Since I first became aware that words made a pattern on the page and I could make sense of them, I’ve been fascinated. I like chasing down words to find the very best one I need to express an idea or a feeling. I like the sounds words make. I like to hear poems read aloud and I like poetry that does not waste words.
I get my inspiration from everywhere. Something I’ve read, an image I’ve seen, a word or a phrase, a story, a dream and especially from memory.
I like to arrive at a finished poem without necessarily knowing beforehand what it is I need to write about. The process of writing a poem is endlessly fascinating. And I’m often surprised by what arrives on the page. This is why I keep on writing – to surprise myself.
Moya Pacey lives in Canberra and her first collection, The Wardrobe, was runner-up for the ACT Writers’ Centre Poetry Award 2010 and is now available as an ebook on Amazon.
Her poems are published widely in Australia and overseas and some have featured on buses and gallery walls and won prizes. In 2015, she published One Last Border: poetry for refugees with Hazel Hall and Sandra Renew (Ginninderra Press).
Moya’s most recent work, Black Tulips (Recent Work Press, 2017) was launched at Poetry on the Move 2017: Boundary Crossings, A Festival of Poetry, International Poetry Studies Institute, University of Canberra.