An interview with
Norman Cristofoli
Tell us one of your first experiences where you realised that language had power.
I wrote a poem many years ago about growing up in the sixties and seventies, joining Greenpeace, doing protests, being a rebel, etc. At the end of the poem, I state that I was glad I was there, and that I still am. Later that evening, a young poet approached me and told me she liked my poem. I said thanks, and then she looked up and said, “I’m not afraid to grow old now.”
She was afraid of ending up like her parents or whatever society was going to force her to be. My poem told her that she could still be an individual at any age.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would you say?
DO NOT avoid any mistakes,
that's where the best poems come from.
LOOK OUT for everything,
the world around you is full of inspiration.
ONLY BE WARY of your own fears and limitations.
Go down all the roads that state “Do Not Enter.”
Have you ever written under a pseudonym?
Yes.
What kind of research do you do for whatever it is you’re writing?
Depends on the subject matter. When writing about science, I read all the theories and verify all the facts. When writing about love, I research my heart.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters of a different gender to you?
Depends on the subject matter. Love is love to all genders. Science is science to all genders. I cannot write about the experience of giving birth to a child, but I can write about how I felt when my child was born.
Do you believe in the dreaded Writer’s Block?
No, but there are times when there is non-creativity. During those times I do editing and I will also try new things, different art forms to jump-start my creativity in other ways.
I wrote a poem many years ago about growing up in the sixties and seventies, joining Greenpeace, doing protests, being a rebel, etc. At the end of the poem, I state that I was glad I was there, and that I still am. Later that evening, a young poet approached me and told me she liked my poem. I said thanks, and then she looked up and said, “I’m not afraid to grow old now.”
She was afraid of ending up like her parents or whatever society was going to force her to be. My poem told her that she could still be an individual at any age.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would you say?
DO NOT avoid any mistakes,
that's where the best poems come from.
LOOK OUT for everything,
the world around you is full of inspiration.
ONLY BE WARY of your own fears and limitations.
Go down all the roads that state “Do Not Enter.”
Have you ever written under a pseudonym?
Yes.
What kind of research do you do for whatever it is you’re writing?
Depends on the subject matter. When writing about science, I read all the theories and verify all the facts. When writing about love, I research my heart.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters of a different gender to you?
Depends on the subject matter. Love is love to all genders. Science is science to all genders. I cannot write about the experience of giving birth to a child, but I can write about how I felt when my child was born.
Do you believe in the dreaded Writer’s Block?
No, but there are times when there is non-creativity. During those times I do editing and I will also try new things, different art forms to jump-start my creativity in other ways.
