THE POETIC UNDERGROUND

Today I interviewed the born-to-be-writer Erin Hanson from poetry blog "The Poetic Underground" and lifestyle/inspiration blog "The Halfway Point". She's down to earth, wonderfully coherent and her poetry will make your heart flutter as she paints with her words. 

Star sign: Cancer

Welcome to Antlered Fawn! When did you first start writing poetry/blogging: I started writing poetry probably in about grade 7 (2007) but it wasn't anything serious, just silly little rhymes with my best friend. I started my poetry blog in November of 2011, and The Halfway point in January 2013.

What's the story behind your blog names "The Halfway Point" & "The Poetic Underground"? 

To be honest I actually just liked the sound of "The Halfway Point" but it sort of reflects how I feel about my life, I always feel like I'm halfway between where I've been and where I want to be. Hopefully one day I'll feel closer to the end! What will I call it then? The 3/4 Point? haha

The Poetic Underground was more thought through, I feel like there's a real lack of appreciation for poetry these days so I wanted to try and contribute to increasing that appreciation. "The Poetic Underground" is supposed to feel like a secret place you can go where you're surrounded by other people who appreciate poetry as much as you do. Plus, it makes me picture a group of people all huddled in some hole in the wall place all reading and sharing poetry to each other, and that makes me happy :)

Congratulations on self-publishing your first book - can you describe the experience? 

Thankyou! It all happened very quickly so I didn't really have much time to think about it while it was happening. I'd been getting a few questions from people on my tumblr asking me to publish a book of my work but I had no idea how to go about getting published so I kind of just put the idea to the side. Then around christmas I started searching on the internet for ways to publish your own book and wallah! My book came to be :) My sister and I spent two straight days compiling my poems while she drew the front cover for me. I was extremely nervous at first because what if nobody bought it? I suppose it wouldn't matter that much, because to me it would feel like I'd failed. 

I'll tell you what though, knowing that people appreciate your work enough to spend their own money on it really puts a smile on my face.

What is the hardest thing about blogging?

Coming up with things to blog about! I kind of hit a wall this month in terms of coming up with new content, so I sat myself down and wrote out a long list of things I enjoy, things others like to read about, and how often I can post them. I think I'm starting to come up with ideas again now though which is good! When you have lots of good ideas all at once it's easy to want to make heaps of posts in such a short time to get them out there in the world. But it's important to space them apart so you don't run out of ideas!

What makes you uncomfortable? Large groups of people/ talking infront of people! I am an extremely introverted person and if I spend to much time around lots of people I get really anxious and need to leave.

What has been the craziest experience since you started writing? Apart from having a book made, probably having people message me saying that my writing has inspired them, or crazier still, that it has saved their life. When I get messages like that I don't really know how to respond, because I'm just a teenager writing words in her bedroom and there are real life people that I have never met being affected by them. I think it's amazing.

Three most prized possessions? Is it bad that on first thought I couldn't think of a single thing? It's like those questions "What are three things you'd save in a fire"…. I never have an answer to them. I'm not a very materialistic person and don't really place a real importance on the things I own. If I had to pick though I'd say:

1. My notebooks that I write my poetry in

2. My diaries: They hold stories of my life so far that I know I'll forget in a few years, so it's nice to have a written account of them.

3. My books in general? Does that count as one possession when I have a LOT of them? Either way, I know I can just grab one and read myself into another world when this one becomes to much to handle.

Favourite comfort food? I'll tell you what, I have an addiction to cashews. If you can eat one and then leave the container alone I applaud you because that is not how it happens here.

Do you have any advice for anyone starting a blog or writing a book? Do it for you and not anybody else. I swear everyone says this, but if you're blogging just to gain followers you're going to lose motivation really quickly. Blog about what you like and enjoy and it will attract people with similar interests. When I first started my poetry blog I didn't tell anyone about it, and nobody I knew in real life knew about it until I'd published my book! (whoops), I just used it as a place to save my poems. Eventually more people found it and it grew, but I never thought "If I post this I'll get more followers"

Something you're looking forward to in the future? Moving out of home hopefully. I know it seems crazy at 18 but I feel as though I've had enough of where I'm living now, I've lived here my whole life and I want a change and an adventure, to start experiencing life for myself. I'm not sure when it'll happen, but hopefully not too long!

Thank you for being on Antlered Fawn! I loved talking to you and I'm excited to see where you go in the future :) 

You can purchase her recently self published poetry collection titled "Reverie" here.

Her Poetry Blog here.

Her Lifestyle/Inspiration Blog here.

Here are some of my favourite poems - Enjoy! 

(All photos and poems are property of Erin Hanson. Please don't use or copy images without written permission- thank you)