An Interview with the Poet V. Penelope Pelizzon about Her Recent Book A Gaze Hound that Hunteth by the Eye

Abstract

This interview with the poet Penelope Pelizzon about her most recent volume of poetry, A Gaze Hound That Hunteth by the Eye, focuses particularly on the theme of exile, in all senses of the word.
The conversation ranged over a number of topics. The poet reflected on the question of cultural inheritance and the problems a female writer may face, who feels deeply attached to certain literary traditions, which are at heart deeply misogynistic.
She pointed to the need for maintaining a certain alienation when a guest in another culture, and how that sense of distance can become a space for reflection and writing; this constant alienation can be “the barbarian’s luxury”.
While discussing poems in the book that deal with the effects of climate change, Pelizzon touched on the sense of exile that derives from the fact that we are the first generation no longer able to take comfort in the notion that nature will outlive us.
With reference to the poems in the books about animals – particularly dogs – Pelizzon speculated that perhaps animals do not feel exiled from emotion in the same way that humans do, and suggested that observing them may allow us to access our own emotion.
The conversation concluded with her thoughts on the connections between music and poetry; while music is the fastest way to be brought up short by our emotions, poetry is perhaps the next thing to that, offering the realisation that one is not always exiled from what one is and what one feels.