Interviews

Meghan Morrow

WritersNewsWeekly recently interviewed David Delaney about his upcoming book, Out of Australia, which comprises one hundred of his Australian poems.

WNW How do you hope to distinguish yourself from other poets?
Delaney I’m not all that interested in distinguishing myself from other poets, I would rather be accepted by other poets, as a poet, and be known for what and how I write. I would also like to ignite the interests of school aged children and those not normally involved with poetry with my poems.

WNW Are there any poets/authors that you admire? If so, who?
Delaney There are so many and it is hard to choose just a few. Being Australian I adore the likes of ‘Banjo’ Paterson, Henry Lawson, Barcroft Henry Boake, C J Dennis, Dorothea MacKellar, and later poets like Les Murray, Glenny Palmer, Kym Eitel, etc. My poem ‘In the Shadow of Ghosts’ is my tribute to quite a few Australian ‘great’ poets.

WNW There are so many of us out in the world who are not quite sure what poets are trying to say, but your writing is so clear. Was this your intention?
Delaney No..it was not my intention, but, this is how I write. I think a lot of today’s poets and their poetry is to ‘sterile’ or ‘academic,’ using words, phrases or metaphors that average people do not understand. I believe this is one of the reasons poetry has lost some of its appeal. I try to keep my writing simple and clear so everyone can understand them.

WNW You’ve mentioned that you have had no formal education in writing; do you feel this has dampened your poetry in any way?
Delaney No..I don’t feel it has dampened my poetry and do not believe lack of education should stop anyone from ‘going for’ their dream. While my love is Australian bush poetry, I am actually enjoying my exploration into the many different forms and styles of poetry, including; free verse, Sonnets, Haiku, Tanka & traditional rhyme. But it is frustrating at times, because of my lack of education, trying to understand the rules of punctuation and grammar.

WNW What do you use for inspiration, if anything?
Delaney Inspiration can come in many forms and from anywhere, most of my poems are ‘jotted’ down at work, in-between answering phones and picking orders to dealing with customers and transport drivers. Also inspiration could be a smell, incident or song that ‘jogs’ my memory. My wife, children, grandchildren, talking to veterans & friends, other poems or story’s inspire. I also receive a lot of inspiration from reading my friends poems on Australian Bush Poets Association http://www.abpa.org.au/ and the wonderful support and coaching they can offer.

WNW Have you ever thought of stepping away from poetry and moving into novels?
Delaney I don’t think I could ‘tackle’ a novel yet. Once I start writing something I like to get it done, finished, out of the way, ready for the next piece, though in saying that, I have recently started writing a short memoire/story. One of my memoires was selected for publication by a panel of academics at James Cook University for their journal LiNQ.

WNW Poetry, and writing in general, can bring up a lot of emotion; do you ever feel unable to write due to painful memories?
Delaney I don’t seem to have trouble writing my ‘emotional’ poems, though there are a number I can not perform or have trouble performing.

WNW Your writing seems to involve much of your family; how do they feeling about your poems?
Delaney My family enjoy my writing, and the support I receive from them all is wonderful.

WNW What are some of your favorite poems?
Delaney There are so many, I always enjoy reading my poems, “In the Shadow of Ghosts’, ‘New Generation Veterans’, ‘A Drovers Lament’, ‘My Mate’ etc. I also love to read, ‘Where the Dead Men Lie’ by Barcroft Henry Boake, the beautiful ‘Bell Birds’ by Henry Kendall, the timeless ‘The Man from Snowy River’ and ’The Man from Ironbark’ by Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson, and so many, many more.

WNW How would you describe the experience of writing your first poem?
Delaney Shock followed by pride. My 1st poem ‘The Outback Track’ was intended to be a short story but when I started writing, I wrote in what I thought to be rhyme. It was not until some time later, when learning more about writing poetry, that I re-worked the poem.