John Hansen
ORP: What does success as a writer or artist mean to you?
John Hansen: There is a certain honesty that comes out when writing poetry, which differs from explaining that same experience and topic in everyday conversation. Being able to capture a particular moment (and vulnerability to some degree) and having your reader feel something – to be moved profoundly – would be the highest aspiration for success as a writer. For further reflection, consider Emerson’s “Man Thinking” in “The American Scholar.”
ORP: Does writing or creating energize or exhaust you? What aspects of your artistic process would you consider the most challenging or rewarding?
JH: Both. I keep returning to Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, where he espouses that creativity is similar to this sudden and almost overwhelming lightning. Creating is euphoric and draining. The process of what you do with these bright flashes of light is wearisome; however, the end product of those ideas can be energizing. The most challenging part is taking that initial spark of inspiration and turning it into something coherent and meaningful.
ORP: What books have you read many times?
JH: I’ll keep it short and only list three here: Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, and Vladimir Nabokov’s The Eye.
ORP: What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing or creating? What advice would you give to another writer or artist?
JH: Give yourself enough time to work through the progression. Don’t rush things – something I’m guilty of doing more than I care to admit. My advice would be not to try to shake a feeling of difficulty or struggle so quickly. Often, you can find beauty and clarity in these moments, which can elevate your work and reveal something you may never have discovered or pursued.