Magnetic North: More on “Poetry Matters”

We recently reconnected with Rolando Hernandez, creator of a sponsored challenge called “Poetry Matters,” with a few follow-up questions about the project.

For starters, we asked, why is it important to provide (monetary) incentives to challenge participants? Does it effect the quality of entries at all?

RH:

In the great scheme of things, the money changes little in terms of quality. In the context of a challenge such as this, money is best served as bait; The scent that catches your attention in a crowded room. There were 50 entries to the challenge and I have a hard time imagining as many with no cash incentive.

So, yeah, it can up participation but it will never make a bad writer good, let alone a good writer amazing.

Who introduced you to the power words, and poetry in particular? Tell us more about your falling in love with writing.

RH:

Words came early for me. I struggled a lot with expressing what oddities that lived in my head and even to this day I find myself telling people that I’m bad with words. My love of poetry came from the east. Basho was huge for me, as was Du Fu. By the time I was in middle school I was combing what libraries I could for the kind of poetry you could measure your life against.

Writing was always there, too. It was the first deep meditation I learned, using my hands to shape thoughts and feelings into silly looking glyphs that, when strung together, could break your fucking heart. When there is an agreement between the physical and mental, the sense of harmony blooming inside you is nothing short of transcendent. That is what writing does for me.

Why does poetry matter?

RH:

I believe that poetry represents the best of what writing can accomplish between author and reader. At its best, it distills complex ideas and feelings to their most pure form and in the most direct manner achievable. Also, it is fucking awesome.

What was the basis for your choice of criteria (form, content, fire)?

RH:

Form: Crafting a rhythm, a meter, that compliments the work and propels it forward is the mark of an artist. It shows that careful attention has been placed in how the narrative unfolds and, if you get lucky, when it clicks it feels 100% natural.

Content: One can not live on sizzle alone. Please bring the (proverbial) steak.

Fire: If you can balance the first two criteria and still manage to display some kind of emotive quality, then you have arrived. It is easy to get lost in the sauce and focused too much on the mechanics of the work.

Who in the literary canon (classic or contemporary) do you look to, depending on your mood or disposition? Provide a few examples of how reading has pulled you out of a negative space or elevated your consciousness in a profound way. Are there specific books, stories, or poems that you’d recommend, for example, to someone who is feeling anxious or out of place?

RH:

Just the tip of the iceberg: I’m a huge fan of Merwin. Specifically, his “The Second Four Books of Poems.” Mary Oliver is another favorite. Check out “Thirst” and “A Thousand Mornings.” Dante’s “Divine Comedy” has been and continues to be a huge influence. Basho is the fucking shit. See: “Narrow Road to the Interior.” Don DeLillo for “White Noise” and “Names.” Toni Morrison for “Song of Solomon.” Leo Tolstoy for his “Family Happiness” and “Anna Karenina.” Albert Camus. “The Plague” shits all over his more famous “The Stranger.”

All of these works have helped me crystallize ideas that I hold dear regarding friendships, social justice, love, identity, modernity, and what kind of life I want to make for myself.

Books help keep my course set to magnetic north.

For someone who is feeling anxious or out of place I would recommend—Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. I’m currently keeping my eye on Matt Rasmussen for his excellent “Black Aperture.”

In previous challenges, there has been no element of analysis. What value did introducing it for this one provide to you, as a judge, but also to the overall outcome?

RH:

Analysis also helps keep me, as a judge, honest while offering the chance to give the writer what they need most—the feedback that makes them better at what they do. This isn’t to diminish the importance of general encouragement, as insecurity seems to be an occupational hazard for writers, but we can add a tremendous value to the platform by pushing one another to get better.

Also, it was one of the best ways to show you, the participants and readers, the subtleties of poetry that sets it apart from other mediums of art. Worth mentioning: Knox (@kwknox) in particular loves to do it and does it well.

What turns you off in a poem or a piece of writing in general?

RH:

Laziness. Writing that is too obvious and doesn’t respect the reader. Here’s a slight tangent: On Prose. in particular, it is the shitty use of hashtags. Your opinion is not education unless the opinion is about education itself. #fuckingstop

(Note: a more detailed blog piece about hashtags is coming soon, so keep an eye out.)

So what’s next for Roland? Will there be more challenges like this from him?

RH:

Making time to write more so that it is not weeks between posts. I’m putting polish on some creative non-fiction pieces that will get shopped around. The recent experience surrounding the “Poetry Matters” challenge was rewarding for everyone involved in the planning and execution to the point where I am plotting something much bigger in scale.

Stay tuned for that.