Arc Readership Survey 2003
Raw data behind The Ottawa 13 as featured in Arc 51: The Ottawa Poetry Now issue.
Results and Analysis of Survey
Introduction
This readership survey was conducted in 2003. It was distributed to poets living in the National Capital Region. Thirteen surveys were returned and are being included in the results. All respondents’ names were entered in a draw for a $100.00 gift certificate from Collected Works Bookstore and Cafe.
The survey results are divided in six Sections within which each of the 40 questions are presented.
Section A: The Profile
Q. 1. Please state your gender.
Thirteen respondents answered the question.
Female — 5
Male — 8
Q. 2. Please state your year of birth.
Ten respondents answered the question.
20s — 1
30s — 2
40s — 3
50s — 4
Q. 3. Please state your place of birth.
Ten respondents answered the question.
Ontario — 8
Manitoba — 1
Saskatchewan — 1
Q. 4. What neighborhood do you currently live in?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Centretown Ottawa — 2
South Ottawa — 2
West Ottawa — 1
Vanier — 2
Kanata — 1
Quebec — 1
Prescott — 1
Q. 5. Do you rent or own your place of residence?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Rent — 5
Own — 5
Q. 6.
6a. What kind of shoes do you wear?
Eight respondents answered the question.
sandals — 3
running shoes — 5
boots — 2
shoes — 2
6b. What is your shoe size?
Nine respondents answered the question.
6 to 7 — 2
8 to 9 — 4
10 to 11 — 2
12 to 13 — 1
p. 6c. Do you think shoe size is indicative of ego, ability or reputation?
bq.. Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 4
No — 6
p.. Q. 7.7a. What is your favourite book?
Four respondents answered the question. Two respondents listed multiple answers.
Bone People
Handmaids Tale
Houghton Mifflin Canadian Dictionary
Webster Dictionary
Girl In Landscape
Burning in Water Drowning in Fire
7b. Who is your favourite author?
Eight respondents answered the question. Five respondents listed multiple answers.
Y. Amichai
Alan Furst
Pema Chodron
Shakespeare
Di Brandt
Hans Jewinski
Pierre Burton
Margaret Atwood
George Bowering
Jonathan Lethem
Charles Bukowski
Pablo Neruda
Gabriella Mistral
W.S.
Q. 8.
8a. Have you ever written a poem in exchange for food, money or sex?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 7
No — 3
8b. Have you ever written a poem that has strained or ended a relationship or friendship?
Nine respondents answered the question.
Yes — 6
No — 3
Q. 9. What is poetry to you?
Ten respondents answered the question. Eight respondents listed multiple answers.
Cult — 3
Neurosis — 6
Career path — 2
Club — 3
Collective — 1
Vocation — 4
Paperwork — 2
Place in history — 2
Hobby — 3
Pay check — 2
Calling — 4
Catch 22 — 2
Compromise — 1
Tax write off — 2
Paradigm — 1
Therapy — 1
Riddle — 1
Escape — 1
Curse and blessing — 1
Activity — 1
Pain — 1
Section B. National Capital Poet
Q.10. How did you come to reside in the Nation’s Capital?
Nine respondents answered the question.
Work reasons — 4
Family reasons — 3
Education/school — 1
Love — 1
Q.11. Do you think the Nation’s Capital is “poetry City”?
Twelve respondents answered the question.
Yes — 5
No — 5
Yes and No — 2
Q.12.
12a. Has living in the Nation’s Capital helped your development as a poet?
Twelve respondents answered the question.
Yes — 9
No — 3
12b. If yes, please list how it has helped.
Seven respondents answered the question. Two respondents listed multiple answers.
supportive community (3)
inspirational
good resources (2)
quiet
good events
good but needs more pop culture
12c. If no, please list how it has not helped.
Two respondents answered the question. One respondent listed multiple answers.
lack of community (2)
no support
Q.13. Does the Nation’s Capital figure in your poetry?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 7
No — 3
Q.14. If yes, please state what piece of architecture or element of local geography inspired you.
Seven respondents answered the question. Four respondents listed multiple answers.
Gatineau Hills
Elgin Street
Bank Street
Parking lots
Restaurants
Waterfalls
War memorial
Bike paths
Parliament Hill
Sparks Street
Rideau Canal
Elizabeth Smart
Bill Hawkins
Beechwood Cemetery
O-Train
Q.15. What local news or event have you attended for the sake of your art?
Nine respondents answered the question. Two respondents listed multiple answers.
Sars Crisis
Iraqi War
Death of Trudeau
Civil service strike
Dr. Keon scandal with a prostitute
Barn fires of 2002
Ottawa Citizen scandal
None (4)
Q.16.
16a. Compose a rhyming couplet that contains the word “Ottawa” and that draws on your experience here.
Seven respondents answered the question.
