Meet the artist: Colin Hassard
In 2020, the brilliant poet Colin Hassard became the first Writer-in-Residence of the Duncairn. You may remember him from his performances of spoken word on our stage and his presenting of the Duncairn Podcast which kept us company last autumn and winter. More recently, Colin has also been presenting the Duncairn’s ‘In Focus’ documentary series as well as teaching poetry courses online with us.
Watch : Documentary of the Microwave Dinner
This week we had a little chat about writing, inspiration and his book.
Where do you find your inspiration to write?
My main two sources are poetry and music. When I started out I wanted to be a songwriter, and then I gradually shifted to focus on poetry. While I still enjoy music – particularly the great lyricists, along with the great poets – the contemporary poets currently writing and performing on this island are a huge source of inspiration too.
But I also find inspiration in the most common and trivial of places – newspapers, films, television, social media; in particular Twitter – one of the things I always say to the groups in my writing workshops is that inspiration can come from anywhere and is all around us. But the key thing is to be on the lookout and ready to grab it when it comes.
How did COVID and lockdowns impact your inspiration to write?
From a personal point of view, the lockdowns, particularly the first one in spring 2020, I embraced as an opportunity to create and learn. I was on furlough from a full-time ‘regular’ job, so didn’t have the pressure of my art being responsible for paying the bills. Because of that, I was able to enrol in online writing courses and workshops, to read a lot of literature and explore my own ideas, and of course to work on the book.
Having said that, there were moments of doubt and frustration – particularly during the summer months which would’ve been the busy festival period and I really missed performing and attending live events (the virtual gigs just weren’t the same). But then in October I had a huge boost when I was asked to be the Duncairn’s Writer-in-Residence, which was another fabulous opportunity and indeed perfectly timed as I had just been made redundant from the aforementioned regular job. The universe was clearly looking out for me!
Many people are finding creative writing helps them cope with life, especially in these trying times. What is your advice to keep finding inspiration in the winter months?
As well as being on the lookout for inspiration, two of the things I tried during lockdown and which I plan to keep doing through the winter months is firstly to schedule time for writing, and secondly to make a daily ‘to do’ list. As well as being easily distracted I’m also a great procrastinator, and I know all too well how easy it is to be demotivated during the cold, dark winter months. But I find that having a schedule and a list of tasks to complete each day or each week, helps me to stay focused. There’s also a slightly perverse satisfaction in ticking things off during the day.
Colin has recently published his first poetry collection ‘Age of the Microwave Dinner’ with Doire Press. Why this title for your book? Is there a story behind it?
I wanted a title that encompassed the range of styles and subject matters covered in the book and I had mulled over a few ideas including ‘Prose and Cons’ and ‘Swig When You’re Winning’ (which is a title of a poem in the book). Then one day out of nowhere ‘Age of the Microwave Dinner’ came to me and I knew that was the title I’d been searching for. It also works as a metaphor for this modern age where everything seems to be made to be quick, transitory and disposable – even poetry.
Where can we buy your book?
For people in the north or mainland UK, it’s available from the No Alibis bookshop website. Sometimes there are signed copies in the store but they keep selling out, which is sounds great, but then I get people complaining directly to me they can’t get it. Signed copies are also available in Bridge Books, Dromore, Co. Down.
For anyone in the south, or in Europe, they can get it directly from the publisher Doire Press.
I’ll also be hopefully out next year doing live readings and flogging a few copies across the island!
We’ll certainly be looking out for those readings!
