How did you first come to writing poetry? What is it about the form that resonates?
In the 90’s, I was inspired by e.e. cummings and the way he rebelled with his writing. His poems were often like puzzles playing with spelling and grammar. My favorite of his is The Wind is a Lady with Bright Slender Eyes.
A few years later, I had the opportunity to attend a poetry class at a community college by Seattle and really enjoyed it, especially the labs when we would read poems out loud and then discuss them.
How does a poem begin?
A poem begins with a walk, a run, looking at a painting, some type of inspiration. Sometimes just with the pen hitting the paper and flowing where it wants, allowing the subconscious to speak. As Mary Oliver wrote, «…showing up at the page. »
You’ve published poetry in numerous journals. Do you see your writing as a single, extened project, or a series of disconnected threads? Are you in the process yet of thinking about collecting any of your work into a manuscript?
I think my writings might look like disconnected threads but are united by different memories and ideas. I am constantly pairing them up and taking them apart.
I do have a poetry collection that just came out in July called Lethe. It is named after waters that when drunk, make a person forget their past or pain.
Have you a daily schedule by which you work, or are you working to fit this in between other activities?
I like to write in the morning before my daughter is awake, but lately have often lapsed. I also keep a notebook and pen by me at night for sudden thoughts.
I like to write and then put the notebook away and go back to it after a week or so. This works well with freewriting and later am often surprised to read what I wrote.
What are your favourite print or online literary journals?
Well, of course, I love the journals such as Talking About Strawberries All of the Time. I also like local Pacific Northwest magazines such as Cascadia Rising Review, Salmon Creek Journal and Fugue. Other journals with great subject matter are the Deep Wild Journal, Train, Silver Pinion, IceFloe Press and one of my favorites for art is Hidden Channel Zine from Sligo, Ireland.
Who are some of the writers you are reading lately that most excite you?
I recently discovered William Carlos Williams and Anne
Sexton. I read poetry to my daughter so we go through quite a few. Right now we
are reading Jose Hernandez Diaz, Sylvia Plath (because I love Hardcastle Crags
and her mushroom poem and the way she makes my tongue move with certain lines),
also Dog Songs by Mary Oliver and Chen Chen.
A selection of her poems appeared in the third issue.