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What follows is an interview that Derick Varn conducted with rebekah hearn.

How long have you been writing and publishing poetry? Since you started have kind of trends have you noticed?

I have been writing poetry since I was about 10 or 11, and good poetry since I was about 15. The trend I notice the most, especially among most young beginning writers, is the tendency toward confessional poetry. "I" and "me" are used more and more among teenage/young adult writers who are first coming into their voice, and don't know how to see anything other than through their own eyes. Certainly I don't think this is wrong, but it is important that people recognize it--I certainly didn't, until in the past couple of years. That has a lot to do with my poetry education, which has been limited until I came to college. But how can you educate other writers on that subject? It's a dilemma. you have to get the word out.

Perhaps you can tell me how you started writing?

I started writing because although I had a much older brother, he married and I was raised pretty much as only children are. I wasn't social, I didn't have friends, and I was pretty fucked up in the head. So, hence, I had to spend a lot of time with a notebook.

Do you read any internet literary journals or sites?

Certainly I read Beginnings, which welcomes beginning writers, and UnlikelyStories.org, my favorite, and Sick Puppy Press. I scan occasionally for new sites, but those are the ones I visit regularly.

What kind of writing have you done and published on the internet?

Just poetry. I feel like I really want to succeed as a poet, and because everyone and their brother wants to write poetry, I feel like I need to get a foot in the door young, early, and wherever I can.

Do you feel your aesthetic has been influenced by the work you do or have read on internet?

No, I don't think so. I am more influenced by what goes on around me, and by what I hear performed in person at poetry reads. The stuff I read on the internet is published, therefore very static, and I tend to take inspiration and influence from the dynamic. Having said that, I will admit that there are a few poems I have read online that have had lines that just captured me and made me write my own work following that. Also, my success at publishing has certainly been influenced by internet poetry, because I will judge by one writer's style whether or not my own will fly at that site.

Have you noticed any stigma related to internet publishing? Any bais against it?

Yes, definitely. People consider it not real publishing, and I am guilty of that same sentiment. Although it is great to have people read it, and the internet is certainly more free access than any book, I feel like it is only a small drop in ocean of publishing. It's a first step for many, and it's a step even more skip over, because they are scared of the copyright infringement, the negative feedback, or even the rejection--and rejection on the internet sucks, because it is THE place for free speech, so if yours is rejected, you'll be pretty despondent for a while!

Static nature of the screen does inhabit a poem, but do you find that vocal performances really capture all the subtleties?

I have never personally been a poet who reads a lot of my stuff aloud in performances. in fact, I just read at a poetry read for the first time the other night, and it was exhilarating--but only appropriate, in my opinion, for certain poems. for example, there are definitely poems that have a page presence more than a stage presence--the layout on the page, the stanza breaks, the line breaks, etc. Some poetry doesn't work aloud. Some poetry only works aloud. It's difficult to generalize when there are so many different types of poetry out there. I think that the screen is no more static than the page, and the page is sometimes where poetry belongs.

Do you view internet poetry more as a way to get your foot into the door?

Yes, definitely. No doubt about it. I don't want to just publish on the internet for the rest of my career. I see it as a way to have experience writing under your belt and a way to get feedback before you attempt to break through into the literary world for good.

In all fairness, do you think all internet publishing is lumped together in the common bias? Or just most forms of it?

There is a bias against all internet publishing, and I don't see how one web page or publisher is any different from the next when you're talking about the bias against using the web for publication. It's all rather questionable, when you think about who will read it, who can steal your stuff, what people can say in an open forum about your work--but that's the risk of writing. I think that one shouldn't turn away from internet publishing; however, having said that, I do think people need to use a bit of discretion when submitting work. Don't submit anywhere you wouldn't read yourself, first off, and always check to see if the publisher online has a print version of the webzine or site. If so, there's one way to put your foot in the door on the way to getting your name in good with an editor. Also, don't just submit right away. Read the site/magazine for a while: get to know what they say, if they have your sense of humor or your values or not. It's not imperative that you submit to everyplace that takes email submissions just because they're easiest to do. It's imperative that you have an idea of where your work belongs.