Rob Mclennan's Blog, page 2

Spotlight series #114 : Geoffrey Young

The one hundred and fourteenth in my monthly "spotlight" series, each featuring a different poet with a short statement and a new poem or two, is now online, featuring poet, critic, curator and former publisher Geoffrey Young .

The first eleven in the series were attached to the Drunken Boat blog, and the series has so far featured poets including Seattle, Washington poet Sarah Mangold, Colborne, Ontario poet Gil McElroy, Vancouver poet Renée Sarojini Saklikar, Ottawa poet Jason Christie, Montreal poet and performer Kaie Kellough, Ottawa poet Amanda Earl, American poet Elizabeth Robinson, American poet Jennifer Kronovet, Ottawa poet Michael Dennis, Vancouver poet Sonnet L’Abbé, Montreal writer Sarah Burgoyne, Fredericton poet Joe Blades, American poet Genève Chao, Northampton MA poet Brittany Billmeyer-Finn, Oji-Cree, Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer from Peguis First Nation (Treaty 1 territory) poet, critic and editor Joshua Whitehead, American expat/Barcelona poet, editor and publisher Edward Smallfield, Kentucky poet Amelia Martens, Ottawa poet Pearl Pirie, Burlington, Ontario poet Sacha Archer, Washington DC poet Buck Downs, Toronto poet Shannon Bramer, Vancouver poet and editor Shazia Hafiz Ramji, Vancouver poet Geoffrey Nilson, Oakland, California poets and editors Rusty Morrison and Jamie Townsend, Ottawa poet and editor Manahil Bandukwala, Toronto poet and editor Dani Spinosa, Kingston writer and editor Trish Salah, Calgary poet, editor and publisher Kyle Flemmer, Vancouver poet Adrienne Gruber, California poet and editor Susanne Dyckman, Brooklyn poet-filmmaker Stephanie Gray, Vernon, BC poet Kerry Gilbert, South Carolina poet and translator Lindsay Turner, Vancouver poet and editor Adèle Barclay, Thorold, Ontario poet Franco Cortese, Ottawa poet Conyer Clayton, Lawrence, Kansas poet Megan Kaminski, Ottawa poet and fiction writer Frances Boyle, Ithica, NY poet, editor and publisher Marty Cain, New York City poet Amanda Deutch, Iranian-born and Toronto-based writer/translator Khashayar Mohammadi, Mendocino County writer, librarian, and a visual artist Melissa Eleftherion, Ottawa poet and editor Sarah MacDonell, Montreal poet Simina Banu, Canadian-born UK-based artist, writer, and practice-led researcher J. R. Carpenter, Toronto poet MLA Chernoff, Boise, Idaho poet and critic Martin Corless-Smith, Canadian poet and fiction writer Erin Emily Ann Vance, Toronto poet, editor and publisher Kate Siklosi, Fredericton poet Matthew Gwathmey, Canadian poet Peter Jaeger, Birmingham, Alabama poet and editor Alina Stefanescu, Waterloo, Ontario poet Chris Banks, Chicago poet and editor Carrie Olivia Adams, Vancouver poet and editor Danielle Lafrance, Toronto-based poet and literary critic Dale Martin Smith, American poet, scholar and book-maker Genevieve Kaplan, Toronto-based poet, editor and critic ryan fitzpatrick, American poet and editor Carleen Tibbetts, British Columbia poet nathan dueck, Tiohtiá:ke-based sick slick, poet/critic em/ilie kneifel, writer, translator and lecturer Mark Tardi, New Mexico poet Kōan Anne Brink, Winnipeg poet, editor and critic Melanie Dennis Unrau, Vancouver poet, editor and critic Stephen Collis, poet and social justice coach Aja Couchois Duncan, Colorado poet Sara Renee Marshall, Toronto writer Bahar Orang, Ottawa writer Matthew Firth, Victoria poet Saba Pakdel, Winnipeg poet Julian Day, Ottawa poet, writer and performer nina jane drystek, Comox BC poet Jamie Sharpe, Canadian visual artist and poet Laura Kerr, Quebec City-area poet and translator Simon Brown, Ottawa poet Jennifer Baker, Rwandese Canadian Brooklyn-based writer Victoria Mbabazi, Nova Scotia-based poet and facilitator Nanci Lee, Irish-American poet Nathanael O'Reilly, Canadian poet Tom Prime, Regina-based poet and translator Jérôme Melançon, New York-based poet Emmalea Russo, Toronto-based poet, editor and critic Eric Schmaltz, San Francisco poet Maw Shein Win, Toronto-based writer, playwright and editor Daniel Sarah Karasik, Ottawa poet and editor Dessa Bayrock, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia poet Alice Burdick, poet, writer and editor Jade Wallace, San Francisco-based poet Jennifer Hasegawa, California poet Kyla Houbolt, Toronto poet and editor Emma Rhodes, Canadian-in-Iowa writer Jon Cone, Edmonton/Sicily-based poet, educator, translator, researcher, editor and publisher Adriana Oniță, California-based poet, scholar and teacher Monica Mody, Ottawa poet and editor AJ Dolman, Sudbury poet, critic and fiction writer Kim Fahner, Canadian poet Kemeny Babineau, Indiana poet Nate Logan, Toronto poet and editor Michael Boughn, North Georgia poet and editor Gale Marie Thompson, award-winning poet Ellen Chang-Richardson, Montreal-based poet, professor and scholar of feminist poetics, Jessi MacEachern, Toronto poet and physician Dr. Conor Mc Donnell, San Francisco poet Micah Ballard, Montreal poet Misha Solomon, Ottawa writer and editor Mahaila Smith, American poet and asemic artist Terri Witek, Ottawa-based freelance editor and writer Margo LaPierre, Ottawa poet Helen Robertson, Oakville poet Mandy Sandhu and New Westminster, British Columbia poet Christina Shah!
 
