|
Roger Kalia: Potentia is a powerful and evocative poem. What inspired you to write it, and what does it mean to you personally?
Anne Carmack: I was honored to be invited to collaborate with OSM and I knew right away that I wanted to attempt to create something that could communicate some sort of universal experience - something we all share and have in common. That said, my poetry does start from a personal place - the place that I turn to when I am looking for something dependable and true. While the work doesn’t promise me any immediate answers, it has always been the safest place to start sorting through the big questions themselves. Questions about memories and meaning. Belonging. Questions about what it means for me to be alive at this time in this place in this body. I wanted to bring a little bit of that into this piece, while also offering up something inclusive that might move anyone who hears this piece.
Roger: As Santa Monica’s first Poet Laureate, how do you see poetry intersecting with other art forms like music?
Anne: I am a big believer that anything we make out of nothing - be it a poem or a piece of music or a pie - is part of the solution to so much of what makes it hard to be a human. Anything we can gather around or give away - anything that we can share with our community helps us patch up all the holes.
Roger: How does it feel to have Potentia serve as the basis for a musical composition? Did you envision your words in a musical context while writing them?
Anne: I definitely wrote with the idea of music in mind and that made the process exciting in a way that I was not familiar with. While I wasn’t able to imagine what the final piece would ultimately provide for the poem, I was eager to present something to Jason and the orchestra that would inspire them to create something special that they could also feel excited about. I really hoped that it would work both ways, and gladly I believe that we have been able to pull that off.
Roger: Collaboration between poets and composers is a unique artistic process. What has been your experience working with the composer Jason Anthony Gomez on this project?
Anne: Jason had a familiarity with my work when we began this collaborative process and came to the table open minded and willing to help me work through all of my ideas. Our brainstorming sessions made it clear very quickly that we were on the same page with what we hoped this performance would provide and the path was smooth from the start.
Roger: Santa Monica is known for its vibrant arts scene. How does the city influence your work as a poet and as Poet Laureate?
Anne: As a 20+ year resident of the Pico neighborhood I strive to write poems that encourage, comfort and uplift the members of my diverse and working class community. Santa Monica has been home to me for most of my adult life and has shown me nothing but support along the way, so stepping into this role as their first Poet Laureate has been the honor of a lifetime. It is my sincere hope that whenever I step onto a stage to share a piece of work as a part of this program I make my neighbors proud. It really is a gift to get to represent this beautiful city and the Santa Monica Public Library in this beautiful way.
| 
