1 - How did your
first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your
previous? How does it feel different?
Getting that first book done (Find the Girl, published by Coffee House Press in 2010), having the
momentum to carry through with a book-length project, that did change me. I
have had much more confidence in my vocation as a writer since then, because I
know I can finish something big, I can carry through. Now, I still work on big
things (a book rather than a poem), but everything else has changed, as it
seems to me it has to if you're going to stay alive as an artist.
2 - How did you
come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
I came to fiction first. Then poetry when I realized I didn't care
about characters or plots, two things that at the time I believed necessary for
fiction. (I know better now, but I still find poetry more congenial).
3 - How long does
it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially
come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to
their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
Writing is a very slow process for me. Not the actual drafting,
but the long process of figuring out what it is I need to make (what only I can
make, what I am needed to make).
4 - Where does a
poem usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up
combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from
the very beginning?
I am working on a book from the start, though it takes me a long
time to know the outline of that book.
5 - Are public
readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of
writer who enjoys doing readings?
Oh, I love readings! I love the performance. For me, the reading
is not a version of the book, it's something else. I did choral readings for my
second book, DANCE. I loved those. I see so many
possibilities for reading as a dramatic form.
6 - Do you have any
theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you
trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions
are?
The questions shift with the book. I'm typically more motivated by
social questions that then pick up form and become inextricable from writing
questions.
7 – What do you see
the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Does s/he even have
one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
I can't make a rule for someone else about who they should be. I think
artists in general have a dreaming function (which is also an agitating
function). I do believe in the revolutionary purpose of art. But that's a very
general idea, and different people will express it in different ways.
8 - Do you find the
process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
Editing is wonderful. Essential. By the time you get to that
stage, you really do need people to help you get to the best you can do with
the material.
9 - What is the
best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
God, there's so much out there. I just finished reading Anne Boyer's "Questions for Poets," which is
full of things you need to think about.
10 - What kind of
writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a
typical day (for you) begin?
I work full time and have two young children, so the typical day
might involve 20 or 30 minutes when I sneak away to write. It's hard. I do get
a longer block every Sunday.
11 - When your
writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better
word) inspiration?
I can't afford to stall, really. I just keep on going. I am always
looking around, I always have interests. I have to just go on.
12 - What fragrance
reminds you of home?
Azalea.
13 - David W.
McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms
that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
To me, this seems kind of backwards. Everything goes in. Sometimes
the work needs some element in particular that I have to go hunt for. But
mostly, it's what must be addressed, what must be expressed, and whatever helps
with that.
14 - What other
writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of
your work?
Eek there are so many! I read Layli Long Soldier's Whereas recently,
like everyone else, and that was amazing. I'm reading Alice Notley's The Descent
of Alette right now, and that is a a stunning journey. Two
is all I can do. I'll have to photograph my bookshelf.
15 - What would you
like to do that you haven't yet done?
Lately I have allowed myself to say, "That's not happening
for me this go around," not because I believe in reincarnation but to
forgive myself for having been born in a place and time.
16 - If you could
pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what
do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?
Is writing an occupation? I do wish I had handled the occupation
part differently in some respects, but for the vocation, I could not have been
anything other than an artist.
17 - What made you
write, as opposed to doing something else?
Early talent, encouragement, ease of access. When you're older you
see how accidental that all is, but when you're young it can matter
greatly.
18 - What was the
last great book you read? What was the last great film?
See #14. I have not seen any movies lately. Movies are a big
decision for me, a big investment. I don't like how the imagery sticks with me.
I don't want to give that power to just anything. Also, let's be real, with two
kids, a job, and an art practice, I have no time.
19 - What are you
currently working on?
A
project on mothering and inheritance.
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