The whole series can be found online here .

Touch the Donkey : new interviews with Allio, Donato, Hausner, Markotić, Pasold + Vitkauskas,

Anticipating the release next week of the forty-seventh issue of Touch the Donkey [a small poetry journal], why not check out the interviews that have appeared over the past few weeks with contributors to the forty-sixth issue: Kirstin Allio, Joseph Donato, Beatriz Hausner, Nicole Markotić, Lisa Pasold and Lina Ramona Vitkauskas.

Interviews with contributors to the first forty-five issues (more than two hundred and eighty interviews to date) remain online, including: Dag T. Straumsvåg, brandy ryan, Misha Solomon, D. A. Lockhart, Dominic Dulin, Jordan Davis, Larkin Maureen Higgins, J-T Kelly, Jennifer Firestone, Austin Miles, Alice Burdick, Henry Gould, Leesa Dean, Tom Jenks, Sandra Doller, Scott Inniss, John Levy, Taylor Brown, Grant Wilkins, Lori Anderson Moseman, russell carisse, Ariana Nadia Nash, Wanda Praamsma, Michael Harman, Terri Witek, Laynie Browne, Noah Berlatsky, Robyn Schelenz, Andy Weaver, Dessa Bayrock, Anselm Berrigan, Alana Solin, Michael Betancourt, Monty Reid, Heather Cadsby, R Kolewe, Samuel Amadon, Meghan Kemp-Gee, Miranda Mellis, kevin mcpherson eckhoff and Kimberley Dyck, Junie Désil, Micah Ballard, Devon Rae, Barbara Tomash, Ben Meyerson, Pam Brown, Shane Kowalski, Kathy Lou Schultz, Hilary Clark, Ted Byrne, Garrett Caples, Brenda Coultas, Sheila Murphy, Chris Turnbull and Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Stuart Ross, Leah Sandals, Tamara Best, Nathan Austin, Jade Wallace, Monica Mody, Barry McKinnon, Katie Naughton, Cecilia Stuart, Benjamin Niespodziany, Jérôme Melançon, Margo LaPierre, Sarah Pinder, Genevieve Kaplan, Maw Shein Win, Carrie Hunter, Lillian Nećakov, Nate Logan, Hugh Thomas, Emily Brandt, David Buuck, Jessi MacEachern, Sue Bracken, Melissa Eleftherion, Valerie Witte, Brandon Brown, Yoyo Comay, Stephen Brockwell, Jack Jung, Amanda Auerbach, IAN MARTIN, Paige Carabello, Emma Tilley, Dana Teen Lomax, Cat Tyc, Michael Turner, Sarah Alcaide-Escue, Colby Clair Stolson, Tom Prime, Bill Carty, Christina Vega-Westhoff, Robert Hogg, Simina Banu, MLA Chernoff, Geoffrey Olsen, Douglas Barbour, Hamish Ballantyne, JoAnna Novak, Allyson Paty, Lisa Fishman, Kate Feld, Isabel Sobral Campos, Jay MillAr, Lisa Samuels, Prathna Lor, George Bowering, natalie hanna, Jill Magi, Amelia Does, Orchid Tierney, katie o’brien, Lily Brown, Tessa Bolsover, émilie kneifel, Hasan Namir, Khashayar