- Gravity was once a law but not romose in Ottawa.
- Every Ottawa morning cyclists take warning.
- After smoking high for hours in the Ottawa market, honest to goodness they stopped by, an eraless Pierre and Margaret.
- Ottawa sports a lot of joggers, groups of these are bike path joggers.
- On July 1st as the snowbirds pass, we bite our neighbors in the ass.
- Ottawa’s a public service city, none the more, more’s the pity.
- A poet in Ottawa writes a ditty, his town starves to be a city.
16b. Compose a haiku about an Ottawa senator, parliamentary or NHL.
Seven respondents answered the question. One respondent listed multiple answers.
- Curtis Leschyshyn, um, uh, Curtis Leschyshyn, Curtis Leschyshyn.
- Hush in the chamber, how long will the ladybug rest on the Senators nose.
- Go Sens go, go to shit, Haiku is their captain, score a goal or we’ll shoot you.
- The night we lost out to American devils we stopped watching hockey.
- Our Senators team, just like poets, brilliant but broke.
- Cats doze, senators nod gravely, spring on the Hill.
- How bout a haiku about a mud puddle or underwear skid marks.
- We worship 16, watch Mahovolitch, drink to the obvious.
Q.17. Please fill in the blank space: “Fiction is to John Manley as poetry is to …”
Seven respondents answered the question.
Hedy Fry
Shaina Twain
Paul Martin
Mud Slinging
Charles Tupper
Ghost of Trudeau
Q.18. If you were God, how would you change the Nation’s Capital to make it more poet friendly.
Nine respondents answered the question. Four respondents listed multiple answers.
Make more money available to poets.
Introduce a three day work week.
Give everyone 8 week holidays.
Introduce dog friendly coffee bars on every corner.
Make a successful publishing house devoted to poetry.
Start Question Period with a poem.
Make the names of the Mountie’s horses rhyme.
Put a tax on beaver tails and then give it to poets.
Develop active participation between communities.
Create an endowment for publishing poetry.
Buy a place where poets can go.
Exempt poets from taxes.
Create another poetry slam.
Guaranteed income for everyone.
Q.19. Which bar in the Nation’s Capital would you refer to as the poet’s bar?
Eight respondents answered the question.
Manx — 3
Royal Oak — 1
Royal Oak 11 — 1
Darcy McGees — 1
Cafe DeKouf — 1
Bar Haven — 1
Q.20. Which is your favourite local reading series/venue/event?
Nine respondents answered the question. Three respondents listed multiple answers.
Tree — 3
Sasquatch — 1
Poetry 101 — 3
Orion — 1
National Library of Canada — 2
Ottawa International Writers Festival — 3
Wilde About Sappho — 1
Ottawa Public Library — 1
El Dorado — 1
Airport — 1
Other, not specified — 1
Sections C. The Business
Q.21. What experience marked you to become a poet?
Eight respondents answered the question.
Puberty
A girl
Another poet (5)
A form of communication
Q.22. In what year did you start writing?
Nine respondents answered the question.
1963
1965
1968 (2)
1973
1977
1982
2000
2001
Q.23.
23a. In which year did you publish your first poem?
Ten respondents answered the question.
1972 (2)
1974
1975
1976
1987
1997
2002
Never published (2)
23b. Where did you get published?
Eight respondents answered the question. One respondent listed multiple answers.
Poetry of Manitoba, Dept. of Tourism
Nodding Onion
2 O’Clock Rap, Toronto Public Library
15
The New Quarterly
U-Name-It, High School Magazine
Her Echo
www.punkrockpoet
Dairyland.com
p. 23c. Were you paid?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 1
No — 9
Q.24.
24a. Have you ever published a book of poems?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 8
No — 2
24b. If yes, in what year?
Six respondents answered the question.
1979
1981
1987
1997
1998
2001
24c. Do you regret having published?
Eight respondents answered the question.
Yes — 1
No — 7
Q.25.
25a. What was your favourite rejection from a publisher?
Seven respondents answered the question.
Was told to change my name.
Was sent a 2 page philosophical letter.
Was told to subscribe next year and reenter the contest.
Was told the language was flat.
Was taken out to dinner to receive rejection.
Standard rejection letter.
Was told work was shit and not good shit.
25b. Who was the publisher?
Five respondents answered the question.
Antigonish Review
Fiddlehead
Buschek Books
Mondo Hunkamooga
McClelland and Stewart
Q.26.
26a. What was your favourite acceptance experience.
Nine respondents answered the question.
After being rejected twice being published.
Receiving the cheque.
A letter by email accepting the work.
Published by a favourite poet.
Having my work published in Spanish.
Published by U.S. magazines.
Met publisher in a bar to accept offer.
Really!
None
26b. Who was the publisher?
