Atoms of insight: 10 Qs with Marcia Lee Laycock
Meet the poet and novelist who is a judge in the TIWD Poetry Contest
The words go deep with Marcia Lee Laycock. The Canadian writer works in multiple forms, including poetry, fiction, and memoir.
In this interview, she talks about how poems are awakened in her writing process, how the Canadian landscape is like a character in her work, and she shares some original poems.
Do you remember when you wrote your first poem? What was it and what happened?
I don’t remember the first one I wrote but I remember the first one that was ‘published,’ in a manner of speaking. I was in grade 10 and my English teacher decided the class should publish a collection of our work. The poem was called Training Wheels and that was chosen for the title of the booklet as well. It was a stapled booklet done on a mimeograph, but I couldn’t have been more proud!
How do you approach writing a poem?
Poems usually come to me after I’ve read or heard or seen something that touched me deeply. They’re small atoms of insight that have been awakened and come to me at random moments in time. Like this one –
Deliberate
You chose the way, crawled toward that day,
destiny drawn in blood before time began,
designed the way of sorrows,
staggered down that Via Dolorosa.
You forged the nails
for your own crucifixion,
grew the tree hewn
to bear your bloodied body,
the bush that thrust out thorns.
You guided the hands that wove
the robe on which they gambled at your feet,
knew the Centurion who stabbed your side,
before his mother spoke his name.
You created the rocks that split,
the light that became darkness,
the angels who
turned their faces away.
You did it all
Deliberately.
To rescue me.
Marcia is one of the judges of the First Ever Things I Wrote Down Poetry Contest this year, lending her expertise to select the three winning poems.
You’ve written about your conversion experience and finding God as an adult. How has faith shaped your writing since this transformation?
Faith is at the root of it all. The writing I did before I was a believer was pretty much a meandering mess. Now it has purpose, to shout His praises, to encourage the reader to take off his/her shoes and recognize he/she is always on holy ground, as Elizabeth Barrett Browning encourages us to do in her wonderful poem, Aurora Leigh.
You grew up in eastern Canada and now live in the west (the reverse story of my cross-country journey!). How has the Canadian landscape—its vastness, seasons, its dramatic geographies—impacted your writing?
I remember chatting with Ted Harrison, whose paintings so dramatically depict the landscape and culture of the Yukon. He said when he first came there he struggled to try and paint it well, until he found a style that worked for him. It obviously works for others too, since he’s become one of Canada’s most loved artists.
I think the Canadian landscape is like a character in all my work. It’s not easy to write it. I struggle to describe its vastness and power. Sometimes I think I come close, as with this poem –
WHILE DRIVING
The prairie gapes
like an open-mouthed yawn
across the face of the country;
toothed
with towers
of grain elevators, silos,
power poles;
cavitied
with dugouts and ponds;
bridged
with barriers of
trees and roads
and fences that run like
braces
holding
the landscape in.
How do you balance writing from a place of faith with speaking to readers who might not share your beliefs?
I try not to worry about it. I’ve found that because Christ is in me, He is in all I do and write. This came home to me years ago when I entered a secular poetry contest. My poem, Response, won the first prize and the judge commented that the thing he liked most in the poem was how I so subtly depicted a relationship with God. I did not intend to do so! But he saw it in the words.
What poets or writers have deeply influenced your work?
That’s a very long list. When I was in high school – an eon or two ago – I loved the Canadian poets – Al Purdy, Charles G. D. Roberts, Archibald Lampman, Robert W. Service, Marjorie Pickthall, James Reaney, Irving Layton, and E.J. Pratt, as well as the British classic poetry of Tennyson, Yeats, T.S. Elliot and others. This list could go on and on.
I’ve always loved fantasy, so again, the classics of CS Lewis and Tolkien were on the top of the list, along with Ursula Le Guin and Madeleine L’Engle. During my first winter in the Yukon I was introduced to Rudy Wiebe’s work. His book, The Temptations of Big Bear instilled in me the power of setting and poetic language and pure, sing-it-to-the-world story.
What poem or body of work are you most proud of so far in your writing career?
That’s a difficult question to answer, but I think it would be my first novel, One Smooth Stone, because of the response it has gotten from readers. The first book out of the box that arrived on my doorstep went to a friend whose daughter had been raped when she was a young teen. When she read One Smooth Stone she told her mom that after reading it she at last believed that God did love her, in spite of everything that had happened. That makes it all worth while.
I’ve also gotten some wonderful responses to my first devotional book, Spur of the Moment. I am deeply humbled by what God has done with my mere words.
What’s the best piece of advice about writing that you’ve received, given, or that you hold onto?
Worship the Giver, not the gift. In my writer’s memoir, Pond’rings, which will be released on March 15th, I describe a time when I became aware that my writing had become an idol in my life. I strive to prevent that from ever happening again. I also have appreciated the advice Sigmund Brouwer gave me in a writing workshop long ago – he taught me how to show instead of telling a story, and how to put an emotional punch in every scene.
Those two skills have resulted in readers blaming me for keeping them awake because they couldn’t stop reading my books.
You’re newest work, Pond’rings, is a memoir. What has it been like to write these reflections and how did the book come to be?
The journey began when I was interviewed by Marg Gibb (of Women Together Ministries), on her podcast, Fresh Words. She asked me to talk about how God showed up in my writing life. When my publisher, Colleen McCubbin of Siretona Creative Publishing, listened to the podcast she said, “You have to write a memoir!” So I began with the interview and expanded it, filling in with stories of how God did indeed show up, over and over again, as He orchestrated my career over 30+ years.
It was a deeply humbling experience, to realize that the God of the universe was so involved in my life and my work. I often wept as I wrote. Sometimes I’ve been frustrated with the fact that my work has stayed in a rather small pond. Writing Pond’rings has made me realize that though the pond has been small, the ripples go on and on and on.
What advice would you give to others who want to weave their faith into their art while sharing their unique voice?
Pray and give the work to God to do with it as He will. And be thankful for what he will do with it.
About Marcia Lee Laycock
Marcia Lee Laycock began writing poetry for her dolls when she was very young. They didn’t complain so she kept it up. Since that humble beginning she has been quite prolific and won many awards for her writing. Her poetry has appeared in diverse publications and been broadcast by CBC radio. She currently has 15 books on Amazon and will soon have another – her writer’s memoir, Pond’rings, releasing on March 15, 2025.
You can learn more about Marcia’s writing and work on her website and subscribe to her newsletter.
Have a poem? Submit it to the contest. Read the submission guidelines:
