03/08/2026
Writer Wisdom: a series of posts spotlighting writers in our community, sharing their insights and the reason they return to the page, even on the hard days.
This month, Olga Dermott-Bond shares what keeps her writing. Olga Dermott-Bond has published two pamphlets: apple, fallen and A sky full of strange specimens. Her first collection Frieze is published by Nine Arches Press. Her poetry has been featured in The Guardian, and she has won international awards including Strokestown, BBC Proms and Welshpool competitions. She is a teacher and managing editor of the Irish journal Dodging the Rain.
"I think the tantalising, tangled excitement and frustration of the creative process itself is what keeps me writing. I love the alchemy of turning nothing into something, of translating an idea into an awkward parcel, that magically shrinks or expands to fit the feelings you are trying to place inside it.
For a long time, I worried that life seemed to get in the way of my writing. With a full-time job, I can never devote as much time to poetry as I want or need. However, someone once said to me that it doesn’t matter what we are doing - whether it’s mowing the lawn, washing the dishes, walking to the shops - we are always writing poetry, and I have held that close.
I have come to realise that observing, reflecting, listening, living, is all part of the writing process. Also, I have learnt that if I am patient with myself, the poems will be patient with me, and in the meantime and in-between time, there will always be something wonderful to read…"
