What is your writing process or ritual?

Wait. Be automatic. And then throw myself totally into the work.

When not writing, I maintain a state of awareness, practice “non-slackness”: daydreaming, contemplation, distraction, tolerance, as well as reading texts, images, music, and intricate details from daily life… they all constitute the long process of a poem.

Seeking a unique linguistic feel is a core aesthetic of your poetry. How do you define a balance between an austere language and the complexity of an inner world in order to find a breakthrough and liberty in language?

The complexity of an inner world signifies capacity, speed and vivacity. It also comprises of disorderliness. For me, what’s most important when expressing something is to arrange and order, an order of freedom, a poetic logic. And writing needs to keep up with the ever-changing inner world, the ever-changing reality as best as it can. It needs to express an individual’s plight.

…writing needs to keep up with the ever-changing inner world, the ever-changing reality as best as it can. It needs to express an individual’s plight.

Originality and uniqueness, to me, are key qualities of a writer. They are especially precious. I consider the force of creativity as most vital in making art, and uniqueness is the shortcut that guides one’s creativity. Originality of course takes many forms and there are many different kinds of writers in the world expanding on the possibilities of art. Besides, originality and uniqueness require an independent judgment as to how to confront the world and our époque. It also requires writers not to be affected by any collective voice or power, asking instead for writers to respond in his/her style, and with his/her own authentic voice.

I write poetry in order to to set in language a human situation, so as to help people care about the world, life and destiny through language. This is why a coherent and unbreakable relationship between an individual and his/her immediate reality exists in my writing.