It’s National Poetry Month, and we are celebrating by showcasing poet Melanie Marttila. Her debut collection, The Art of Floating (Latitude 46) is a testament to years of honing her craft. The collection of five sections of free verse poems is wide-ranging and eclectic, bringing to life her deep connection with the earth and sky of Ontario. The aptly named collection describes her learned ability to ride the unpredictable waves of mental illness and prevent herself from drowning within it, while seeking solace in the natural world around her. These lyric poems are stunning and transportative, absorbing the reader with captivating imagery, complex diction, and highly relatable themes most pivotal in life, such as loss, grief, and hope.
We’re honoured to have Melanie join us for this Power Q & A.
The Art of Floating by Melanie Marttila, published by Latitude 46.
Q: What is a piece of advice you have for poets (or writers in general) who wish to write about mental health?
A: I'll preface my answer by saying that I am not a health care professional and none of what follows constitutes medical advice. If you're in distress, please seek out the qualified professionals who can best support you in your mental health journey.
If you are on a journey with your mental health, you will write about it. There is no question. You may not even realize you're doing it, but it's there. In my case, it wasn't until after I received my late autism diagnosis that I realized that most of my fictional protagonists were neurodivergent in some respect and thus struggle with various mental health issues. Now that I'm aware of the pattern, I can craft my stories more intentionally.
If you want to approach writing poetry about mental health deliberately and from inception, self-care, in the true sense of the word, is paramount. Delving into mental health can be fraught and triggering. Be gentle with yourself. This journey is a long and difficult one for many of us, and writing about mental health, while it can be therapeutic, can also retraumatize. Start out by journalling. It's a safe space where you can "let it all hang out." Go through your journal at the end of each week and see if you can pull out some themes or images that feel right for you to explore in the moment. Then, get curious rather than judgemental about what you've chosen to explore. Ask yourself questions in the same tone as you would ask questions of a loved one who reaches out to you for help. Then, get playful. Returning to your journal, freewrite and brainstorm. Don't cross anything out. Again, your journal is a safe space. This is just for you. Can you reinterpret an event in an evocative way? What metaphors speak to you most clearly? Is your voice "what you see is what you get" or is it more "tell it slant"? Writing should be fun, at least in the early stages. Revising and editing are where the more demanding work comes in.
Me? I write a lot of moon poetry because the moon is my solace (and I may be a wee bit pagan).
Poet Melanie Marttila
More about Melanie Marttila:
Melanie Marttila has been writing since the age of seven, when she made her first submission to CBC's "Pencil Box." She is a graduate of the University of Windsor’s Masters program in English Literature and Creative Writing and her poetry has appeared in Polar Borealis, Polar Starlight, and Sulphur. Her short fiction has appeared in Pulp Literature, On Spec, Pirating Pups, and Home for the Howlidays. She lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario, in the house where three generations of her family have lived, on the street that bears her surname, with her spouse and their dog, Torvi.