Title: The Woven Flag
Author: Margaret Fourt Goka
Publisher: BookVenture Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-946492-70-8
Pages: 76
Genre: Poetry
Interviewed by: Beth Adams
Author Interview with Margaret Fourt Goka
Today we are talking with Margaret Fourt Goka author of “The Woven Flag.”
PBR: Who inspired you to become a poet? Who are your favorite poets?
My fourth grade teacher told everyone in my class that we could write books, and I always believed her. My mother encouraged me to write poetry. When I was an undergraduate in college I took a poetry writing class from poet Donald Finkel and I began writing poems in earnest. My favorite poets are: AA Milne, e.e. cummings, Robert Frost, John Milton and William Carlos Williams.
PBR: Your poems are so evocative of your family. How has your family inspired your poetry?
You have to write about what you know, and my family was always there as a subject to write about. Children are absorbing subjects and family life is something so many of us have in common. Poems about family life come out of looking at it in the rare moments when I was not involved in it, when I could sit by myself and appreciate the house being quiet while my children were at school.
PBR: Many of your poems are about animals and nature. What led to your love of nature?
My mother was a biologist and kept me curious about animals and the natural world. Both of my parents were scientists, and I learned to observe nature and appreciate its diversity from them.
PBR: What do you want readers to interpret from your poetry?
I give readers a window into my life and hope they have corresponding experiences that they can compare to mine. I share where I’ve been, what I’ve observed, what I do not understand and what I know.
PBR: Will you write another book of poetry?
Yes, I will continue writing poetry. I have poems that did not seem like part of The Woven Flag to work on. I live by myself now and have more time to spend writing.
PBR: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
When I’m not writing poetry I like to enjoy time with friends, travel, cook, and keep track of my daughters and grandchildren.
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