Purifying Poetry

Meet poet Nico Demers, the mind behind your favorite metaphors. In our conversation, Nico sheds some light on what it means to be a writer in today’s world – personally, professionally, and artistically.

Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

I was born and raised in San Diego, California to a French-Canadian dad and Mexican mother. I’m 21 years old and I go to San Diego State University. For the formative years of my life I spent most of my time in Point Loma and Mission Beach. Here is where I developed my passion for the coast.

When did you start writing, and why?

I was a late bloomer to the art. My entire high school experience was consumed by the incredibly taxing sport of wrestling. My relationship with the sport began existing purely as a burden. I found myself on the cliff of a massive decision. Eventually I jumped off and walked away from the sport, which essentially composed my entire personality. I had dedicated my entire life to the sport and the art of losing weight, since wrestling entails severe amounts of weight loss in short periods of time. 

Once wrestling had left my life I was void of passion. I turned to numerous things, trying to feed that missing hunk of my body. When I quit wrestling my junior year, I experienced a rather hedonistic yet beautiful kind of reformation. Having missed out on so many pleasurable experiences of life, I decided to enjoy the shit out every possible moment. Sucking up all of the marrow, hell, I was chewing into the bone of life. 

Stampeding into my senior year I ran headfirst into a class called “writer’s workshop.” All I had known was that it was a creative writing class and dear god I had never done anything like it. Mr. Samakowsky and I were quick to develop this peculiar bond over this quickly developing new passion of mine. I found that writing could fill that void. It was cathartic and beautiful and painful and ugly and bruised. Poetry felt like fists, poetry felt like wrestling.

What drew you to poetry as opposed to other genres?

First off, who’s got the time to write an entire novel? I found that you can condense the entire body of a novel into one stanza. Sometimes even one line. Poetry is the ability to strip down language. It gets to the point, really. Well, Milton would disagree. Who knows what he was doing with Paradise Lost, but hey! I’m not writing any epics. 

I like poetry because it’s immediate, it’s right on my fingertips, it’s the purest form of expression. Short, gorgeous, immediate, in the present moment.

In your opinion, what are the essential elements of a great poem?

I used to think that poetry was a sprint. “Write everything as fast as you fucking can directly from a hole in your chest like it’s all just streaming out of your consciousness,” is what I used to tell myself. However, I find that poetry is more of a marathon, as Professor Marshall reminded me. I may write them out quickly but I come back and edit them constantly.

I am a massive sucker for good diction and enjambment. I ask myself if there’s a stronger, better, more peculiar word I can use and I ask myself if I can break lines in certain spots that give the poem more character.

I also think it is important to “purify” poems. A lot of people get mistaken and think poetry is for fluffing up and wadding up your lines with flowery words. This is wrong, in my opinion. To say more while using less is a far harder art. 

Where do your poems come from?

My poems come from my walks. I walk a lot. This is probably because I have a dog.

I draw from experience. Of course that’s obvious, but it’s true. Sometimes I’ll be poetically dead for weeks but a poem will rise up in my throat out of nowhere from something I had experienced months ago. I have this theory that all the poems I will write in this lifetime are already stored in my body – I just have to find a way to dig them out.

Your style immediately struck me as being reminiscent of beat poetry, particularly Kerouac’s. Can you elaborate on some of your literary influences?

Oh jeez, my boy, Jack Kerouac. You would be correct in noticing all my early poetry makes me out to be a Kerouac fanatic. He used to be my everything. I became so enthralled by the beat generation’s zest for life right around the time I quit wrestling. There was something about hitting the road and hitting typewriters and hitting jazz clubs and running yourself down a long long highway and never stopping until you find some kind of heaven. But I’m past that now. I am far more captivated by the simplified, monkish kind of poetry. I’ve fallen in love with Ada Limón and have grown to love Mary Oliver. Generally, I am more in love with female writers than anything. I don’t think I can handle any more misogynistic shit.

What’s your favorite book?

Well, I don’t think I could ever tell you what my favorite book is because that’s always changing. However, hands-down right now my favorite is called The Sarah Book by Scott McClanahan. It’s deeply moving and makes a deep mark on my own personal experiences.

Do you prefer typing or handwriting? Why?

I used to only use a typewriter. Now I only really type on my computer. There’s no world in which I can write by hand because my handwriting is fucking terrible. Oh well! I like to use something that is insanely immediate. If my typewriter keeps breaking and I have to keep fixing it in the middle of a good flow I’m gonna lose my thought process.

How do you approach writer’s block?

Listen, listen, listen.

Whether I have to turn on some Alice Coltrane or I need to sit waist-deep in the water and shut my thoughts out, all writer’s block can be cured if you just listen. Music is incredibly helpful for opening up my chest cavity. I find that I fall into a blissed-out state. Like I said, all the poems are pent up in me and sometimes they slip out if I just relax enough. If you can’t write, listen. And then once you’ve listened enough, go write!

Can you speak on your experience with self-publishing?

I love self-publishing! I think the truth is that it really only works if you have a platform through which you are going to sell the books. I was personally living off of my proceeds for a little while, so writing kind of turned into this grinding business that I didn’t particularly enjoy. I think it’s beautiful that anyone can write a book now and sell or give it to friends and fans. However, this creates a really difficult world in which you have to weed out the good stuff and the bad stuff. I am planning on doing my next piece through a publishing house. People seem to take you a lot more seriously that way and it is a lot more hands-off. This allows the writer to focus on writing as opposed to selling books.

I first discovered your work on TikTok. What role has social media played in your creative journey?

I fall down to my knees and thank TikTok for changing my life. Once my work started excelling on there, I found that there was some way I could do this for a living. While I’m currently working on building a career that is a bit more secure, TikTok gave me belief in my dedication to this craft. Holy shit, someone actually cares about what I’m saying? People are buying my art? It was a thrilling and shocking experience that I am deeply thankful for. 

However, TikTok is a brain-mushing thing, even for creators. Once my work started doing well I wanted to keep the ball rolling and this came back to bite me. The algorithm manipulates you and makes you chase that viral feeling. I started writing and creating inauthentically. I still think Crow is a book of lies! It feels like a lot of forced poetry that I never necessarily felt any connection to. However, I turned things around with Belly and wrote directly from the heart.

What advice do you have for budding creatives?

Read as much as possible. I find that the more I read, the more I am able to feel and, of course, be inspired. Find a writer you love and mimic and practice and do everything like them. A lot of times through someone else’s voice you can find your own.

What’s next for you?

This year I’ll be writing a full poetry collection that will probably come out in May. I am taking a thesis class this semester which I’ll use to make that book.

Originally published January 16, 2024