Six respondents answered the question. One respondent listed multiple answers.
Other Voices
Red Deer College Press
Ploughshares
Ygdrasil
Mindnight Mind
Friction
General Store
Section D. Narcissism Index
Q.27. Do you think you receive sufficient recognition for your brilliance as a poet?
Twelve respondents answered the question.
Yes — 5
No — 6
Not Important — 1
Q.28.
28a. Do you write in other genres?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 7
No — 3
28b. If yes, what else do you write?
Seven respondents answered the question. Three respondents listed multiple answers.
Non-fiction — 1
Songs — 1
Short stories — 3
Fiction — 2
Reviews — 1
Novels — 3
Interviews —1
Essay — 1
Q.29. Can you support yourself through writing poetry?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 0
No —10
Q.30. Have you ever had a grant from the City of Ottawa, Ontario Arts Council or Canada Council?
Ten respondents answered the question.
City of Ottawa — 3
Ontario Arts Council — 3
Canada Council — 5
No — 5
Q.31.
31a. Have you ever been nominated for or won an award?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 4
No — 6
31b. Do you envy others who have?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 4
No — 6
Section E. Arc
Q.32. Do you subscribe to Arc?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 4
No — 6
Q.33.
33a. Have you ever published a poem in Arc?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 7
No — 3
33b. If yes, was it a good experience?
Six respondents answered the question.
Yes — 6
No — 0
33c. Was your poem printed without mistakes?
Six respondents answered the question.
Yes — 6
No — 0
33d. Have you published more than once in Arc?
Seven respondents answered the question.
Yes — 5
No — 2
Q.34.
34a. Was a book of poetry of yours ever reviewed in Arc?
Seven respondents answered the question.
Yes — 5
No — 2
34b. If yes, did you consider it an honor?
Five respondents answered the question.
Yes — 4
No — 1
Q.35. Are you grateful Arc exists?
Nine respondents answered the question.
Yes — 8
No — 0
Undecided — 1
Q.36. Are you amazed that Arc has lasted 25 years?
Nine respondents answered the question.
Yes — 7
No — 2
Q.37.
37a. Do you think Arc should move to Toronto?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 0
No — 10
37b. Would the nation’s capital be diminished if Arc were to move away?
Ten respondents answered the question.
Yes — 8
No — 2
Q.38. What would you do if you were the co-editor of Arc?
Nine respondents answered the question. Three respondents listed multiple answers.
Aspire to be editor.
Publish my favourite poetry.
Publish my own poetry.
Stop writing for 2 years.
Move Arc to Toronto.
Keep Arc’s high standards.
Introduce a variety in style.
Remove “National” from the title.
Publish more minority writers.
Create an on-line publication.
Publish other poets. (2)
Section F. The Prospects
Q.39. Was becoming a poet a mistake?
Thirteen respondents answered the question.
Yes — 0
No — 13
Q.40. What would you be if not a poet?
Five respondents answered the question.
Musician
Interior designer
Creative worker (2)
Laborer
Summary of Results
- Four surveys were returned via the Internet, of these 4, only one was completed fully. the others answered only several questions.
- Question 6a. would lead us to believe that Ottawa poets prefer their shoewear to be running shoes.
- Question 6c. suggests that of those that answered “yes” to the question of whether shoesize matters were mostly male (3 out of 4).
- Question 18 asks if the respondents were “God” what would they do. Surprisingly, no one suggested that they would become the Prime Minister and create a special department in the government to both fund and publish poetry!
- Question 16 suggests that the Nation’s Capital poets are witty and use humor in an interesting way.
- Question 21 suggests that having other poets in their lives serve as role models and can encourage the desire to write poetry in others.
- Based on responses to Question 23b., most poets are not paid for work they get published.
- Question 25 suggests that rejections from publishers can vary and are colorful!
- Based on responses to Question 27, what appears to be important to most poets is that they and their families recognize their own work as good.
- Question 28 suggests that many poets are versatile and can write in many other genres.
- Question 29 suggests that one cannot make a living as a poet alone.
- Question 31b suggests that poets are only human and experience the human trait of envy just like everyone else.
- Question 33 suggests that many poets who responded to the survey have had their work published in Arc.
- Of those that have had work published in Arc, most agreed that it was an honour.
- Arc is a very valuable asset to the writers community in the Nation’s Capital and should stay in Ottawa.
- According to Question 33c., the editors at Arc do not make mistakes!
- Question 35 suggests strongly that the respondents are grateful that Arc exists.
- Question 38 suggests that many respondents to the survey would like to see more diverse work published in Arc.
- Not one poet soul thought that becoming a poet was a mistake.
- If not a poet then someone just as creative.
For further insight and illumination, check out The Ottawa 13: ‘Highlights’ from Ottawa Poetry Now: The Questionnaire.
