Home About Us Media Kit Subscriptions Links Forum
APPEARED IN


View All Articles

Download PDF

FAMOUS INTERVIEWS

Directories:

SCHOLARSHIPS & GRANTS

HELP WANTED

Tutors

Workshops

Events

Sections:

Books

Camps & Sports

Careers

Children’s Corner

Collected Features

Colleges

Cover Stories

Distance Learning

Editorials

Famous Interviews

Homeschooling

Medical Update

Metro Beat

Movies & Theater

Museums

Music, Art & Dance

Special Education

Spotlight On Schools

Teachers of the Month

Technology

Archives:

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

1995-2000


APRIL 2005

Margaret Britton Vaughn, TN

Studied Poetry: My formal study of creative writing began in college. I have also studied in writing workshops under Lee Smith, Reynolds Price, Jesse Hill Ford, George Garrett, and others.

Writing: I first started writing love poems to little boys in the second grade. In third grade, I wrote the lyrics to my first country song, which was entitled, “Here I Sit Alone at the Bar.” I took the song to my mother and said, “Mama, I want to be a poet and songwriter, and here is my first song.” Mama read the lyrics, looked down at me and said, “Are you sure you don’t want to be a nurse?”

Inspiration: I grew up listening to country music and heard the lyrical poetry in that music. Country songs can represent a novel in twelve lines, and I learned to write in strong, concrete images from the stories those songs told.

Favorite Poets: British Romantic poets such as Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley and Keats have long inspired me because of their love of nature, but my all-time favorite poets are Robert Frost and Walt Whitman, who both wrote about the common man.

Challenges: I gave up a longtime career in advertising to become a full-time writer, and the dismay of my family and friends, who actively discouraged me from giving up financial security, created a real dilemma for me. Finally, I just stepped out on faith that writing was what I was supposed to be doing in life, and I have never regretted my decision. The naysayers were right about one thing, though: it is very difficult to make a living as a poet.

Advice: I always tell up-and-coming young writers not to get discouraged, to study the craft of poetry as much as they can, and to believe in themselves. Since poetry is often difficult to get published, I encourage people to publish their own work and to read poetry at civic organizations, clubs, schools and churches in their own communities.#

COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

Name:

Email:
Show email
City:
State:

 


 

 

Education Update, Inc.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of the publisher. © 2009.