The Monthly discusses poetry and the writing of a collection with Christine Hammond – Part 3 – Influences and looking to write using new forms

Did you have any specific influences?

Throughout school, and again at university, I studied a wide range of poets across different eras so have been exposed to a wide variety of styles, both traditional and contemporary. I’ve been influenced by any poets who expressed themselves using nature, the seasons and the natural order. I think when I moved to Free Verse I was influenced by poets like T.S. Elliot who I still read.

Over the last few years I have been reading a lot of French poetry and those poets have influenced me.

What kind of themes and ideas do you investigate through your work?

I tend to look at situations we find ourselves in, moments we experience, whether through love, loss, female experiences, personal freedom. I rely heavily on nature and the idea of the changing seasons as a lens and that helps me articulate the ideas and themes I want to express.

I’ve only ever written part-time. When I was writing in the early days, I rarely sat down and analysed the poetry after it was written in terms of trying to develop any particular theme or style. It was enough, at that time, to be able to express on paper whatever the motivation was and to look at being published. Then I had a long break from writing. I pursued a completely different career and didn’t have the time or space to write creatively.

When I took up writing again, similarly I didn’t really think about what I was writing about or try to analyse it. It was enough to be writing and when I submitted to publications, I was getting accepted so I never reviewed or had an overview of my own poetry as such.

When I came to the process of bringing together the content for the book, I did start thinking critically about the material I had produced – what I had been writing about and what I might write about in the future. For the first time, I did actually notice recurring aspects.

Where to now?

My book is available now in paperback or for download through Kindle and should be on Audible during 2026. I’m looking forward to my reading on the 9th October at the Crescent Arts Centre. The book has been a process and a journey to tie together my past work and my more recent work.

I have other poetry projects I am working on currently, some on singular themes. I also have some ideas I’d like to develop into prose pieces.

Any final thoughts?

I would like to say that when I came back to writing and was looking for support, I joined the CAP Poetry in Motion project and went to workshops. From there, I submitted my poems to two of the anthologies and they were accepted. It was very exciting and encouraging, I look back on that period with a lot of gratitude to CAP who helped propel me forward.