Erik Didriksen: ‘Be Expressive!’

By Maryann Yin 

Pop Sonnet Tumblr (GalleyCat)Happy National Poetry Month! All throughout April, we will interview poets about working in this digital age. Recently, we spoke with Tumblr poet Erik Didriksen.

Q: How did you begin to write Pop Sonnets?
A: I came across a Tumblr post where Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” was recast as a Shakespearean sonnet. I thought it was brilliant, and I was desperate to read more songs-turned-sonnets. When I couldn’t find any, I tried writing one myself. That ended up being so much fun, I just kept going. After a week or two, I had a small pile of sonnets! My girlfriend Becca told me I should turn them into a Tumblr, and eventually I relented.

Q: How did Tumblr become an outlet for you to write poetry?
A: I started using Tumblr simply as a place to put the sonnets, but it became a source of motivation very, very quickly. If I’d told myself I’d write a sonnet a week solely for my own amusement, I would’ve inevitably petered out. Knowing there are real people expecting to see my work, though, is incredibly motivating. The wonderful thing about Tumblr is that people actively seek out their interests; my work was first discovered by people who really wanted to read poetry or Shakespeare-related content.

Q: What type of research process do you undergo for when you’re writing poems?
A: A pop sonnet starts with me reading and re-reading lyrics. I’ll occasionally visit Rap Genius if anything’s unclear to me. I tend to lean pretty heavily on my rhyming dictionary, my thesaurus, and Shakespeare’s Compete Works as reference materials. I’ve also needed to do some extra research on Elizabethan grammar — “thees” and “thous” did not come naturally to me — and other historical elements here and there. On rare occasions, I’ll hunt around Wikipedia for things ranging from ancient scholars (Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World”) to different spices (The Spice Girls’ “Wannabe”).

Q: Do you have any tips for people who want to read and perform poetry in front of an audience?
A: Be expressive! If something’s inspired you to write or perform a poem, don’t back away from sharing that emotion. Also — at least with sonnets — don’t feel beholden to the structure. If a phrase runs over two lines, you need not emphasize the line break if it doesn’t clarify the meaning. The rhyme and rhythm will take care of themselves; the meaning and emotion are up to you.

Q: What advice can you share for aspiring poets?
A: Don’t be shy; share your work with others. Write a lot. Be merciless in your editing. Ask for help when you need it. Be detail-oriented.

Q: What’s next for you?
A: These days, I’m finalizing the last details of the book (coming out this October!) and catching up on sonnets for the blog. I’m also working on a possible collaboration with my friend Ian Doescher, the author of the William Shakespeare’s Star Wars series. It’ll involve a lot of verse and a lot of fun!