LatinosUSA

“Poetry Is a Part of Everyone’s Lives”- Sam Szanto

J.R Crivello: Do you think poetry is back in fashion?

Sam Szanto : That’s a very interesting question and hard to answer! I don’t think ‘poetry’ and ‘fashion’ have ever been very close bedfellows. Yet I think that as much as people may say ‘Oh, I don’t read / buy / understand poetry’, it’s very much a part of everyone’s lives: in the really important events – weddings and funerals – the reading of poetry is a central aspect. I do think that the internet has made access to poetry easier, from the publishing of online journals to the social media poets. The renaissance of spoken word and poetry slam events has contributed to its appeal to a younger audience too, I think.

J.R Crivello  : Do you write poetry daily, or do you write as ideas come to you?

Sam Szanto : I don’t write poetry every day, but if I’m not writing it I am writing about it, as I’m currently working on a practice-led PhD on the poetry of parenthood.

J.R Crivello  :  What is your next publishing project? Could you tell us how it came about?

Sam Szanto : I’m working on a collection of poems on the theme of parenthood and ambivalence / identity for the PhD, which I’m hoping will be published when I complete that in a couple of years. Writing about parenthood is something I have done for the past few years, but the particular focus is new. I’m also looking for publishers for my second short story collection, on ghosts and hauntings. I have a few individual poems to be published in the next few months, including one in the brilliant Dust Poetry in June.

J.R Crivello  : The city you live in, and a description of your favorite bar or café.

Sam Szanto : I have lived in Durham, in the North East of England, for the past four years. It’s small enough to be a town but it has a cathedral so it qualifies as a city. It’s a beautiful place with lots of history and also lots of lovely places to eat and drink (though sadly very few shops in the centre). I really like a café called Biz R, which is in an old building with views of the city and the river and does great coffee and cake – my daughter and I go most Saturday mornings before she has her swimming lesson, and she loves to people watch while she’s waiting for her slice of cake.

Author Biography

Sam Szanto is an award-winning, Pushcart prize-nominated writer. Her poetry pamphlet ‘This Was Your Mother’ was published by Dreich Press; ‘Splashing Pink’ was published by Hedgehog Press and was a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice; her short-story collection ‘If No One Speaks’ was published by Alien Buddha Press. She has won the Wirral Festival Poetry Prize, the Charroux Poetry Prize and the First Writer Poetry Prize.

A recent interview with Mandira Pattnaik https://mandirapattnaik.com/lets-know-our-poets-better/

Press, 2024) can be purchased directly from Sam by emailing sam.szanto@gmail.com; they are also available from Dreich Press: https://hybriddreich.co.uk/product/sam-szanto-this-was-your-mother/