Blogging Interview with Jill Jones

Jill Jones is a poet and writer who lives in Sydney, Australia. Her work has been widely published in most of the leading literary periodicals in Australia as well as in a number of print and online magazines in New Zealand, Canada, the USA, Britain and India. In 1993 she won the Mary Gilmore Award for her first book of poetry, The Mask and the Jagged Star (Hazard Press). Her second book, Flagging Down Time, was published in late 1993 by Five Islands Press. Her third book, The Book of Possibilities (Hale & Iremonger), was published in 1997. It was shortlisted for the National Book Council 'Banjo' Awards, The Age Poetry Book of the Year award, and the Adelaide Festival Awards. Her fourth book, Screens, Jets, Heaven: New and Selected Poems, was published by Salt Publishing 2002. It won the 2003 Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize (NSW Premier's Literary Awards). A chap book, Struggle and Radiance: Ten Commentaries, was published in Ireland by Wild Honey Press in 2004. Her fifth full-length book, Broken/Open, was published by Salt Publishing in 2005. It was shortlisted for The Age Poetry Book of the Year 2005 and the Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize 2006.

Why do you blog, and what made you start?

One reason I began blogging was really to test out what the blogging 'thing' was about. I was prepared to give it away if it wasn't for me. There are times when I think of stopping but I have kept going with it. It can be tiring, especially when a hundred and one other things demand your attention. You can get to a point where you think you've got nothing to say.

Another reason, and probably why I still do it, is the 'community' aspect. (I don't particularly like that word, but it will do for now.) There's a sense in which, even if you only post something fairly mundane, that you are entering a community of poets and other readers, some of whom have become friendly presences and some actual presences, as we have met up. So the mundane becomes part of the conversation as much as the slightly more profound (I'm having a lend of myself here). It's an exchange, I guess.

I suppose there's an element, also, of building an audience. I have no hard data on this but I'm sure that people in other countries have bought my books because I've put myself out there. And vice versa.

I was also interested in the idea of a kind of diaristic writing, writing and poetics in process, so to speak. Looking over what I've done, I can see that this has worked to some extent. This is helped when I get feedback, either through the comments box or back channel.

When I began blogging I got a bit of stick from a couple of people. To this day I'm not quite sure why. I do wonder if it was that typical Australian thing -- that they thought I was getting a bit above myself, that I was being a bit too self-promoting. Funny, as I am not that good at putting myself forward at all. Or perhaps they didn't 'get' the technology at the time. Even now, relatively few Australian poets have blogs, though they are building.

What do you feel is the importance of blogs and the platform itself, especially in regard to poetry/poetics?

As signalled in the previous answer, the communal aspect is important. I live in Sydney, Australia, which has often seemed isolated from the rest of the English speaking poetry and literary world. Even our connections to New Zealand are pretty tenuous.

Blogging, much like participation in international email lists, has put me in touch with poets I would never have come across, from all over the world, and not just English speaking (thankfully). And with blogging I can even see and hear some of them. I haven't yet got into podcasting and post few photographs but the potential is there for getting as close to a material, physical connection as possible at the moment.

The community is important for poetics, for debate. However, I've noticed some of the conversation can get a bit out of whack. I've seen comments boxes for some blogs quickly fill up with flaming and trolling and the like. On the other hand, you can also see a bit of an admiration society going on. Sometimes the mutuality can push into either ickiness or nastiness.

There's been a bit of debate about whether poetry blogs should include poetry or debate about poetics. I see the technology as being malleable and it is evolving. It's pointless to lay down the law about things like this.

In what way do you see blogging and blogs evolving and having a subsequent effect on poetry/poetics?

One thing I would like to see more of is online reviewing and discussion of poetry and blogs can do this. Michael Farrell has tried this with his reading revival blogs but I think he feels that there wasn't enough discussion generated. Possibly early days.

I think the podcasting thing is important. Which makes me ask myself why I haven't done something about it. The answer mainly being that I haven't moved to broadband and my computer really needs to be updated.

Why do you think certain poets don't blog?

I would think a major reason is that blogging is time-consuming, plain and simple. It won't earn you any more poetry cents (there are no dollars in poetry) and can be a distraction from what you possibly ought to be doing.

Every writer has their own process and some poets prefer not to get out much, in any sense.

Some people, I suppose, really don't like doing what is the flavour de jour. Fair enough.

What are your favourite blogs?

I don't really have favourites. There are too many of them.