Poet Joan Shillington opened a window into her life and her obsessions during a poetry reading at the Stettler Public Library on Saturday, Oct. 15.
The poet, who has been nominated for the prestigious W.O. Mitchell Poetry award, was brought in by the library, the Writers' Guild of Alberta and the Canadian Arts Council. It was the first time Shillington had ever shared her poetry in this sort of way, she revealed after the reading.
"That the library would have me there to share my words was amazing," she said.
In her younger years, and while her children were growing up, Shillington said she'd write "ditties" and rhyming scavenger hunt and game clues, but never gave writing a full book of poetry a thought until later.
"I never thought much about it," she said. "One day, my daughter brought me home a beautiful scrapbook. She said, 'Mom, it's for your poems.'"
After typing up all her poems, ditties and riddles, Shillington placed them in the scrapbook and realized she had not only enjoyed the trip down memory lane through her lyrical poems, but she also enjoyed the process. That scrapbook became Shillington's first book of poetry – though it's not one she's published.
"I decided I wanted to learn more and found an all-day class," she recalled. "I just fell in love."
After that first class was finished, she signed herself up for as many poetry classes as she could find.
"It becomes an obsession in a way, but that's OK," she said. "I'm very thankful to have poetry in my life."
Her family has been completely supportive of Shillington's retirement career and passion for the rhymed word, as have many of her friends – some from before her poetry obsession, and some from after.
Even though the reading only had a handful of attendees, the size was just right for Shillington, she said.
"Unless you're really famous, (poetry readings) don't bring in a lot of people," she said with a laugh. "But that's OK. If my words connect with one person, that's wonderful."
The selection of poems shared by Shillington, from her two books Revolutions and Folding the Wilderness Within, covered a wide breadth of her interests and obsessions.
Revolutions focused on the final years of the Romanov Royal Family in Russia.
"I thought it was going to be about (Tsarina) Alexandra, but it really ended up being about Nicholas," Shillington said, explaining that even though she had set out to write a book about the Tsarina, her inner muse brought her back to Nicholas over and over.
Likewise, her second book, Folding the Wilderness Within, was a book written as Shillington's mother's health was failing.
"Like the first book, I set out to write about one person – my mother – and ended up writing more about my father," Shillington said.
The next book of poems will be about her family, Shillington said, sharing a few poems about her granddaughters.
When she set out on her poetry adventure, Shillington admitted she hadn't even thought of more than just writing a few books and enjoying the process. Now, she finds herself being nominated for an award – an honour she feels anyone who finds passion in poetry as she does can attain.
"Keep writing and writing, and reading and reading," she said. "Reading poetry is important. And it will come. Sometimes it's difficult, but then snap! It just comes and you write and write."