Interview with Cameron Fuller

When did you decide you wanted to study poetry?

I was at university around the same time that I became interested in poetry. I didn’t initially think I would focus on the creative writing side of English. I was more interested in linguistics and the cultural aspects of language. I just went to a few courses, like the poetry course here at UniSA. I was sending poems out at the same time and had a few published, so I thought I’d see how far I could go with it. It’s a passion: I love writing, and I feel lucky to write and study at the same time.

What is it about writing poetry that you particularly enjoy?

The possibilities it offers, the compressed use of language; you can do almost anything with it. You can express emotion, and you can play with language and theory. When I start writing a poem, I feel like it’s an adventure: you don’t know where it’s going to go, it can take you anywhere.

Tell me a bit more about doing Honours in Creative Writing. While you were doing your Honours, you produced a poetry collection?

It was a poetry collection and an exegesis. I produced about seventy pages of poems and a 10,000 word theoretical component, and I linked them by looking at how post-structural theories about language have influenced contemporary lyrical poetry. I looked at theories about meaning, representation, subjectivity, and how some poets incorporate those ideas into their writing.

Do you think your Honours study influenced your own poetry?

Yes, just by reading a lot of language and experimental poetry, I absorbed it. I didn’t really like it to start off with, but grew to appreciate it, and I tried experimenting with it in my Honours thesis. Half of it was traditional lyrical poetry, and the other half was more experimental, language-oriented work. Towards the end of my Honours year, I put in a manuscript to Friendly Street Poets, about thirty pages, and that was accepted after I finished my degree. The book came out in March 2006.

And that same book was launched at Writer’s Week. What was that like?

I normally go as an audience member, and to be a participant really put a different angle on the experience. There were three poets in the collection, and our book was being launched at the same time as two other books through Friendly Street, so it was rushed. But it was a buzz to be able to reach an audience, and have people listen to your work. Once it was over, some people came up to me and got me to sign a book. People would say they liked your work, or ask you questions, so there are opportunities for networking if you want. After that, I went back for the rest of the week, just like normal, in the audience. There’s not a whole lot of fuss with a poetry book being launched.

Why do you think that is?

It's such a small market. Some people think there is no audience for it, but I think there is: a small, select audience. A lot of those people do write poetry themselves. You bump into people who might read your work, and they might be writers too, so it’s an interesting dynamic. I try to buy as much as I can afford of other people’s poetry books.

What sort of poetry do you buy? Who do you find inspiring?

I mostly read Australian poets, whoever I hear on the radio or see in anthologies. John Forbes, Joanne Burns, John Kinsella—these are all people whose poetry I’ve enjoyed at various points and I think have influenced my own style of writing.

Do you have any advice for students about writing, or about further study at University?

I recommend following it through, if creative writing is a passion or an interest of yours. I grew and matured as a writer through Honours and that experience. It is challenging and demanding, but the rewards are really there. It’s a luxury to be able to study and write creatively—that’s how I felt. My advice: keep writing and persisting, despite rejection slips. Be open to constructive criticism. Read lots!

Is there anything else you’d like say?

I’m involved in Wet Ink, a local literary magazine. Wet Ink is distributed nationally and accepts submissions of non-fiction, short fiction and poetry. It comes out quarterly, and they take work from new writers. I encourage anyone to submit!