Featured Writer: Stephanie Bolster
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Welcome to Women Writing! In this week’s feature, poet Stephanie Bolster discussing inspiration by engaging in a variety of art forms. What inspires you?
About the author…
Stephanie Bolster’s fifth book of poetry, Long Exposure, draws upon Robert Polidori’s photographs of New Orleans and Chernobyl, and will appear with Palimpsest Press in Fall 2025. Her first book, White Stone: The Alice Poems, won the Governor General’s Award and the Gerald Lampert Award and was translated into French (Pierre Blanche). Her poems have also been translated into Spanish, German, and Serbo-Croatian. Editor of The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008 and The Ishtar Gate: Last and Selected Poems by the late Ottawa poet Diana Brebner, and co-editor of Penned: Zoo Poems, she was born in Vancouver and grew up in Burnaby, BC. She has been a professor of creative writing at Concordia University since 2000 and lives in Pointe-Claire, on the Mohawk (Kanien’kehá:ka) territory of Skaniatara:ti.
On a writing routine …
When I have time for a routine, my routine is simple: sit down at my computer, ideally with a coffee, and put words on the screen. It’s simple, but finding time for it in the midst of teaching, raising kids, and keeping a household going, is often a challenge.
For the past two years, I’ve written on Zoom for an hour or more a week with my friend Sara Graefe, a playwright and screenwriter who teaches at UBC; we met in the MFA program there over three decades ago. I’ve always been a solitary, self-motivated writer, but writing alongside someone else, even if they’re thousands of miles away, is a great way of ensuring writing happens.
Decades ago, pre-kids, I was a late-night writer, and for years I tried to write early in the day, but because of the logistics of time zones, Sara and I usually end up writing in the middle of the day. When we write matters less than that we’re in it together and we’ve put this commitment into our agendas.
On writing spaces …
I’ve done most of my writing at home over the years, but we bought a cottage a few years ago so I’m discovering the pleasures of writing there, inside or outside. It’s a tremendous privilege. Ultimately, whether I’m writing, editing, or researching, the only constant is my laptop. I prefer quiet; lots of natural light; something green (paint on the walls, plants, trees nearby), and beautiful objects with some meaning for me: ceramic and glass pieces I’ve received as gifts, photographs, wood (floors, window frames).
On writing communities …
I’m not part of any official writing group, but I feel sustained by many connections with other writers and creators, some of whom I met in creative writing classes in high school or university, and others of whom I’ve come to know through my decades as a writing teacher. Knowing that these other writers are out there helps me feel less ridiculous about believing in the strange, largely solitary act of writing poetry. For over a year now, I’ve gotten together weekly (when possible) with a group of poets on Zoom to talk about other writers’ poems. A poem a week, for an hour. It’s always illuminating and inspiring. When I don’t make time for it, I miss it.
It’s not a weakness to feel overwhelmed by competing demands. It’s not wrong to give time to others who need your support and time. But as long as writing continues to be an important part of your self-definition, you owe it to yourself to write.
On challenges …
I’m a parent and a partner and a teacher who prides myself on being responsive to others’ needs, so I’m constantly being interrupted or, when it comes to email, letting in interruptions. In my heart, my own writing matters most, but in practical terms, I prioritize others’ needs first. I advise students and friends to give their writing the time it deserves, but I do a poor job of following my own advice.
My new book, Long Exposure, due out this fall, began in 2009, when my older daughter was three; my second daughter was born in 2010. The publication dates of my poetry books—1998, 1999, 2002, 2011, and now 2025—stand as evidence of the increasing challenges I’ve faced (thanks to job and family) in making time to write. But I would say that my life is richer now, and so is my work.
On the best writing advice …
I’m not sure I can quote any particular piece of advice that has been transformative, but the essence of the teaching I was received was simply affirmation that my work had value. In retrospect, I’ve realized that this was exactly what I needed to hear; without it, I doubt I would have followed this path. My teachers encouraged me to trust my instincts and always push myself to write better and newer. I remind myself that my writing matters and that I owe it to myself—and to my kids and my students—to make time for my own work. Even when I don’t heed that advice, the reminders matter.
On the worst writing advice …
I can’t say I’ve ever received bad advice, though I’ve received advice with which I disagreed. Over the years, several publishers have turned down various of my books, suggesting that some key aspect of them might not be of interest to readers. I take all feedback seriously, particularly feedback that is the result of an editorial board’s collective wisdom and attention. Ultimately, this guidance has affirmed my belief in the manuscript in question as I wrote and organized it. I’ve appreciated having my commitment to these choices tested, and I’ve published these books with their original vision intact.
On advice from personal experiences …
It’s not a weakness to feel overwhelmed by competing demands. It’s not wrong to give time to others who need your support and time. But as long as writing continues to be an important part of your self-definition, you owe it to yourself to write. Donald Winnicott’s notion of the “good enough” mother is helpful; you can extend that to being a “good enough” partner, a “good enough” worker in whatever job you do. Letting go of the responsibility to be perfect for everyone will help you make room to be a “good enough” writer.
On rekindling creativity …
Engaging with art in other forms—visiting an art gallery, listening to music, watching a film—is endlessly inspiring for me. So is walking, particularly in the forest. Water and mountains make the experience even more enjoyable, though not necessarily more inspiring. Engaging with others’ work and with my own thoughts reminds me that my creativity is always there, beneath the swirl of everything else.
On a recent publication …
Long Exposure is my fifth and latest book of poetry. It began as a response to Robert Polidori’s post-disaster photographs of New Orleans and Chernobyl, but during the 15 (!) years I worked on this book, the subject expanded to include many other instances of recent and historical suffering, both “natural” and human-caused. The book is a long poem written in fragments, an ekphrastic and documentary exploration of perspective and witnessing, place and displacement. My current project, Refinery, concerns Vancouver’s oldest industrial building, the BC Sugar Refinery, which is still in operation.
Stephanie’s online spaces …
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Happy writing!
Celebrating the voice, vision, and craft of Stephanie Bolster.
Hi !
Until I get one million yen, I have to use
vandle card and cyber Cafe at once.
So, could you please wait for a while ?
(I am afraid of my mother.........)