Interview with Ananda
So what made you choose the name Ananda and what is the inspiration behind it?
I went on to a website actually, just a girl’s name website. I decided I didn’t want to use my own name and as a poet I wanted a pen name. I wanted something spiritual sounding and inspiring so I went onto a website and just checked out some names on there. Different names kept coming up and I tried a few that I knew like Isis and then it brought up other names or similar names and then I just got to Ananda.
And how long have you been writing for?
Actually, that’s a funny story. I haven’t been writing that long I started in my forties and I’m 43 now so about 3 years. What inspired me was when I looked at the children of poets and writers and people who were in the field and how brilliant at writing they were. As my daughter was a brilliant writer I thought, wait a minute, if she’s got that skill it must of come from somewhere and I figured it was me. I’ve always had a passion for writing and I always loved English as a teenager but I just didn’t believe in myself to get around to it. Finally I thought, oh well, I think you get to forty and think “what the hell, let’s do it anyway.”
You say that you started in your forties. Would you say that your life experience has helped your work?
Definitely, I think we all draw from life experience as writers and I know it definitely helped me in knowing what I want to write about.
Were there any particular poets or poems that inspired the style or subject of your poems?
Maya Angelou comes to mind in terms of inspiring poets, especially Still I Rise and most of her poems really. I can’t say that I have read anyone in particular apart from her that has inspired me
So what subject are your poems usually about?
They vary with no particular subject. Some words will come to me and I start writing it down and it turns out to be a poem. Usually it’s something to do with love, relationships, family, being a mother and any issues or challenges I may be working with at the time.
What is your favourite poem that you’ve written and why?
My favourite has to be Black Woman sell-out. I wrote a poem about being a black woman and growing up and not doing everything I was “supposed to do” and so I was called a sell out. It was just about staying strong and knowing that I’m black no matter what music I like or food I choose to eat.
You can find many of Ananda’s poetry here at Home Grown and also at her website, www.dianecorriette.net
Interview by Robyn Williamson
I went on to a website actually, just a girl’s name website. I decided I didn’t want to use my own name and as a poet I wanted a pen name. I wanted something spiritual sounding and inspiring so I went onto a website and just checked out some names on there. Different names kept coming up and I tried a few that I knew like Isis and then it brought up other names or similar names and then I just got to Ananda.
And how long have you been writing for?
Actually, that’s a funny story. I haven’t been writing that long I started in my forties and I’m 43 now so about 3 years. What inspired me was when I looked at the children of poets and writers and people who were in the field and how brilliant at writing they were. As my daughter was a brilliant writer I thought, wait a minute, if she’s got that skill it must of come from somewhere and I figured it was me. I’ve always had a passion for writing and I always loved English as a teenager but I just didn’t believe in myself to get around to it. Finally I thought, oh well, I think you get to forty and think “what the hell, let’s do it anyway.”
You say that you started in your forties. Would you say that your life experience has helped your work?
Definitely, I think we all draw from life experience as writers and I know it definitely helped me in knowing what I want to write about.
Were there any particular poets or poems that inspired the style or subject of your poems?
Maya Angelou comes to mind in terms of inspiring poets, especially Still I Rise and most of her poems really. I can’t say that I have read anyone in particular apart from her that has inspired me
So what subject are your poems usually about?
They vary with no particular subject. Some words will come to me and I start writing it down and it turns out to be a poem. Usually it’s something to do with love, relationships, family, being a mother and any issues or challenges I may be working with at the time.
What is your favourite poem that you’ve written and why?
My favourite has to be Black Woman sell-out. I wrote a poem about being a black woman and growing up and not doing everything I was “supposed to do” and so I was called a sell out. It was just about staying strong and knowing that I’m black no matter what music I like or food I choose to eat.
You can find many of Ananda’s poetry here at Home Grown and also at her website, www.dianecorriette.net
Interview by Robyn Williamson
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