Page Title

Q How do you get your ideas?

By being prepared and disciplined. Getting to be good at writing is like developing any other skill. In Creativity: A New Psychology (Wall & Emerson, 1993), I describe the various factors involved. The book is still available from Amazon.

Q How many poems have you written?

Many more than I've published. In my basement are several banker's boxes with thousands of unpublished poems. One day, I plan to see if any can be revised for publication. But I'm not optimistic. Ninety-nine percent will not be worth the effort. This doesn't depress me, however. I view these poems as practice sessions, the kind that athletes undergo. Think of all the baskets that Michael Jordan sank or goals that Wayne Gretsky scored during workouts, but that didn't enter the record books. The basement poems were necessary for me to be able to write the ones good enough for editors to accept. During the past 34 years, I've published over 1,700 different poems in collections, anthologies and periodicals. Most of them have appeared in more than one publication, with some reprinted in 15 or more. On a few occasions, I have written poems in collaboration with others. Several can be found on the Internet. Two favorite renga are Sunday in the City of Roses and Rainy Season in the Mountains of Jalisco, both of which I wrote with Anita Krumins (my talented spouse). The first involves events during the Haiku North America Conference at Portland State University in 1997 and the second a summer day in 2003 at our row house in a Mexican pueblo. To find the second renga you must scroll down for a while.

Q Of all the poems you've published, what is your favorite?

I have no constant favorites among my poems, nor, it seems, do readers. The choices that pique my interest are those made by teachers and students of creative writing and artists who specialize in haiga--art work inspired by particular haiku. Here are some links: EN 340: Advanced Studies in Poetry: Global Haiku Tradition This course follows an introduction to the haiku, EN170. Both are taught at Millikin University by professor and poet, Randy Brooks, who more than anyone, has opened the doors of academe to this ancient Japanese form. Seven student papers from EN 340 are: Jack Kerouac and George Swede (Megan Kline); Swede and Issa: The Smiles of Haiku (Stephanie Ford); A Comparison of the Haiku of Swede and Basho (Staci Culbreath); An Interview-Essay on George Swede (Amanda Hill); George Swede (Jessica May); An Essay on George Swede and His Haiku (Corrine Cullina); and Psychological Versus Natural Sources: A Comparison of the Haiku of Swede and Basho (Jane Millikin). A haiga site is Haiga Gallery by artist Kuni Shimizu. Viewers can see his interesting visual art combined with haiku by individuals from around the world.

Poets start publishing in periodicals. Have a look at a number of them (in a bookstore or library or on the Internet). The editors of ones which have poems that you like will probably be interested in your work. When you've published a number in this way, submit a manuscript to a book publisher who has published poetry that you admire.