The PoArtMo Anthology Series: Interview with David Ellis

Hello everyone!

Welcome to our PoArtMo Anthology Series, which celebrates the artists whose work appears in The Auroras & Blossoms PoArtMo Anthology: Volume 4.

Today’s guest is David Ellis, who is a co-founder of Auroras & Blossoms. He contributed several poems to our anthology.

Auroras & Blossoms: Tell us all about the inspiration behind your pieces.

David Ellis: My inspiration comes from many diverse sources. I try to keep a very open mind. I can be motivated by lots of things at once, providing that I have some prompt ideas and access to the internet! As this is now the fourth volume of our PoArtMo Anthology, it is important for us to keep the material fresh, different and vibrant each time we collaborate with artists on this project.

Cendrine & I work on so many varied collaborative projects together, we usually have an abundance of conceptual ideas that can all co-exist at the same time, which then helps us to compile some of these ideas into exciting collections.

The ‘Vardhakus’ that I have written for this volume were influenced by Cendrine’s autumnal poems. We used winter/water as key themes and therefore were a considerable influence on each other, so they dovetail very nicely in this collection. Cendrine co-created this amazing form herself with another fellow writer, we heartily encourage people to attempt it themselves!

I also attempted my first ‘Sepigram’ poem (which was solely created by Cendrine) and merged it with my Greek heritage, selecting a fairy tale as my ultimate form of inspiration for the piece. I enjoy exploring poetic forms with mathematical structures and combining/inserting words into them, it is like solving a literary puzzle piece by piece.

Finally, my found poetry pieces (blackout poetry/found poetry is a speciality and passion of mine) were inspired by the poems of Toni Morrison, a very remarkable lady full of integrity. While she did not write much poetry in her lifetime, her poems are all very moving in the extreme and she leaves a strong literary legacy in her wake as well. I hope that the sincerity of my own poems do her justice and honour her memory.

A&B: How does a poem, story or creative piece of art begin for you? Does it start with an image, a form or a particular theme?

DE: I would say that usually a poem begins for me with a particular theme. I will then look to explore a form for that theme and attach an image later that coyly describes what the poem is going to be about. I do this as I do not want to give everything away from the image or title, as to be too literal with it could rob the poem of any mystery/romance/intrigue. You want the reader to use their imagination when they encounter your work to make it a more interesting experience for them.

However, in the past I have experimented with new forms that are unfamiliar to me, which in turn I will then apply a theme to them. This has definitely been the case when I have been trying out Cendrine poetry forms, in order to master them.

If I choose to write a poem based on an image, I will try to imagine a story that the image evokes to then give me a framework to enable me to write a themed poem about it.

All three choices are valid creative paths, so you might as well pick the one at the time that suits your creative mood the most and run with it.

A&B: What is your own artistic background?

DE: I am primarily a writer of found poetry with several books to my name that have been published. I am also the co-founder and co-editor of Auroras & Blossoms with Cendrine Marrouat. We have over thirty publications to date spanning anthologies, marketing guides, journals and creative prompt books to name a few.

A&B: Does your work have any specific themes or social commentary we should identify with?

DE: My pieces are constantly filled with positivity, romance, self-confidence boosting and stimulation of profound thought. I will always be a champion of the underdog and you will find that my themes celebrate the triumph of beating adversity, along with treating people with respect, love and kindness wherever possible.

A&B: Tell us the most positive and uplifting advice you have been given while working as a creative person.

DE: For me I think the most important piece of advice I have been given from multiple people is it to write to identify with others, to connect with people and explore similar emotions. I have learnt to appreciate hard work and perseverance throughout my lifetime but especially through my collaborations with Cendrine, as she is one of the hardest working artists I have ever found in my lifetime!

I write with a very clear purpose and an audience in mind. I want to help, encourage, motivate, stimulate, inform, enchant, thrill, prompt and transcend. I want to make people fall in love with the written word, to let the euphoria take them to places they could only dream of and to get people achieving their literary goals. We are a community of like-minded individuals and we should always strive to what is best for each other.

Bio:

David Ellis lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent in the UK. He is an award-winning poet, author of poetry, marketing workbooks/journals, humorous fiction and music lyrics. He is also the co-founder of Auroras & Blossoms, and the co-creator of PoArtMo (Positive Actions Rally Thoughts & Momentum) and the Kindku.

David’s debut poetry collection (Life, Sex & Death) won an International Award in the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards 2016 for Inspirational Poetry Books.

David is extremely fond of tea, classic and contemporary poetry, cats, and dogs but not snakes. Indiana Jones is his spirit animal.

Website: http://toofulltowrite.com

David, thank you for answering our questions and supporting Auroras & Blossoms! We know that people will love your work as much as we do!