{"id":2435,"date":"2019-05-31T14:07:26","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T18:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/kidsmatter\/?p=2435"},"modified":"2019-05-31T14:07:26","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T18:07:26","slug":"the-poetry-of-pediatrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/kidsmatter\/the-poetry-of-pediatrics\/","title":{"rendered":"The Poetry of Pediatrics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Making Space for Writing During a Busy Medical Career
\n<\/strong>by Dr. Ir\u00e8ne P. Mathieu<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"

An April reading at Chop Suey Books in Richmond, VA.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n


\nQ. Tell me about your poetry.
\n<\/strong>A. <\/strong>I write about a variety of topics, from current events to history to eco-poetics, or environmental poetry. I write about family, relationships, and my experiences traveling and living abroad. I\u2019ve published three collections to date, including a chapbook, or shorter collection, entitled the galaxy of origins <\/em>(dancing girl press, 2014), and two full-length collections, entitled orogeny <\/em>(Trembling Pillow Press, 2017) and Grand Marronage <\/em>(Switchback Books, 2019). Although I don\u2019t often write poetry explicitly about medicine, I find that medicine and poetry arrive from the same impulse for me, which is the desire to connect with other humans in a healing way. Therefore I find myself writing about the big-picture, socio-political forces that shape our health and define our lives. I\u2019m curious about how human experiences are embodied and transmitted across generations, which is important both on the page and in the clinic.<\/p>\n

Q. What made you start writing?
\n<\/strong>A. <\/strong>I always say that I have been writing since before I could physically write. As a toddler I would dictate \u201cjournal entries\u201d to my mom, who would dutifully write them for me in a Composition notebook. These early works mostly contained observations such as, \u201cwe made cookies today\u201d and \u201cGrandma and Grandpa came over.\u201d My mother also taught me how to read before I started kindergarten with a curriculum she invented and taught, during which she called herself \u201cMiss Flower.\u201d So I suppose my mother was the first catalyst for my literary interests. Later my father told me about William Carlos Williams, the giant of American poetry who was also a pediatrician. As I got older writing didn\u2019t feel like a choice as much as a way of processing information and organizing my world. For my whole life writing has been a regular practice for me, and if I go for too many days without doing it I can feel the difference in my mind and body.<\/p>\n

Q. How long have you been writing?
\n<\/strong>A. <\/strong>It\u2019s been close to thirty years \u2013 nearly my whole life!<\/p>\n

Q. Why is it important to you?
\n<\/strong>A. <\/strong>Writing makes me feel like me. Without it I\u2019m a less well-adjusted, organized, and creative person. When I began publishing my work about a decade ago, though, I started to understand the power of sharing one\u2019s work, and the vulnerabilities, responsibilities, and ethics around what we choose to share with the world. Now I would say that my writing is important to me not only for how it impacts my own life and mind, but also for how it potentially affects others. Pediatrics and poetry arise from the same impulse for me \u2013 the desire to connect with other humans in a healing way. I have always been interested in stories, especially those that don\u2019t make it into dominant narratives, and the therapeutic potential of listening to and telling these stories.<\/p>\n

Q. Does this impact your work with patients?
\n<\/strong>A. <\/strong>Writers have an attention to language that certainly impacts the way I listen to and make sense of patients\u2019 stories. It also makes me appreciate the myriad ways in which people express themselves \u2013 I think everyone can be poetic. Reading impacts my work with patients maybe even more significantly, though. By engaging with the work of other writers from many parts of the world and walks of life I expose myself to a wide variety of stories. This variety helps me to have an open mind when I meet a new patient, because you can never know a person\u2019s story until they tell it to you.<\/p>\n

Q. Is there one piece that stands out to you?
\n<\/strong>A. <\/strong>Perhaps my most popular poem is called \u201csoil,\u201d which appears in orogeny<\/em>. Here it is:<\/p>\n

soil<\/strong><\/p>\n

the way you say soil <\/em>sounds
\nlike soul<\/em>, as in<\/p>\n

after we walked through the woods
\nmy feet were covered in soul<\/p>\n

when it rains
\nthe soul turns to mud<\/p>\n

the soul is made of decomposed
\nplant and animal matter;<\/p>\n

edaphology is the study of the soul\u2019s
\ninfluence on living things<\/p>\n

while pedology is the study of how
\nsoul is formed, its particular granularity.<\/p>\n

you are rooted in a certain red patch
\nof soul that bled you and your<\/p>\n

hundred cousins to life, a slow
\nwarm river you call home.<\/p>\n

maybe there is soul under everything,
\neven when we strike rock first.<\/p>\n

the way you say soil <\/em>you make
\na poem out of every speck of dirt.<\/p>\n


\nQ. What\u2019s next for you?
\n<\/strong>A. <\/strong>I am currently on book tour for my third poetry collection, entitled Grand Marronage<\/em>. Last year I wrote my first completed novel, a young adult book, and I\u2019m looking for an agent for it now. I\u2019m also writing new poems, but I\u2019m not sure when they will coalesce into another book. Grand Marronage<\/em> was heavily researched and based on specific (mostly family) stories. Right now I\u2019m enjoying just writing individual poems without a plan for how they\u2019ll come together. Finally, I\u2019m working with others in the Department of Pediatrics and across the School of Medicine to develop curricula using poetry and other forms of literature in medical education.<\/p>\n

Q. What else should we know?
\n<\/strong>A. <\/strong>I\u2019m often asked by med students, residents, and fellow physicians how to make space for writing during our busy medical training and career. My advice is to read! Read deeply and widely. Read works by people whose experiences you know nothing about. And then write. It\u2019s hard for most medical professionals to find the time and space for an ideal writing practice, so make up a non-ideal writing practice. Write when and how you can, whenever you can. Identify why you are writing (coping mechanism? Advocacy? To create something beautiful? To make sense of something you feel?) and keep that drive close. Figure out what conditions inspire you (late at night, on your couch with a cup of tea? Sitting in the park on a Saturday afternoon?) and try to put yourself in those conditions as often as you can. Finally, build community. This could mean creating or joining a group of other writers with whom you can share your work, listening to poetry podcasts, reading interviews with writers you admire, reading and writing book reviews, staying in touch with (and accountable to!) your fellow physician-writers, near and far, and\/or regularly attending readings and other literary events in your city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Making Space for Writing During a Busy Medical Career by Dr. Ir\u00e8ne P. Mathieu Q. Tell me about your poetry. A. I write about a variety of topics, from current events to history to eco-poetics, or environmental poetry. I write about family, relationships, and my experiences traveling and living abroad. I\u2019ve published three collections to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":1500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[255],"class_list":["post-2435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-im4qu"],"acf":false,"yoast_head":"\nThe Poetry of Pediatrics - Monthly Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/kidsmatter\/the-poetry-of-pediatrics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Poetry of Pediatrics - Monthly Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Making Space for Writing During a Busy Medical Career by Dr. Ir\u00e8ne P. 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