Interview by the Liberian Listener
This interview was conducted by Daniel Geply. I wish to thank him for providing this wonderful opportunity.
This interview was conducted by Daniel Geply. I wish to thank him for providing this wonderful opportunity.
11
Questions: Althea Romeo Mark, Writer, Poet, Educator
Althea Romeo Mark is an educator
and poet who grew up in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She earned a B.A. in English and Secondary
Education from the University of the Virgin Islands and a M.A. in Modern
American Literature from Kent State University in the U.S.A. She considers
herself a citizen of the world having lived and taught in the Virgin Islands,
U.S.A, Liberia, England and now currently Switzerland. She has published 5 collections of poems as
well as various short stories and poems in a variety of literary magazines.
Where
published and literary influences?
1a. I have been published by two
prominent Caribbean journals. First The
Caribbean Writer, which just published its 29th edition, and is
published by the University of the Virgin Islands. It has been publishing my
poems and short stories off and on since the 1990’s.
Then there is POUI, a literary
journal from the University of the West Indies, which has just put out its 16th
edition. Coming from the US Virgin Islands, having one’s work published in a
journal from the University of the West Indies is considered a great
achievement, as they tend to focus only the work of writers from former British
colonies. Being published in the New Yorker will be a major achievement. I just need to do it.
1b. I have been part of a few
anthologies on Caribbean writing. The earliest is Sisters of Caliban: Contemporary Women Poets of the Caribbean: A Multi-lingual Anthology edited by MJ
Fenwick, USA, 1996; Karibia Forteller,
published in Norway in 2001 (in Norwegian); The Hampden-Sidney Poetry Review: Poetry of the Caribbean
(Virginia, USA), WomanSpeak: A Journal
of Writing and Arts by Caribbean Women, Bahamas 2014. I am also blessed to
be part of Seasoning for the Mortar,
a special anthology on Virgin Islands
Writing, published by the University of the Virgin Islands in 2004, and
have just signed an agreement for the follow-up anthology of Virgin Islands
Writings, First the Kata, Then the
Bundle which comes out in 2016.
1c. I haven’t been influenced by one
particular poet but have learned the craft of writing and sculpturing poetry from Maya Angelo and Allen Ginsberg.
Maya Angelo mentored young poets at a poetry workshop in Liberia in the 1980s
and Allen Ginsberg, one of the famous Beat Poets, mentored young poets at
the University of the Virgin Islands in the early 1970s. I think my rhythm
might be influenced by the rhythm and rhyme of Calypso
singers and writers, and the natural sing-song
of Caribbean speech patterns. I am a visual person, so I like to work with
images. I started out painting and drawing in high school, and switched to painting with words when I got to
university.
2. With these accomplishments, what do you
hope to still achieve in this celebrated sojourn?
I hope to be an established name in the
Caribbean Literature, and maybe in the world. But that requires constantly
being in the limelight which I tend to shy away from. It is more important that
I can inspire others to fulfill their dreams of becoming great writers.
3. Would
you say your writings reflect your collective personal life experiences?
Yes
they do. All writings are inspired by
experience, or some seed of truth planted in the world in which you live
through mediums like news headline, your immediate environment, traditions,
culture, history and the world in its crazy pulse of existence.
4. As an educator, what level of teaching do you
find the most rewarding. 4a. Your students must be lucky to have such a well
traveled and accomplished writer?
a)
Teaching at university is very rewarding.
I miss the intellectual stimulation provided by fellow lecturers and
students. As a lecturer you learn from the brilliance of students. Your role is not only to impart knowledge but
to also to learn from the knowledge that students share. You evolve as a
teacher as a result of that experience. There are many opportunities (forums,
conferences, workshops, research) for growth offered in such an environment.
b)
Teaching English to people, for whom English is not their mother-tongue, is
equally rewarding. You get to witness their transformation from speakers of a
few English words to people who can hold an intelligent conversation. Students
are motivated because they need English for work or to travel around the world.
They recognize that English is the language used on the international stage for
communication.
d) Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity yet
to teach Creative Writing. It requires a language competence equivalent to
mother-tongue English, and most students at that level are concerned with
building their careers. I have offered courses though. A course needs to have a minimum of eight
students to run. I have done booklets
of descriptive essays written by my students though.
5. You quote that “I write because I have to,”
could you please elaborate further?
For
me, writing is like breathing and eating, things that are necessary, things you
need to do to stay alive. You don’t think much about it. You just do it. The
environment provides the stimulation.
Sometimes when I see a blank page, I just have this urge to fill it with
meaningful, communicative, transcending words. Fulfilling this desire can be
very successful most times; there are times when the words are not ripe, and
you cannot force them.
6. Are
you working on another collection of poems to be published in the near future?
