The Monthly interviews Scottish poet, Giovanna MacKenna – Part 2 – From actor to journalist to poet

You worked as an actor. Where did you go to learn the craft of acting?

I went to the RSAMD (Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama), in Glasgow. It is called the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland now. I was one of the fortunate who managed to work as an actor and make a living at it for nine years.

You go from acting to journalism. How do you become a journalist?

Well, it was actually just meant to be a brief sabbatical. I had three acting jobs in a row that were just grim, and one of them was very messy. Equity had to come in on that one and back me up. After that, I felt I really needed a bit of a breather.

I did a ten-week night class in sub-editing and took some casual shifts at a variety of newspapers. I did a few shifts for a particular paper, and they offered me a job.

I eventually left journalism as the paper I was working on was taken over by a conglomerate and they gutted the staff team. After that it became hard to maintain the quality of the work; there was no longer any craft and hardly any decency. It became almost impossible to sustain my commitment to the job.

What happens then?

I have always been interested in the environment and I wanted to go into the Third Sector. I had the journalistic skills to write about the environment, but I didn’t have the detailed knowledge that sector required so I took an Environmental Science degree. It was during that time, by chance, that I began to write poetry. (See Part 1 of this interview)
I had a bit of validation in that I did well, achieving a distinction. That suggested I had some potential, but it didn’t tell me anything about whether or not I could write poetry other people would want to hear – or if I was good enough to pursue it professionally.

How do you move forward?

I knew poetry was where I needed to be but, at the same time, it felt very fragile. I was wary of throwing myself into it academically – I didn’t want to be told the “rights and wrongs” of poetry before I better understood my own talent – but I did want to get feedback and connect with other poets.
I went to Moniack Mhor, which runs short retreats led by well respected, very successful, writers. The only course available was Performance Poetry, and I really didn’t know what that was! I rang up and talked to the administrators and they convinced me to go.

Many people who were going on the course were on the same train to Inverness that I was on and, listening to them talk about how long they’d been writing, how many books they had published, where they had performed, I had one of those “my god, what I am doing?” moments! Everyone was so experienced compared to me, I hadn’t even been writing for a year. Lemn Sissay, who was one of the tutors, was also on that train.

How was the experience?

It was a great week, there was so much to learn from those around me and devoting that time to nothing but writing was a complete gift. Holly McNish was the other tutor and she was brilliant; the most astonishing workshop leader. She was well-organised, well-prepared, and brought a huge generosity to her workshops, which were very challenging.
I had a couple of one-to-one meetings with Holly and she was encouraging. We discussed a few of my poems and she told me I had poems people needed to hear and a very clear voice. Her comments boosted my confidence at what felt like a cross-roads in my life.

On the last night, everyone had to stand up and perform. I read a poem I had written about miscarriage in the context of a controlling relationship. I was really terrified to stand up and read this personal piece in front of those experienced poets but, seeing the effect of my words on the room, and the conversations the poem sparked afterwards, helped me to realise I was in the right place. I had never been terrified on a stage, but this was nothing like performing someone else’s words.

I gained a lot of confidence from being there that week. After those experiences I knew I had to follow my voice, to investigate and really test it. A lot of what I write is about communication; if my words convey images, emotions, ideas, commonality of experience – and maybe even start a conversation – then the work is doing what I hope it will do.

Poetry has been a merging of my past pursuits; a coming together of experiences that has allowed me to create.

If you want to learn more about Giovanna MacKenna’s work see the following links

giovannamackenna.com/

www.facebook.com/giovanna.mackenna

weekly-logo
artist forms link
New Belfast Community Arts Initiative trading as Community Arts Partnership is a registered charity (XR 36570) and a company limited by guarantee (Northern Ireland NI 37645).Registered with The Charity Commission as New Belfast Community Arts Initiative - NIC105169.