I asked Chat GPT "who reads my blog?"

 

On some days I have several thousand visitors on this site and I wonder who are these people; often they are from Singapore but, recently, they have been in equally large numbers from Viet Nam and Brazil. Wondering about this I asked Chat GPT, “why do people read my blog, who are these readers of "Made in Montreal" (https://stephenmorrisseyblog.blogspot.com/)?"

Well, here is the answer according to AI. After you read the following, please become a "Follower" of the blog; it demands nothing and expects nothing of you and lets me put a face on who is reading the blog. There is no money in any of this for me, zero, nada, rien du tout; this is solely a labour of love. As well, you might leave a comment at the bottom of the blog post. 

Meanwhile, here is Chat GPT's answer to my inquiry:

ChatGPT said: People are drawn to your blog, Made in Montreal, for several compelling reasons:

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1. Authentic Personal Reflections

Your blog offers intimate glimpses into your daily life and surroundings in Montreal. Posts like “The hidden trail, 23 April 2025” and “Belvedere Terry-Fox on rue St. Jacques, April 2025” combine evocative photography with contemplative narratives, inviting readers into your personal experiences and observations.

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2. Engagement with Literary and Cultural Figures

You delve into the works and lives of notable poets and artists, such as Louis Dudek, Guy Birchard, and Artie Gold. Your reflections on their contributions provide readers with thoughtful literary criticism and cultural commentary, enriching their understanding of Montreal's artistic heritage. 

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3. Exploration of Emotional and Philosophical Themes

Your writings often touch on profound themes like grief, identity, and the human condition. For instance, your discussions on Jungian analyst James Hollis’s books offer insights into psychological and spiritual growth, resonating with readers seeking depth and introspection. 

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4. Connection to Montreal’s Literary Scene

As a member of the Vehicule Poets and a long-standing figure in Montreal's literary community, your blog serves as a bridge between past and present literary movements. Readers interested in the city's poetic evolution find value in your firsthand accounts and analyses. 

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5. Consistent and Diverse Content

Your regular postings, which range from daily walks to reflections on literature and culture, provide a consistent and varied reading experience. This diversity keeps readers engaged and looking forward to new content.

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In summary, readers are attracted to your blog for its authentic voice, deep literary insights, emotional resonance, and rich portrayal of Montreal's cultural landscape. Your unique perspective and consistent engagement offer a meaningful experience that keeps your audience returning for more.

Stephen Morrissey: Who are the readers of my blog in Singapore?

ChatGPT said: To find out specifically who is reading your blog in Singapore, you'd need access to detailed analytics data from your blog. Since your blog is hosted on Blogger (Blogspot), you can check this yourself using its built-in statistics. Here's how:

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How to Find Readers from Singapore on Blogger

1. Log in to your Blogger account.

2. Go to your Dashboard.

3. Click on “Stats” in the left-hand menu.

4. Look under the “Audience” section.

5. You’ll see pageviews by country — check if Singapore appears in the list.

6. For more detail, consider using Google Analytics, which allows:

   • Real-time location tracking

   • Device types and traffic sources

   • Referral paths (e.g., if they came from Facebook, search, etc.)

   • Session length and content viewed

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Who Might Your Readers in Singapore Be?

While Blogger doesn’t show personal identities, based on your blog’s themes (literary reflection, poetry, Montreal life, psychology), your Singaporean readers may include:

• University students or professors studying English literature or North American poetry

• Writers and poets interested in international voices and cultural parallels

• Expats or Singaporeans with a personal connection to Canada or literary circles

• Readers drawn to Jungian or philosophical themes from your reflections

• Cultural enthusiasts curious about Montreal’s artistic and poetic history

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Tip: Add Optional Engagement Tools

If you're curious to know your audience better:

• Add a poll, contact form, or comment prompt (e.g., "Where are you reading from?")

• Encourage email subscriptions to track regular readers (with consent)

• Use Google Search Console to see what search terms bring readers from Singapore

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Let me know if you’d like help integrating Google Analytics or interpreting your traffic data.

