Interview: POET & WRITER HEATHER HERMANN

Say "Hello" to Poet & Writer

Heather Hermann.

MCL: When did you start Writing Poetry? What did you first start Writing about?

HH: I started writing poetry in the 1st grade. Not good poetry, just simple stuff that rhymed and made me happy. I think I read A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein and wanted to be a part of creating something similar that I enjoyed so much, so I wanted to find interesting ways to say things.

MCL: What makes you want to Write?

HH: What made me want to write as an angst emo teenager was not really having an outlet and not knowing how to share my feelings about life out loud, writing them out gave me time to think through alot of personal issues and find meaning. As an adult, I write to be heard. To feed creativity, and to challenge myself to write more than just about myself.

MCL: What Poets have influenced you?

HH: My favorite poets are people who can find new ways of saying universal truths. People who with words can make you smell a memory or hear a mood. Who can create a world or explain the world with innovative sentence structures and internal rhymes. I love the book Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo because of the story telling and the way it's written. The narration is written like one long run on sentence. It's pretty brilliant.

I also love Ray Lamontagne, Poe, Lord Byron, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes and many many more.

MCL: Describe your Writing style?

HH: My writing style is both very personal and stream of thought influenced. Usually I am writing about my thoughts on life and love, experiences and my desires. I focus a lot on trying to find new and creative ways of saying things. I also enjoy random poetry prompts to challenge myself to write about things that aren't necessarily what I lean towards writing about.

MCL: What's your favorite subject matter to Write about?

HH: My favorite subject matter to write about is the beautiful duality of both the good and the bad throughout life...

MCL: How personal do you get in your Writing?

HH: I sometimes write about very deep personal feelings I have towards people, fears, and life in general. And sometimes I write poems that are more like stories that aren't necessarily drawn from any personal experiences.

MCL: Finally ... What do you want people to know about you?

HH: I grew up in Rochester in a single family home just my mom and I. Throughout my life my mom struggled with being in and out of psych wards because of mental illness. I clung early in life to spirituality and seeking truth. I was in foster care for a short period of time in middle school before going back to live with my mom. My relationship with my foster parents and siblings have however, lasted a life time. In my own life I've learned just how important it is to seek out the beauty through my own struggles, to find peace. Poetry is just one way to do that.