I
have had a collection ready since 2014-2015, but I have written and published
so many poems since then, I need to do a revision. Then, there is the nagging question of
whether to self-publish or to send the manuscript to a Caribbean
publisher. I do not teach at university,
so I do not have contact with university presses. This is why I send my work
out to various publications. One has to
build a resume in the publishing world, so people can recognize your name when
they see it. You need to publish several times a year to be taken seriously.
6b. Any advice to young
writers and especially Liberian/Caribbean writers?
If
you love writing and want to establish yourself as a writer, you have to write,
be open to others critiquing your work.
You have to get the opinion of someone who can look at your work with an
objective eye. Join a writers’ group. I have been a member of a writers’ group
wherever I have lived (USA, Liberia and Switzerland). Writers’ groups help to
stimulate the individual growth of writers. Do not be daunted by rejection
letters. Sometimes you look back at work you sent out and realize that it was
“crap” and your work was correctly
rejected. I started writing as university student in the 70s and haven’t
stopped. You have to be willing to learn from others, have determination and
believe in your dream. You never stop learning as a writer. Take advantage of
all opportunities for publishing that come up whether big or small. Remember:
You are building that resume and preparing for the big break.
7. You are well travelled and have lived in many
places, what was your favourite location to reside?
Liberia was the
country in which I grew as a person the most.
I arrived at a naïve age of twenty-six.
I became an adult there. I met my
husband, married, had three children, survived several political upheavals, and
had to declare myself a refugee upon arriving in England and decided to start
over. I was forty then and had spent the prime of my life with beautiful,
expressive people. I also learned about my Caribbean past because I heard some
of the folktales my father told again in Liberia. One makes that connection and embraces one’s West African roots.
7b. You recently
travelled to Africa as a guest poet, commendable indeed.
I
wanted to visit the African continent again and the Kisii International Poetry
Festival provided that opportunity. It
felt great to be back on the African continent, this time East Africa, to be
among humble people with big hearts. The people in the villages were very welcoming.
I missed that very much.
8. What would you like your writing to be most
remembered for? It is my hope that my poems carry
a message about the strengths and weakness of human nature, whether it be the
message of love, betrayal, the frailties of man or the continuity of
traditions. It is my hope that they make some kind of impact.
9. Besides
writing, what do you like to do in your leisure time?
I
like to travel if I can and learn about other cultures. Otherwise, I go to the
gym and try to prolong my life by exercising.
I need to do more of that unfortunately.
10. With all the places you have been, how many
languages do you speak? 10a. Which is the hardest?
I
speak only two languages: English and German. I understand Swiss-German. It is
a medieval version of German which I find difficult to express.
11. Thank you for your time Ms. Romeo-Mark, do you
have any final thoughts?
As
a writer, as long as you live, there is always something to write about. The
world is a fascinating, sometimes disappointing place, filled with human beings
exercising their will, not always in our favor, but we try to find the good in
all the craziness that we live through. Life gives you much food for thought.
Neighbors Sanderson
Warm summer
night.
Windows flung open,
are dressed in curtains of light.
Windows flung open,
are dressed in curtains of light.
Old Mr. Sanderson
across the way,
kneads his wife’s plump arms,
rubs her hands and swollen feet.
kneads his wife’s plump arms,
rubs her hands and swollen feet.
The scent of
eucalyptus,
wafting into the air,
subdues the smells
of frying oils and salsa,
and settles in our noses.
wafting into the air,
subdues the smells
of frying oils and salsa,
and settles in our noses.
The fragrant
ointment
glistens on Mrs. Sanderson’s
thick, veined hands
and fleshy fudge-brown arms.
Her face, tense with the
hurdles of aging, slackens.
glistens on Mrs. Sanderson’s
thick, veined hands
and fleshy fudge-brown arms.
Her face, tense with the
hurdles of aging, slackens.
Evening ritual
done,
Mr. Sanderson nestles
next to her and reads
from a well-read book
she had dedicated to him.
and made famous long ago.
Mr. Sanderson nestles
next to her and reads
from a well-read book
she had dedicated to him.
and made famous long ago.
It is then we
shut out distractions,
shush those in mid sentences,
strain our ears to hear elegiac words
that speak and sing for a
voice now stilled by stroke.
shush those in mid sentences,
strain our ears to hear elegiac words
that speak and sing for a
voice now stilled by stroke.
In baritone, Mr.
Sanderson reads
about seductive flesh and
love in spring shifting into summer.
There is no autumn or winter.
It is a love superior.
about seductive flesh and
love in spring shifting into summer.
There is no autumn or winter.
It is a love superior.
Republished with
permission by Althea Romeo-Mark, from Moko Magazine, November 2014 issue (www.mokomagazine.org).
Below are some of the journals in which Althea Romeo-Mark has been published.
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| Althea Romeo-Mark's last poetry collection |
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