Top 32 Quotes by John Barton

In the past, poetry came in the form of spells and chants used to effect change.

I became intrigued with colour theory. The absurd pronouncements of the Colour Institute, a group that decides what colours are hot each year or season, amused me.

I find it exhausting to administer a magazine without an office or paid staff.

An experienced reader uses the poem as an agent of inquiry. This makes poetry very exciting, unstable, and interactive.

To me many short poems read and write like beginnings that simply whet my appetite; I want to get over that.

I feel very connected to poets across the country.

Writing can sometimes be exploitative. I like to take a few steps of remove in order to respect the privacy of the subject. If readers make the link, they have engaged with the poem.

I would not say I chose to write long poems on a conscious level. The long poem has been a relative constant.

The experiment of the poem is mostly intuitive. I write the first draft, pulling in the various elements that interest me, in the hope that their being combined will lead to some kind of insight.

A literary journal is intended to connect writer with reader; the role of the editor is to mediate.