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Written by JJ Barnes
I interviewed poet Olivia Mulligan about her writing, what inspires her, and the creative process that went into her latest poetry book; Advice From A Stranger.
My name is Olivia Mulligan. I’m 27 years old from North Yorkshire.
This is a tricky one to answer. Apparently I started making up poems before I could even write (before school). Then at school it was always something I enjoyed. I loved performing the poems too – telling a story through word play and rhyme.
See above!
April 2020 (started writing it) September 2020 it was published!
October 2020 started writing it, published August 2021
It was an idea that came to be randomly (asking strangers for their advice and using each response as inspiration for the next poem). This has been my favourite project I have ever done. It was so much fun and I love involving others in my writing process.
Many people told me how much they loved the idea, so I felt a bit of pressure to do it justice! I really wanted to find the balance between crafting original, unique poems, but also poems that really speak to people.
For my books I keep a theme. But I also randomly write poems about anything and everything! I love taking suggestions for topics from people. My strangest topic request to date is “Olivia, please can you write a poem about molluscs?” Yes. Molluscs. (This poem can be found in my first book, Poems On The Gate Post)
I think my favourite poem in Poems On The Gate Post is ‘The Lockdown Conversation’ (this was aired as a spoken word piece on BBC Iplayer and aired nationally at The Upload Festival 2020). Then in Advice From A Stranger, I think my favourite poem is ‘That’s Nice.’ It was inspired by the advice from the stranger, but also inspired from when I was at school, being told to avoid using the word ‘nice’ when writing. ‘There are so many better words than nice!!!’ the teacher would tell us. I suddenly felt sorry for the word ‘nice’ (what has it ever done to us!?) So I wanted to write a poem that celebrates the word.
When I’m in the zone, I’m in the zone. So there may be music playing, but I won’t be listening to it.
Yes. The book is published by Fisher King. We didn’t edit the poems much, but they helped transform my words into book form!
Do your best not to over think things. Imagine you are a child having fun with words… that’s when the creativity comes!
Sorry, I’m keeping this one a secret!
Gosh… ‘proud.’ I guess I should be. But to be honest, becoming a poet has always been my dream that I never thought would happen. So it still hasn’t sunk in… Maybe one day it will seem real and I might have that ‘proud’ feeling, but I’m still waiting for that moment…
Poems On The Gate Post (available worldwide)
Advice From A Stranger (available worldwide)
Olivia Mulligan Poetry (Facebook)
Liv_Mulligan_Poet (instagram)
BBC Radio York’s Poet Laureate
Latest book: Advice From A Stranger
Facebook: Olivia Mulligan Poetry
Instagram: Liv_Mulligan_Poet
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