How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
This is my first book. I could say that it may have saved my life, in that working on it led me to discover that I had a piece of pitchblende in my possession. But the book itself hasn’t actually been published yet.
How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
I came to poetry in childhood, or maybe even in infancy, through lullabies and nursery rhymes. I have always loved song lyrics and stories told in verse.
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?
This particular writing project took a long time. A lot of thought. False starts. Research. Copious notes. Some poems came as impulses, and arrived relatively complete, and they are probably the strongest.
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?
A poem could begin anywhere. Usually an image or a flash of insight. Or a phrase.
Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
It has been so long since I have read in public, I am not sure that I am able to answer this question. The last time I read from this work in public, when it was very much in progress, I lost all composure, burst into tears, and had to leave. So I need to be careful about which pieces I read, and when, and where, and to whom.
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?
My concerns are more practical than theoretical, in my opinion. Climate anxiety, climate grief. Nuclear anxiety, nuclear grief. There are questions that I feel compelled to ask, but I am not sure that I am able to answer them. I think the biggest question is how do we address the necessity of reconciliation in a nation that continues to obfuscate and deny its own genocidal history? How do we reconcile when we continue to tacitly condone police brutality against Indigenous land defenders? Thinking of Fairy Creek. Thinking of CGL and TMX. How do we survive when we continue to cling to land that we clearly do not know how to care for? Speaking as a settler. Thinking of wildfires and how chronic mismanagement by a settler-colonial government has contributed to the worsening of fire season, in tandem with accelerating climate change. I could go on.
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 don’t know. I think perhaps certain people are more perceptive or insightful than others, or at least more interested in articulating those perceptions or insights in language. Writing can be a mirror. It can make connections and illuminate patterns. It can also open up inner worlds. Any other form of creative expression could also do this but words come more easily to some than to others.
Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
For this book, it was essential. Without Randy, the book would not be a book. Without Randy, the book would still be a file buried on an external hard drive.
What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
Stay in your own lane, which is something I did not do in writing this book, but sometimes things fly off of other people’s vehicles and into our lanes, or through our windshields, like the piece of pitchblende I found in my possession. Sometimes other people’s business becomes our own when it begins to affect us directly. To be clear, this piece of pitchblende did not actually arrive through a windshield. To conclude, I’m not big on advice, as I have been given a fair bit of bad (or at least inapplicable) advice over the years.
What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
My life has been ruled by the element of chaos since March 2020, as I have been home with my twin preschoolers. They start kindergarten next week [September 2021], so maybe I’ll figure out a routine soon. My day always starts with tea and news. I need caffeine and I need to know what’s happening.
When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
I abandon writing regularly. I go outside. I go for walks. I talk to animals. I photograph other people’s flowers. I collect seeds in back alleys. My writing has mostly been stalled though as the demands of caregiving have eclipsed any desire I might have to articulate myself.
What fragrance reminds you of home?
Seaweed and woodsmoke.
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?
Patterns in nature, sounds, concepts. Anything could be an influence.
What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
My mind goes blank whenever I am asked these kinds of questions. The top shelf in my office is currently occupied by Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, Anne Waldman’s Fast Speaking Woman, and Anne Carson’s fragments of Sappho, If not, Winter.
What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Grow a giant pumpkin.
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?
I used to want to study languages and maybe work as a translator. Or a spy.
What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I do other things. I mostly do other things, other than write. My life is also not over yet.
What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
I am reading A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghriofa and it is great. Film? I haven’t watched a film, as such, in a while, sadly. I’ve watched some pretty great music videos and TV shows. I just don’t get the stretches of time required for a film.
What are you currently working on?
Staying
alive. Fighting a minor rhinovirus. Harvesting sunflower seeds before the
lactating squirrel consumes them all.
12 or 20 (second series) questions;
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