tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334168470477960268.post3383552190632120395..comments2024-03-05T14:43:58.777-08:00Comments on Rogue Strands: The garden of forking pathsMatthew Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11050474652034142849noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334168470477960268.post-63370605691473976702009-03-17T01:43:00.000-07:002009-03-17T01:43:00.000-07:00Hi Rob,There's no doubt that living abroad and lea...Hi Rob,<BR/><BR/>There's no doubt that living abroad and learning another language changes the way we write, but my case was even more extreme - for the first few years after coming over to Extremadura I had virtually no contact with other foreigners - total immersion!<BR/><BR/>As for publishing while being over here, there's no doubt I have to clock up Easyjet miles and get to as many readings in the U.K. as possible - I read at launches for The London Magazine and Under The Radar last autumn and hope to give more readings this year.Matthew Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11050474652034142849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334168470477960268.post-20309665131385892512009-03-17T01:01:00.000-07:002009-03-17T01:01:00.000-07:00Interesting. I spent five years in Italy (I've onl...Interesting. I spent five years in Italy (I've only been back in Scotland for 4 years) and my poetry did develop there. It's hard to know whether it would have developed in a different direction had I not gone, although I definitely wouldn't have been able to write certain poems (but may have written others I wasn't able to write due to the decision I took).<BR/><BR/>That said, chapbook and book publication only happened when I returned. But some writers (e.g. Liz Gallagher in the Gran Canaria - her debut collection from Salt will appear later thia year) manage to get a first publication while living abroad.<BR/><BR/>John Ash is another writer whose time abroad seems to have changed his poetry radically. He has lived in Turkey for over a decade. The poetry he wrote before going is very different to that afterwards - although both periods are good.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17046788730174617923noreply@blogger.com