In Conversation with Poet, Anna Grace Du Noyer

Great to have you with us today Anna Grace! Your new book Fear is a Liar is bordering on an epic! Wow.

Contemporary poet, Anna Grace Du Noyer was born in 1986 in North Wales. Du Noyer’s poetry is an antidote to the excesses of civilisation, exploring and reflecting on often unnoticed but profound details in the natural world.

YOU’RE WELL KNOWN FOR COMPLEX WORDPLAY LEADING INTO THAT “LIGHTBULB MOMENT” THAT MAKES THE AUDIENCE WANT TO READ AGAIN IMMEDIATELY! WHAT SPARKED YOUR INITIAL LOVE FOR WORDS AND POETRY?
Poetry shines a sideways light on the world. I like to tease the message out succinctly but with powerful prose. Every word counts. As a creative, I treasure reading and writing poems, in the same way I relish in all of the arts. Words have the authority to define the human experience, and the means to let us FEEL things.

The structure of poems favour brevity and yet the best poems also capture succinct detail, making them incredibly potent in illustrating very fabric of meaning and mood to the reader – whatever that tone may be.
In my collections there is no one motive in terms of mood – they range from tongue in cheek to disturbing to deeply moving – all in the same book, just as we would experience an entire spectrum of emotions during any significant episode of our life.

WHO SHOULD READ YOUR BOOK?
People who don’t know they like poetry…. yet.. and everyone in between… if it’s daunting to think about reading a poetry anthology then try the audiobook. My voice actress is just ridiculously good. Oh she is wonderful. I’m pretty sure she can see inside of my soul… and I challenge anyone not to become engrossed in each poem’s story whenever you listen to her (Natalia!) narrate… I have goosebumps just thinking about it!

HOW DO YOU DEVELOP YOUR POEMS? CAN YOU GUIDE US THROUGH THE STAGES?
I’ve never sat down and thought – right I need to write a poem. They just come to me until I realise I have a full collection. Usually it’s a line or rhyme or something I’ve just noticed in my environment which I feel is metaphorically profound.

Words just seem to pop up when I am in the middle of doing something completely unrelated, and I  just have to write them down. I might be sitting in the garden, taking my dog for a walk or be listening to music – even in the middle of a conversation. 

I just have to stop what I’m doing and write it down much to the bafflement of my husband! Once I’ve had the initial idea a draft comes together pretty fast. 

I then go back and edit it several times, perhaps over a day or two and often mix up old and new versions, depending on which device I’m working from. I have romantic ideas about using a special notebook and a posh pen to write with but sadly, my brain thinks a lot quicker than my hand can keep up with and they would be illegible! 

WHAT SHOULD READERS EXPECT FROM ‘FEAR IS A LIAR’?
Probably something quite unusual. It’s a really varied anthology, in terms of mood – in the way I described earlier. The book offers a poem for every mood, reflecting on periods of crisis – but that is not to say it’s all doom and gloom, or dry or sad. Like any crisis we traverse through, there are a whole range of emotions to confront – from anger, to amusement to sadness to hope and everything in between.

For one individual, I’ve been through an unreasonable number of dark times in my life, so yes, several of the poems are a reflection of those times including grief, and being a victim of abusive behaviour, in the past. 

But many of the poems in the book are observations of others, and putting myself in the shoes of those going through a life changing period in their life.

Each theme in the book – grief, loss, abuse, anger – ends up conveying the power of love and hope. So, the overarching message is: resilience!

CAN WE HEAR ONE OF THE POEMS FROM THE NEW BOOK?
Of course. This poem is called Loneliness

Loneliness by Anna Grace Du Noyer

A silverfish
crawled
into my bed
I welcomed it.
A beetle struck out
Clawing
I didn’t flinch.
A wasp
Attacked my
Boundaries
Jagged
Darting
And
Floundering
around
my face.
I didn’t fight
But
Wished
For more.
When it
Took flight
I hoped
that
My loneliness
would pass
Soon.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN 3 WORDS.
Intense, juvenile, irregular.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHEN YOU ARE NOT WRITING?
Words are important in all aspects of my life; I’m also a Communications Specialist for a major British retailer and I sing (once professionally) and write songs, too. I’m at my happiest in nature, with my animals and my husband – oh, and my iphone so I can take notes during moments of inspiration.

ARE THERE ANY NEW PROJECTS UNDERWAY?
Yes! An audiobook. I’m so excited! My poems sound like they’re meant to. It’s quite profound for me! I’m also compiling another collection at the moment which is very inspired by my connection with nature. I keep changing my mind about what I’m going to call the book. 

You will be the first to know!

To know more about Anna Grace visit www.annagracedunoyer.com and don’t forget to follow her on Instagram @poemsbyannagrace and Twitter @poemsannagrace