Stephen Morrissey: Excellent advice!

ChatGPT said: Thank you! I'm really glad you found the advice helpful. If you ever want assistance setting up Google Analytics, interpreting visitor patterns, or even brainstorming new post ideas to engage your international readers, just let me know. Keep writing — your blog adds a valuable voice to the literary landscape!                                                                 

                 

"I like to sit and write . . . "

 

20 January 2016, Blvd de Maisonneuve, Montreal

I like to sit and write, I like to put words on a page and form sentences, paragraphs, statements, poems, inconsequential scribblings, or meaningful insights, body, coherence, expressions of what I think and feel, or where something is uncovered or something unfolds out of apparent nothingness, something is born to awareness or something is created where there was nothing, and slowly something meaningful is written down, slowly I uncover who I am with words, words that are ink, squiggles, scribbles, sentences, shapes, and shadows on a sheet of lined white paper, and this is done in this room where I am alone, and the room is a place of solitude, (writers must love solitude, must love the physical act of writing), and something new is created as this writing forms a single entity, and I am no longer alone, there is also this new entity, it is this writing that seems to have come out of nowhere. And that is how a poem or this paragraph are written.

Preface, A Poet's Journey: on poetry and what it means to be a poet

 

Preface

  

This is a compilation of some of the essays and reviews I wrote from 1975 to 2018. My main concern in these essays is with two aspects of poetry, the poet's journey and the art of poetry; indeed, these topics have fascinated me from when I began writing poetry in my early teens. Visual or concrete poetry also interests me and I have included some examples of my experimental poetry. 

            Whether poets are born or made every poet is on a unique journey, this is the journey to writing original poems in an authentic voice. This journey includes poets who are one's mentors; the poet friends of one's youth; the poets who are an influence on one's work and thinking; and the varied experiences of life that are important to the development of the poet. The art of poetry includes ideas about poetry; poetry as the voice of the human soul; visionary poetry; the purpose of experimental poetry; confessional poetry; and finding an authentic voice in poetry.

            Some aspects of the poet's journey have changed over the years. We have more people today writing poetry, giving poetry readings, and trying to publish their poems than possibly ever before. Most of these people aren't reading or buying poetry books but poetry is still very much alive, it's just not the same type of involvement as it was in the past. The poetry scene today is less sophisticated than it was forty years ago; back then there were fewer poets, fewer prizes and awards, and fewer creative writing courses. I remember when new books by Robert Lowell, John Berryman, Elizabeth Bishop and others were given extensive and serious reviews in newspapers and periodicals.  New books by Canadian poets, for instance Irving Layton, P.K. Page, and Earle Birney, were also given serious and intelligent reviews in newspapers and periodicals. These poets from a previous generation had an important place in our culture but there are no poets today with the same cultural relevance and prominence that poets once had. This does not signal the end or even the diminishment of poetry. Poetry endures for one specific reason: poetry is the voice of the human soul and it gives access to the inner life both when reading poetry and when writing poetry. For this reason, as well, poetry will never die.

             Many things have changed in this post-postmodern world in which we live; however,  some things will never change. Are people really all that different now than they were five hundred or five thousand years ago? The human spirit endures, human kindness and human malice endure, and the fundamental vision of art endures when it is acknowledges the human spirit. All art is an expression of the visionary capacity to see what is below the mundane surface of things; indeed, all art is vision in its transformation of the complexity and depth of the unconscious mind. All poets who have set forth on this extraordinary journey of self-discovery, creativity, and writing poetry know they must find their authentic voice and that this voice is an expression of the poet's vision, and this expression has a perennial place in the consciousness of humanity.

