What are you reading these days? Do you love/hate/feel neutral about it, and why?

 

I’ve been reading a lot of novels, most recently Middlesex and Hangsaman. I loved both of these, because they combined really propulsive, compelling stories, with imaginative structure and language. I also recently read Hillbilly Madonna by Sara Moore Wagner, which I thought was really beautiful poetry.  

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When you are working on a piece, what inspirations do you draw from?

 

I get inspiration from all over, and sometimes from super weird places. When I was working on my first book, I got obsessed with scented candles and the way that I was using them to create a comfortable hiding place from a world that was on fire around me. I started digging into the different scents I could find and spooling that out into poems. I don’t think that origin is evident in any of the poems, but it was inspiring to me at the time! I’m a history nerd, and right now I’m really being inspired by different biographies, especially of women. Finally, I’d be lying if I omitted the fact that often I’m inspired by my own feelings, which are legion!

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What craft elements are you most interested in/attached to within your writing?

 

I’m really interested on individual word choices and the feel of the line. I spend a lot of time thinking about enjambment and how a line can open up multiple meanings. 

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Who/what are some of your writing obsessions, and why? 

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I think a lot about the experience of existing in a body, and I am also someone who experiences a lot of emotions very physically. As a result, my poetry tends to be very physical, even anatomical. My poems can be very bloody! I’ve also been playing a lot with persona lately. 

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What are some ways in which you remain productive/find time to be a writer? 

  

This is a really tough thing for me! I teach middle school, which is time consuming and also very mentally taxing. One thing that I’ve found is helpful is being a constant reader, and always having a notebook with me. I try to fit in writing where I can.

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Tell us what your writing space looks like.

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I’m so lazy. I mostly write on my couch in my apartment. I like to be cozy; I prefer a space with music and tea and ideally a lot of candles and blankets.   ​

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Regarding your pieces in Issue 04, what does it mean for/to you and/or how did the creation of it come about? 

 

For “guillotine,” I had recently read Hilary Mantel’s A Place of Greater Safety and I became really obsessed with the concept of the guillotine as this physical symbol of both the promise and the failures of revolution. Things being as they are in the world, especially with the seemingly unlimited power of the billionaire class, the guillotine just kept nagging at me. “fabulist” is more personal. I was thinking a lot about the difficulty of connecting to other people and to one’s own self. 

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Do you have a recent publication/project you would like us to highlight? 

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This is actually a few years old now, because time rushes onwards, but my debut collection Everywhere Green and Scorch Marked is available from White Stag Publishing.

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What is something you would like to share with other writers out there? 

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I think it’s important to remember that every voice is important and has something to contribute. Even if your voice is only being heard by a tiny group of people, it still means something!