Meet the Authors: Manuel Gonzalez (Authenticity)

During the Meet the Authors talk, Manuel Gonzalez talked about authenticity in writing, especially poetry. He said that the only qualification for a poem is that the poem needs to be authentic to the writer, there is no other true qualification. Many poets use metaphors and clever wordings to portray the authenticity of their voice but no literary device is necessary to make a piece authentic. Poetry Manuel was saying had to be something you are writing or presenting about. It can't come from anywhere else except you. Even if you are writing a persona poem where you write about an experience you haven't had before, you need to incorporate what you do know into the piece to add your voice. Tolkien's works feel authentic just like what Manuel was saying. You can feel his voice in his works and can feel the energy he had for the works. An important lesson to any writer is to maintain your voice, whether you are writing poetry or a legendarium. If your voice is not in your works and the authenticity is not there then there is little to gain from the works and in the end they are weaker because you yourself do not have the required passion to write through your own voice.