How did you first come to poetry? What is it about the form that resonates?
I began writing poetry in 2017. I find it enormously freeing to express loosely connected images and ideas, to let them wander and see where they land. Prose is more structured and driven by logic. It has more rules, in essence. While I still write a lot of prose, I think I got tired of rules.
How does a poem begin?
With a single line that occurs, or an image. I never know where these come from. The other night at dinner I was struck with the phrase « say she’s a witch and she’ll cast a spell. » I went on from there to build a poem called « cause & effect. » Great fun!
Between poetry and fiction, do you see your writing as a single, extened project, or a series of disconnected threads? How do you keep the genres straight?
As I say, it’s a question of rules, attitude, really. Poems are so different from prose for me – yes, it’s all writing, it’s all manipulating words, but poetry has its own life within me, one I’m nurturing almost daily.
Have you a daily schedule by which you work, or are you working to fit this in between other activities?
I’m lucky to have writing be my main focus. I work hard crafting, editing, revising, and tending to social media for promotional purposes. I’m in my office after breakfast and stay there until the mid to late afternoon. But the work is always on my mind. In the evenings, watching television, I often pull out my cell phone and send myself an email with something I want to look at the following day – a direction a novel-in-progress is taking, or changing a word in a stanza of poetry
What are your favourite print or online literary journals?
I subscribe to Poetry Magazine and also get a daily email with a single poem from Poets.org. Those two are wonderful. I’ve been able to become acquainted with a variety of styles and voices this way.
Who are some of the writers you are reading lately that most excite you?
I’ve discovered Rachel Kushner (The Flamethrowers and The Mars Room). She’s very interesting, very plot-driven, and wildly inventive. I just finished Louise Erdrich’s latest novel, The Sentence. I’ve read her for years. Across the pond, I love Jon McGregor and Sarah Moss. Closer to home I love the ethereal beauty of Kathryn Davis (The Thin Place, The Silk Road.) Perhaps one day, in answer to this question, someone will say, Anne Leigh Parrish!
A selection of her poems appeared in the eighth issue.