             

        

                                                                                    Stephen Morrissey

                                                                                    Montreal, Quebec

                                                                                    December 2018

Morrissey, Stephen. A Poet's Journey: on poetry and what it means to be a poet. Ekstasis Editions, Victoria. 2019

On a life of fearless writing

 

I've spent a lifetime writing: a diary I've kept everyday since January 1965, books, poetry, book reviews, criticism, and correspondence.  Why did I do so much writing? On one hand, I enjoy solitude and being creative. On the other hand, there were things that happened in my life that I understood better in the act of writing; writing helped me to understand something about life and expressing this in a poem was both to discover something new and to have a numinous experience.

    This writing I am talking about has to be fearless, the writer is going to a place that is marked with signs saying "No Trespassing", "Do Not Enter", and "Enter at Your Own Risk". The important things in life are not easy and they aren’t free, they are a lot of work. You may be afraid to write something down, or afraid to follow where your thinking is going, you may be inclined to censor your writing; just remember that no one else need ever read what you are writing, you can tear it up after you've written whatever you want to say, but you need to have courage and be fearless to do the writing. How could it be otherwise? Writing has to be a precise expression of what the soul has to say, what the soul perceives; this is more difficult than you might think.

    What I am saying will mean very little to most people, but this is not meant for most people, it is meant for poets. A poet wants to write an authentic poem, a poem that is authentic to what the poet wants to say, to be true to the poet's inner being, and this requires years of writing and rewriting poems. All of a poet's work can be seen as one long poem, it is the poem of one's life, continuous and unbroken. You don't just sit down one day and write something you call a poem and think that makes you a poet, there is a lot more to it than this. 

    Writing poetry is not an obsession or even a compulsion, it is that there is no alternative but to do the writing that presents itself to you; it is what one does and to do anything else is to deny the Call to do this work; if you deny the Call you have betrayed your life, betrayed your mission in life. Not even God is as important as your soul, you can live very nicely without God but if you betray your soul you will have no life at all, just confusion and denial. Don't worry, God will forgive you for not believing in Him, He doesn't need your belief, He doesn't even need you. To see life, the particulars of life, and to express them, is to communicate things of the soul and poetry is the voice of the soul. Writing is always a movement in the direction of wholeness and understanding, of creativity, of making something new. It is a triumph of formulating and expressing in an exact way the thing you want to write, it is the achievement of wholeness over division. So, at the basis of writing is finding wholeness, truth, and Oneness with life. That's how important writing is to a poet and why poets need to be fearless when writing poems.

Deletions from an Introduction for a Selected Poems (3)

 

Deleted:

Creativity has the capacity to heal; some have fallen into the darkness of existence, and writing poetry or making art is one way to find light in the darkness; what is the light? It is the discovery of love in one's life. It is greater than any darkness.

Deletions from an Introduction for a Selected Poems

 

Deletions:

3.  You don’t become a poet expecting to be liked for everything you write, or even for some of what you write. Why do people become poets? It is simple: people become poets because they are called to this work; writing poetry is an act of transcription, writing down what is given to you and, most importantly, writing poetry is to feel that truth is so important that it must be adhered to. This is why freedom of speech is so important; it is essential if literature is to have any meaning or relevance for either the poet or the reader.

4. Poetry isn't antiseptic, it's passion for life. Poetry is love and death and tears of joy and tears of sorrow. It's messy, it's stuff we don't want to talk about, it's betrayal and jealousy, it's love and sex and tenderness and grief and regret and awe and divine inspiration; it's the shadow falling across one's life. Poetry is nothing if not passionate; passion, not the intellect, not fashion, not popularity, not what other people are doing, defines poetry.

5.  In The Green Archetypal Field of Poetry (2022), I described how one's life can be reconfigured to something totally different from what one expected in life; I described this as the Great Reconfiguration. When I was six years old and my father died my old life became redundant, everything changed; I was one person and then I became someone else. His death has preoccupied much of my life, his passing reconfigured my life; this began the relentless journey of grief and understanding, love and loss, that I've been on, and trying to understand this existence and expressing it in poems.

