed that. A lot of people left. The tone of the forums changed. We lost most all the staff we had, save those two brilliant. loyal and possibly crazy people, Sana and Mr. Lally. After that both I and Father Luke just sort of burned out. We went away. We both underwent major life changes. I left my husband at the time and Father Luke moved here. We concentrated on making a life together.

Now I look at Mary, where we are. We're about to launch this men of the small press project. We have a second journal in the works. We've reopened the forums. People are still here. People post at a reasonable rate. The level of activity, to me, suggests that the people who are here are truly here because they want to be good writers, because they want to learn from each other and grow. I no longer have to worry about who's going to be offended about what. I no longer have to worry that I will hurt someone who is my friend because I leave them honest critique. I look at Mary now and I see her as the place I truly wanted her to be when she was launched. It may not be the sort of place who draws everyone because it is real and honest. It is not for those who are seeking a social network. It is not for those who are seeking praise. But it is a place for those who want to be around honest writers who really do want to see you in print and who really do want to support you when you get there.

So to answer your question, I am very happy with what LiteraryMary has become. It took us long enough to get there.

So tell me, what are your hopes for yourself as a writer? What are your dreams and goals?

Vincent: My hope is to never lose the urge to write. I am not sure if I use writing to ensure a level of stability in my life. I am concisious of how I feel when I dont write. I feel considerbaly more human, more vulnerbale and exposed. When not writing, I am thinking about writing, sometimes about poem I wrote some ten years ago. Writing poetry has provided me with a platform to operate and make sense of my emotions without ever really disceting them, sometimes I think I am cheating myself out of "getting to know myself" but I am sure if my work was psychoanalyzed it would be apparent that much of my most reppressed thoughts and fears were actually on the page be it in the guise of a different persona.

My goals now are far different from what they was when I was 18 and again after I was published ( chapbook) last year. The naive me thought that once published things would change in almost everyway- but of course they didn't. The book was published, I cherished it for a week or two, gave copies out to my nearest and dearest, then read it and realised that much of it was pretty shit. I suppose now, my goal is to continue writing, but in saying that try and allow it to become a less intrusive factor in my life. For years I have allowed poetry to take first place in my life and have welcomed it, but sometimes I think I observe the world through one long poem, and at times, especially as I have a family, I think this can be distracting. Being published is less important now, but is always in the back of my mind. I am more selective now in regards to where I send my work, and no longer just click on google and send my work off. So, goals, to keep writing, keep improving, keep listening, but to remember that there is life outside poetry. I suppose the trick is to balance both the living part and the writing part- Outside writing, my dream is to move from where I live and either relocate to Ireland where the "grass is green and the beaches clean" or to travel America- I'll let you know if the latter ever happens, Portland might just feature in our trip!

And what of you?- I know you studying at the moment, and have the family to keep you on your toes, what do you hope the future holds for you, both in the writing sense and the living sense?

Jenifer: As far as writing goes, I hope to continue to grow as a writer and to hopefully find more time for writing and publishing as other areas of my life become less demanding of my time. I spent a period of my life as you did, where the poem always came first. Lately, though, I have had to put family first because my life changed so drastically. The time I used to spend writing is taken up with things like work and school. If I was as committed to writing as I used to be, my relationship with my family would suffer, and I just can't do that to those I love. It's a long life, or at least I hope it is, there will be time for me to write more when I'm older. I have the man project to launch soon. After that is the second print journal. I hope to keep doing online focus work as compliments to the journal, which I hope to keep doing as annually as possible. Who knows what the future will bring for LiteraryMary.

Aside from the writing/publishing aspect of my life, I hope to have my bachelor of English in the spring. Then I will go on to get a master's degree in Education and teach. I'd like to teach at a high school or college level, writing, English and/or women's studies. Lord knows I don't want to be a Sexton at First Unitarian Church of Portland forever.

I think this is a good time to wrap this up. Any last questions? Comments? Shout outs?

Vincent: Thanks for picking me for this. I've found it rather therapeutic, not often do I get the chance to discuss writing, family, hopes and dreams etc, especially in the sense of writing it down. Sure I've chatted to people, but to sit and think, write and reflect is very different.

So thanks once again. I hope LM continues to grow, and help others as it has helped and will continue to help me.

with love

Vincent

June 2010 - Vincent Turner vs. Jenifer