Poet Brian Brodeur’s skill, work ethic and belief in the power of art have often helped spur my own work as a painter. Since meeting him in grad school two decades ago, I’ve been lucky enough to read most of his poems as they develop. His most recent book, Some Problems with Autobiography (2023), just won the New Criterion Prize, and long before that hit the presses, he was back at work on the next collection.

A critic, professor and historian of poetry, Brodeur created the online resource “How a Poem Happens,” a trove of more than 200 interviews with contemporary poets focusing on how each wrote one particular poem.

Usually he and I share work over the phone, but this summer I got to visit him in person, hear his big baritone laugh, see the many drafts he takes to finish a poem and ask about his insights on art in general.

Find his work here.