Future Tense with Debi Hamilton

WHAT DREW YOU TO WRITING? The American poet Howard Nemerov described poetry writing as a spiritual exercise 'having for its chief object the discovery or invention of one's character'. I'm sure that at heart this is what my writing is about. DID YOU STUDY CREATIVE WRITING? IF SO, WAS IT WORTH IT? I started in 2009 with a CAE course; it lit a flame in me. You couldn't stop me after that. I did another CAE course before joining Writers Victoria and undertaking courses in poetry, short story writing, and creative non-fiction. DO YOU WORKSHOP DRAFTS WITH OTHER WRITERS? This is one of my greatest pleasures. I belong to several monthly writing groups. We have come to know and trust one another, to the point where I sometimes give way to their suggestions, even when my initial instinct was to ignore their advice. WHAT ARE THE GREATEST CHALLENGES THAT EMERGING WRITERS FACE? Making the time to write, day in and day out, even when feeling bereft of ideas. HOW SUPPORTIVE ARE GOVERNMENT, PUBLISHERS, AND LITERARY MAGAZINES? Literary magazines and not-for-profit writing organisations do an amazing job of supporting new writers. We have an astonishing number of quality publications and competitions, and I can only marvel at, and feel grateful for, the generous work of their staff (often volunteers). WHAT IMPORTANCE DO YOU PLACE ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL PUBLISHING? I don't use social media, and I still prefer old-fashioned print. That's not to say that my computer is not a big part of my life, but I only use it for email, research, and typing up handwritten drafts. SHOULD EMERGING WRITERS LOOK BEYOND AUSTRALIA FOR OPPORTUNITIES? This depends on people's hopes for their work. Australia is a small pond for poets, so if you're after more exposure, or want to enhance your chances of publication or winning prizes, then yes. WHICH WRITER HAS MOST INFLUENCED YOU? Where do I begin? For every name I might say, there would be a hundred who would remain unacknowledged. I do find myself going back again and again to the short stories of Amy Hempel, and I just love what Billy Collins can do with a poem. WHICH OF YOUR LITERARY CONTEMPORARIES DO YOU MOST ADMIRE? I'm not sure I'm good at picking 'favourites'. However, I look forward to anything new by Helen Garner, as well as to those marvellous anthologies brought out by Black Inc. each year. I find myself inexplicably unable to read novels any more. WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON? Amassing a folder of rejection letters about my new poetry manuscript! Sometimes I may have a poem, a short story, and a non-fiction piece on the go at the same time. I seem to use my writing as a way of responding to the often-lovely quotidian things in my life. Does that count as a project? Debi Hamilton is a Melbourne writer, poet, and psychologist. Her first collection of poetry was published by the Melbourne Poets Union in July 2013, and she was joint winner of the 2014 Newcastle Poetry Prize. A number of her short stories, non-fiction pieces, and poems have been published in various journals and anthologies, including Australian Love Poems (2013) and Australian Love Stories (2014).

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