6. To write not parts of a life but a whole life, that is what I have tried to do; it is an impossible task and can be attempted only if one refers to archetypes and a mythological approach to experience as a way to communicate this information. The poet's body of work is all of a piece, a single entity; it's a life that is transformed by poetry, it's the soul speaking through the poet. For John Keats life was a vale of soul-making, not a vale of tears; this was always the direction of my writing, my concern has always been with soul-making and I expressed this in my poems.

 

Notes on Voice in Poetry

                      

The discovery of a poet’s voice brings an authenticity to the poet’s work, that the poet’s voice communicates the content of the poem as well as the poet’s inner being, his or her soul. Voice in poetry is the expression of the soul.

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It isn’t the sound of your voice or how well you read a poem out loud that is voice. It isn’t a poem for several voices. It isn’t slam poetry or performance poetry. It’s the essence of who you are as it is expressed in the way you write, your own original distinctive individual voice.

__________________________

Voice in poetry, to be authentic, must be true to the self of the poet, to the inner, subjective, self-perception of the poet. The voice has to be authentic and true to the poet’s inner perception. Voice has to be an expression of the authentic self, not the self covered over with falsehood and conceit.

__________________________

The point is to discover one’s voice, and then you continue writing and voice changes in what one writes, but the discovery of one’s authentic voice is a border one needs to cross in order to write the work that follows, work that one can stand behind, that gives one the self-assurance to expresses one’s vision. 

__________________________ 

Voice is a vehicle for the content of poetry, but it is also inseparable from poetry; content expands when an authentic voice is discovered. Voice is not style, style changes but voice is the expression of the inner, psychological dimension of the poet; voice is the expression of psyche. The expression of voice changes just as our actual voice changes with age, but once an authentic voice is discovered then voice will remain authentic to the poet, no matter what the poet is saying.

__________________________

There is no way to find one’s voice, it must be discovered by the poet, but not all poets find their voice in poetry; however, after voice is discovered the person writing poems is a real poet, not someone who also happens to write poems. If someone who writes poems never finds his voice, he is not a poet. How can he be when writing poetry is predicated on writing from an authentic voice? This does not diminish what a poet writes before the discovery of voice, in some way voice might exist as a precursor to the discovery of the poet’s authentic voice, or at least the reader can see the potential for the birth of voice in the early work.

__________________________

First, you have to be born a poet and realize you are a poet by writing poetry, then you have to put in your 10,000 hours of apprenticeship. There’s nothing romantic or fun about it. It’s a lot of hard work to be a poet and as you get older it gets harder and harder, not because of writing poems but because of all the pother work that comes with writing and building a body of work; for instance, organizing and placing your archives, working on your selected poems, writing criticism, keeping up correspondence, managing what you have created a lifetime building, and so on.

__________________________

Voice is the expression of the poet’s integrity as a poet. Voice is the expression of the poet’s character, sensibility, and integrity as a human being. This is why it has such importance to poets.

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Discovering one’s voice does not disqualify or negate what the poet wrote before this discovery, but it is a signifier of the poet’s maturity as a poet. 

__________________________ 

Voice is when we speak from the heart, from the soul, without pretention or affectation, but honestly without censoring ourselves, with only one conviction, to be true to our inner necessity, to what we have to say (not what we want to say or should say, or think we should say) but abandoning these things of the self, to speak from the real and authentic self, not the layers of self, but from the heart, with honesty, and from the soul.

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The genesis of both the content of the work and the voice expressing the work are simultaneous, they can’t be separated. They are the same process. The work is written in the voice as the voice is discovered and as the work is written.

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Voice in poetry is not one’s “style” of writing; style may be narrative, minimal, visual poetry, or what have you. Voice is access to psyche from which poems are written. If a poet hasn’t discovered his “voice” he hasn’t become a poet.

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A poet can’t “search for a voice”, but all poets need to find their voice. Voice comes to the poet, it isn’t something you can “find”. Voice is the expression of the poet’s psyche, the congruence of events that allow the poem to authentically express the inner, spiritual and psychological, being of the poet.

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