Patti Smith performs in New York City on 2 March 2017. (Photo: Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images for Anthology Film Archives) 
What song or what kind of song gets you into the mood or helps you appreciate the process of writing? What inspires? Is it the words? Is it the melody? Is it the longing for madness, the desire to lose yourself in the wonderful frightening world of imagination?
What gets you into that “zone” where you lose your inhibitions and willingly succumb to the scary yet invigorating spell of Apollo and Dionysus, without drugs or alcohol?
In this podcast we not only discuss and present some suggestions, but we also have the perfect guest to tell us more about the world of poetry and divine inspiration: renowned Cape Town poet and author Finuala Dowling.
Dowling has spent much of her life teaching language and words, first English at Unisa and UCT. These days she teaches creative writing from her Muizenberg home, as well as online.
She has six volumes of poetry to her name, including Pretend You Don’t Know Me, which came out in 2019 and brings together some of her most loved poems. She is also the author of six novels, including the “fees must fall”-inspired satire Okay, Okay, Okay.
The songs we chose are:
style="font-weight: 400;">My Father – Nina Simone
Frogs – Nick Cave