Behind The Poetry With Trevor W. Harrison  

Mickey Mikkelson was kind enough to reconnect me with Trevor W. Harrison! We will be discussing his new poetry collections Poetry Without Borders & War and Other Inconveniences. It seems very fitting since I found out recently, April is National Poetry Month! 

Q: Welcome back to Book Notions Trevor! I can’t believe it’s been a year since we last did an interview! Would you please give brief descriptions of your poetry collections?

A: Poetry Without Borders is a collection of 55 poems written over several decades, though most in the last few years. The poems, broken into five parts are written in several styles, from rhyming to free verse. One part focuses specifically on the tragedies and joys of Greece which I have visited on many occasions. Thematically, the poems are marked by nostalgia, memory, and regret. 

War and Other Inconveniences is a collection of 49 poems. Five of these previously appeared in a 2015 publication, but the rest were written in the last few years. Collectively, the poems deal with the growing dystopian elements of our age – war, climate change, pestilence, oligarchic power, nationalism, and right-wing authoritarianism. They are starkly political poems. Most of them are written in free verse. Some of the recent poems were published in popular magazines.

Q: Which poems in each collection were your favorite ones to write and why? How did you feel writing these poems and now knowing they are out there for the world to read? 

A: Three poems in Poetry Without Borders come to mind. “The Barcelona Blues” holds a special place as I first wrote it in the early 1970s after hitchhiking through southern Spain. “Bourdain” is a eulogy on the life and death of Anthony Bourdain. I didn’t know him personally, but as with many famous celebrities, I felt I did.  “George’s Hotel” is a fond and nostalgic memory of a woman I knew briefly in Greece. Poetry is often self-revelatory – actually quite risk-taking – but I’m glad to send them out into the world.

Three poems in War and Other Inconveniences also stand out for me. “A Pretty Good Planet” deals with global warming and was earlier published in Alberta Views. “The Pandemic” provides a poetic account of the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The Persistence of Memory (Farewell America)” deals with Canada’s recent problematic relationship with the United States. It has previously been published in Canadian Dimension.  

Q: What emotions, reminders and lessons do you hope your poems teach & remind your readers? What emotions do you want your readers to feel?

A: I hope the poems in Poetry Without Borders will lead readers to focus on an image, a memory, or a feeling; that through them, they will set aside the busyness of the world and allow them to get in touch with aspects of themselves. This is an introspective collection. While readers may not have exactly the same experience I write about, I hope my words provide a kind of conduit for their own experiences.

By contrast, War and Other Inconveniences is call to anger and action. As I mention in the book’s introduction, while the poems “bend toward the dark and somber … I would rather walk in the truthful dark than in a false light.”

Q: Are you working on another poetry collection as well as a novel right now? 

A: I am currently working on a collection of fictional short stories, many of them set in Canada, but several also in countries farther away.

Q: Who are your favorite poets and authors?

A: My favourite poet is W. H. Auden. I like him particularly for the way in which he makes ordinary language seem extraordinary. I also like Dylan Thomas for his magical turn of phrase. My poetry is also informed by the Imagist Poets, notably H. D.