Gary Snyder: “Can Poetry Change the World?“

SUSAN DEMING: What is the most satisfying thing for you about writing, and has that changed over the years?

GARY SNYDER: The act of making something, bringingelements together and creating a new thing with craft and wit hidden init, is a great pleasure. It´s not the only sort of pleasure, but it ischallenging and satisfying, and not unlike other sorts of creating andbuilding. In Greek “poema“ means “making.” It doesn´t change with theyears, or with the centuries.

SD: How do you know when a poem is finished?

GS: It tastes done.

SD: If animals wrote things down, who would you rather hear a poem by ― a raccoon or a possum?

GS: A raccoon´s poem is alert and inquisitive, andamazes you by what a mess it makes. A possum´s poem seems sort of slowand dumb at first, but then it rolls over. When you get close to it, itspits in your eye.

SD: What´s the most striking difference to you between California wilderness and Oregon wilderness?

GS: You need to specify east side or west side,north or south, for this to be a useful question. The northwesternCalifornia-southwestern Oregon zone is basically one. Southeast Oregonbelongs with the Great Basin and then a lot of eastern Oregon to theColumbia Plateau. Lower Columbia includes both sides of the river. Thedifferences, east or west, are expressed basically in precipitation.And the northern spotted owl needs bigger and denser groves than theSouthern.

SD: Do you find yourself working on several poemsat once, or do you start one poem and see it through to some kind ofconclusion before you start on another one?

GS: Both, and also other strategies and variations as well. An artist is a total switch-hitter.

SD: Are there some poets whose work you return to again and again?

GS: Yes, among them Du Fu, Lorca, Basho, Pound, Yeats, Buson, Bai Ju-yi, Li He, Su Shih, Homer, Mira Bhai, Kalidasa.

SD: What is your advice to writers who are just starting out?

GS: Think like a craftsperson, learn your materials, your tools, and then read a lot of poetry so you don´t keep inventing wheels.

SD: Scientists predict the Columbia River will beradioactive in 20-30 years, if not sooner, due to Hanford leakage. Doyou see this situation as irreversibly hopeless?

GS: I don´t have enough information on it to judge.

SD: Can poetry change the world?

GS: Ha!