How did you become a writer? 

From an early age, I was fascinated by the written word. I remember being in awe of my parents reading the newspaper, then frustrated at not even being able to  read the short captions under the photographs. A boy in my kindergarten class could read and I was so envious!

We were always encouraged to write at school. My first-grade teacher had us choose a picture from a magazine and dictate a few lines to her. Mine were about a newborn chick – how proud I was! Reading and writing came together in a big way after that and I would write notes to my mother and hide them under her pillow. Later it was stories and skits. My best friend, Lori, wrote too, and when we were twelve we decided it was time to start writing poems, and we did. I wrote during my teenage years and at university took as many poetry workshops as I could, continuing afterwards when I returned to New York City, including a particularly memorable one with Sharon Olds. 

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

Teachers at school had a huge influence, from elementary school through to high school, and particularly my English teachers Mrs. Rosen and Mr. Russell. During my senior (final) year, we even had a poet visit our school, and it was then I attended my first writing workshop. At university, I took poetry workshops with English professors Don Petersen and Richard Frost, highly respected poets themselves, and made close friends with other poets, especially Suzanne Cleary, now an established voice in the U.S. I also worked on the literary magazine. The State University of New York at Oneonta in the 70s was a hugely creative and exciting place to be.

As a child I loved Pippi Longstocking and Dr. Doolittle. I’m convinced that without Dr. Suess I never would have learned to read. Later I learned to love the poems of Robert Frost and Emily Dickenson. At uni, Richard Frost’s course on the Romantic poets led to my coming to England to study at Goldsmiths on a junior year abroad program. Blake Morrison opened my eyes to contemporary British poetry, but I’ve always been especially drawn to American poets, among them Sharon Olds, Louise Glück, Carolyn Forché, Katha Pollitt, Susan Mitchell, Gerald Stern, Richard Wilbur. 

When and where do you write?

I always have a notebook to hand and jot down thoughts, bits of conversation and observations all the time. Maybe not actual writing, but the seeds of it. And while it’s a bit of a cliché, I really do like writing on trains and now, during lockdown, I’m missing my commute to London. But the real writing takes place at home, in my study or at the kitchen table, overlooking the garden. Or in cafes –  I’m really missing that too right now – or when I manage to get away on a writing retreat. 

What are you working on now? 

I’m shaping my next poetry collection and I have a couple of picture book ideas on the go, as well as a young novel in verse. I’ve just agreed to write a couple of young picture book readers, which are always fun and challenging,  

Have you ever suffered from writers block? 

There have been times I haven’t been able to write, for example, when my children were very young, and now, during lockdown, though I am taking lots of notes. I find it a bit numbing not being able to go where I want to go and meet up with people I want to be with. But by now I’ve learned that even when I’m not writing, I will write at some point, and that’s comforting. 

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received? 

This has to be from the poet Philip Gross, who, when we were talking about how to decide between writing for children (in his case young adults) and poetry and how to know which genre would work for a given idea, said, Go where the energy is.

What’s your advice to young writers?

Write from the heart. Find like-minded writers you trust to give you feedback. Don’t let anyone undermine you. Be patient, it sometimes takes a long time to get where you want to go. Believe in yourself and your work. Don’t give up. 

Mara Bergman is a poet, picture book writer and children’s book editor. The Tailor’s Three Sons and Other New York Poems won the Mslexia Poetry Pamphlet Competition and her first full collection, The Disappearing Room, was published in 2018 by Arc. Among her numerous picture books are Oliver Who Would Not Sleep, illustrated by Nick Maland, which won the Booktrust Early Years Award and Snip Snap!, (also illustrated by Nick), which won the Stockport Children’s Book Prize and awards in the US. Born in NYC, Mara grew up on Long Island and makes her home in Kent.