Christina Barker - Bold and Beautiful

Some of the most respected artists of every genre of art are the ones that seem to break down boundaries and blur the lines of what is "normal". Christina Barker is one of those artists. The Canadian writer dabbles in poetry, short fiction, plays and screenplays and cites her works as being "shaped by spoken word and slam poetry, feminist texts, political satire and some good old Irish Catholic guilt."

She's releasing her first chapbook of poetry in Fall 2017 entitled Receipt Paper Poetry, but it's what she does outside of the literary world that impresses AURi:

AR: The title of your blog, "Ink &Scratches", is unique. What does it mean to you?

CB: It has multiple meanings for me. “Ink” of course relates to writing, to language and being an instrument of the written word. “Scratches” comes from what I find myself doing often when writing. We scratch out what we don’t like, what doesn’t come out on paper how we feel it in our minds. Many of my pieces I write in small moleskin notebooks and I cross things out, I circle things, I write doodles up and down the page till I can find the right word – in short, I scratch. So, that’s the simple answer. The more personal answer is we all have stories, personal stories which I think of as our own ink. And each of us have scars from those stories, scratches that don’t heal so easily, some that maybe we don’t want healed even. I named my blog “Ink & Scratches” because I want to share my own ink and scratches and I like to think it could help someone else’s scratches too.

AR: Your influences seem to come from all over the place. However, "That Beatles Song" tells a story of how the mere sight of a guy evokes thoughts of familiar song and warm memories. How does music influence your works?

    

CB: Music is a huge influence on my work. I grew up learning piano and picking up various instruments along the years. Music is built into my memory and I use memory frequently in my writing as a launching pad for pieces. For example, the poem “we” references one of my favourite bands and influences, July Talk, and how I spent a late night driving the city limits listening to them with a very important person.

I use music to frame a moment of time and to listen to while writing. It helps to pull out the creative urges in me. It helps me find a flow for my writing, especially my spoken word poems until I can find the right rhythm for them.

AR: Who inspires you?

CB: Rupi Kaur is a huge inspiration for me! I love how honest and raw her work is. I’d also say Dionne Brand; she is a true talent and an amazing teacher! I can’t put a value on how much I learned in the class I took under her at school. Margaret Atwood inspires me as well as Neil Hilborn and July Talk, as I mentioned. On a personal level, my eldest brother, Greg, is not only a huge inspiration for me, he’s also one of my biggest supporters. He’s the real musician in the family and has never given up on his passion and inspires me to strive for mine every day.

AR: It's always nice to have family support. "Irish Catholic guilt" is something that people might relate to on different levels. Explain how that affects you. 

CB: To me, “Irish Catholic guilt” has good and bad connotations. I grew up Catholic, going to mass regularly and having a healthy moral fortitude and fear in doing wrong – I was a good kid who did what parents and teachers told me to do for the most part. As I grew up, I learned about parts of my religion that didn’t sit well with me. I learned about different religions and spiritualties, different viewpoints and perspectives. I felt uncomfortable because I did not want to go against the religion of my family but I was never as devout a Catholic as my mother. I felt guilty, being Catholic but not feeling completely there. It’s something I think many young people go through when they’re trying to find a belief system that really makes sense to them and isn’t just the one they were born into. I have never said I’m not Catholic, I am, I just struggle with some aspects, which comes more guilt. For me, the “Irish Catholic guilt” is the traditional, but also the guilt I felt about not agreeing with my mother on her core values, values she expected me to understand and pass down myself. That sounds bad, but I try to see the positive of it. I work hard to stay connected with my family; we’re stronger for our Irish Catholic guilt though it makes political discussions interesting.

AR: Let's get personal. People often talk about finding their own lane. Spoken Word is not typical where you're from. What do you say to people who might express that you're "in the wrong lane"?

CB: Well, though Cambridge does not have a spoken word community, I like to visit the Kitchener-Waterloo Poetry Slam and Guelph Poetry Slam which are held every month. They’re small but solid community groups and I never cease to be inspired by the poetry of these people. But about being “in the wrong lane” I just don’t think that’s for other people to dictate. I write because of the feeling I get when I finish a poem or piece. I share my work to hope that it connects with an audience, maybe even makes a difference to someone and sticks in their mind. But if someone told me I wasn’t in the right line of work, I would ask them why they thought that and took that as constructive criticism, and then probably write a poem about it, honestly. I don’t know a single artists who hasn’t been told they need work or aren’t good enough. Use that nay-sayer as fuel for your next great piece and throw down, poet.

AR: Right on. Now, "Harvard Place" is a real story experienced by many women who run into players. What side of the story have you experienced in that sense?

CB: I’ve run in to my share of players, ones that I or my friends have had to deal with. Thinking about it, I guess, at one point, we could be considered the players ourselves too. Once things become personal, it’s of course hard to shake feelings you’ve had for a person but that’s only part of what “Harvard Place” is about. I know the ache of seeing someone who’s lied to you or has hurt you. I wrote a chapbook called Confessional on the subject even. “Harvard Place” is really about going out with friends and not worrying about running into someone you don’t want to see because you are doing something for your own well-being. It’s about making bad decisions but living past them because years later, you won’t remember that it was a bad decision, you’ll remember the story. It’s ultimately a love letter of sorts, to my friend who’s been through fire with me.

AR: You are to be commended on the brave stance you take on social media, posting pictures that leave you vulnerable to harsh criticism. What is your view of the way the media portrays beauty in women? 

CB: Thank you! As a plus size girl, I think we are making great strives in the way media portrays beauty in women but we can do better. We put too much emphasis on our flaws and the scale. I use Instagram a lot and campaigns like #effyourbeautystandards and #bootyrevolution are fantastic because it speaks to everyone on a major social media platform and works with positivity and generating self-confidence in the people around them. That’s why I post pictures of myself. I love my body because it is my body, it does amazing things for me and that’s what’s beautiful. My body has been through hell (diabetes, abuse, depression, chest tubes) and it is beautiful for all its stretch marks and scars. We have too much fake in this world, too much false advertising and workarounds, we need to be real about our bodies and the media should show real beauty, real bodies, all bodies. I’m still working on my own body confidence but listening to people like Meghan Tonjes make it so much easier to seek out media reform.

AR: Last question: What attracts you to AURi?

CB: I love that it’s so collaborative and it really seems like a project where artists can come together to create something special and impactful. I think one of the best things about bringing creative people together is you can be sure it will be an interesting outcome! I think AURi is special because it helps unknown or lesser known artists too and gives them exposure they may never get otherwise. 

AURi is glad to have an outspoken woman like Christina aboard. If you support Christina Baker please visit the links below to help further her dream:

AURi...where you and i come together.