Mohammadi, Naomi Cohn, Tom Snarsky, Guy Birchard, Mark Cunningham, Lydia Unsworth, Zane Koss, Nicole Raziya Fong, Ben Robinson, Asher Ghaffar, Clara Daneri, Ava Hofmann, Robert R. Thurman, Alyse Knorr, Denise Newman, Shelly Harder, Franco Cortese, Dale Tracy, Biswamit Dwibedy, Emily Izsak, Aja Couchois Duncan, José Felipe Alvergue, Conyer Clayton, Roxanna Bennett, Julia Drescher, Michael Cavuto, Michael Sikkema, Bronwen Tate, Emilia Nielsen, Hailey Higdon, Trish Salah, Adam Strauss, Katy Lederer, Taryn Hubbard, Michael Boughn, David Dowker, Marie Larson, Lauren Haldeman, Kate Siklosi, robert majzels, Michael Robins, Rae Armantrout, Stephanie Strickland, Ken Hunt, Rob Manery, Ryan Eckes, Stephen Cain, Dani Spinosa, Samuel Ace, Howie Good, Rusty Morrison, Allison Cardon, Jon Boisvert, Laura Theobald, Suzanne Wise, Sean Braune, Dale Smith, Valerie Coulton, Phil Hall, Sarah MacDonell, Janet Kaplan, Kyle Flemmer, Julia Polyck-O’Neill, A.M. O’Malley, Catriona Strang, Anthony Etherin, Claire Lacey, Sacha Archer, Michael e. Casteels, Harold Abramowitz, Cindy Savett, Tessy Ward, Christine Stewart, David James Miller, Jonathan Ball, Cody-Rose Clevidence, mwpm, Andrew McEwan, Brynne Rebele-Henry, Joseph Mosconi, Douglas Barbour and Sheila Murphy, Oliver Cusimano, Sue Landers, Marthe Reed, Colin Smith, Nathaniel G. Moore, David Buuck, Kate Greenstreet, Kate Hargreaves, Shazia Hafiz Ramji, Erín Moure, Sarah Swan, Buck Downs, Kemeny Babineau, Ryan Murphy, Norma Cole, Lea Graham, kevin mcpherson eckhoff, Oana Avasilichioaei, Meredith Quartermain, Amanda Earl, Luke Kennard, Shane Rhodes, Renée Sarojini Saklikar, Sarah Cook, François Turcot, Gregory Betts, Eric Schmaltz, Paul Zits, Laura Sims, Stephen Collis, Mary Kasimor, Billy Mavreas, damian lopes, Pete Smith, Sonnet L’Abbé, Katie L. Price, a rawlings, Suzanne Zelazo, Helen Hajnoczky, Kathryn MacLeod, Shannon Maguire, Sarah Mangold, Amish Trivedi, Lola Lemire Tostevin, Aaron Tucker, Kayla Czaga, Jason Christie, Jennifer Kronovet, Jordan Abel, Deborah Poe, Edward Smallfield, ryan fitzpatrick, Elizabeth Robinson, nathan dueck, Paige Taggart, Christine McNair, Stan Rogal, Jessica Smith, Nikki Sheppy, Kirsten Kaschock, Lise Downe, Lisa Jarnot, Chris Turnbull, Gary Barwin, Susan Briante, derek beaulieu, Megan Kaminski, Roland Prevost, Emily Ursuliak, j/j hastain, Catherine Wagner, Susanne Dyckman, Susan Holbrook, Julie Carr, David Peter Clark, Pearl Pirie, Eric Baus, Pattie McCarthy, Camille Martin and Gil McElroy.

The forthcoming forty-seventh issue features new writing by: Jason Christie, Sabyasachi (Sachi) Nag, Aidan Chafe, Sarah Rosenthal, Meredith Quartermain, Susan Gevirtz and c.a.r. rafuse.

And of course, copies of the first forty-five issues are still very much available. Why not subscribe?

Included, as well, as part of the above/ground press annual subscription! 2026 now available!

We even have our own Facebook group, and a growing (new) above/ground press substack. It’s remarkably easy.

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi

Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi is the author of DISINTEGRATION MADE PLAIN AND EASY (Piżama Press) and THE BOOK OF KANE AND MARGARET (FC2 / UAP). 

1 - How did your first book change your life? 
I was so sure my first book (THE BOOK OF KANE AND MARGARET) would never be published. I just thought, maybe these magical Japanese internment tales were too peculiar? Though, lots of the chapters had been published individually. But I wasn’t sure, maybe folks liked them as individual tiles? But maybe nobody wanted the whole tapestry? So I went through five years of doubt, feeling like I’d failed, let all of my writing teachers down. And then somehow, FC2 became such a loving home for it. It felt a little unreal, because for so long I thought, maybe I’m an awful writer??

In my memory, it was Aaron Fai, my wonderful beautiful friend, someone I went to graduate school with at UC Davis, who sent me the link for the FC2 contest and said, try. So it helped me to remember, it’s not a writer by themselves that makes it to the finish line. It usually takes a whole group of people working together to stay persistent and motivated. 

This collection of poems, DISINTEGRATION MADE PLAIN AND EASY, well, similar feelings were there. I’d been trying to get a version of the book published since 2014. At some point, I thought, maybe it’s not meant to be. Maybe not this strange, idiosyncratic collection of poems. But then Ben Niespodziany came into my life, and again, it felt unreal, magical. Somebody actually likes these poems enough to be their champion? The book is not just mine. It’s Ben’s. Piżama’s. It’s Gautam Rangan’s, who did thousands of profoundly beautiful illustrations for the book. I needed to remember, I don’t control any of this individually. I needed to find the right people to support it. 

2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
Very oddly. I met my partner when I was 21, and she went away, was sailing around the world. I missed her so much, one day, I kinda just sat down and started writing poems. So I wrote her like 150 love poems, really awful ones. I needed to have that overwhelming sense of dread and loneliness to push me into writing. But I think that was key, because it was just so many reps. I wrote those and then probably 150 more experiments before I started writing poems that don’t make me cringe. Maybe more? So many that needed to go into the trash. 

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?
For a poem, I need a significant block of time. I used to love 4 hours, but I can’t get that anymore, because I have a couple of young kids. But if I get 90 minutes that’s usually what I need to start the poem. It’s sort of like improvising on a scene, a moment, a feeling, with myself. It’s just going down very far down the rabbit hole. I want to be as surprising as I can from one line to the next, but it’s weird, I’m both performer and audience. 

And then I just need to sit on that poem for a long time, over a year, and tinker with it. I think it’s a year of asking, what the hell is this thing? I’m trying to figure that out for a year, trying to make the poem, less self-conscious, more itself. 

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’m usually working through iteration. Though, I often don’t know that until later. I’m making this bread, using the same sourdough, thinking ok, now I’m going to make a pie. Now I’m going to make a Black Forest cake. And then there’s just, all this sourdough on the counter. I usually think I’m doing something original, but my subconscious is usually leading me toward an iterative process. 

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I enjoy meeting new folks at readings. And I feel like doing readings keeps me excited and motivated. But also, I have an intense fear of public speaking. It’s a lucky and rewarding experience to get to read and share my work. But I’m usually also very terrified. 

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?
I love these questions. I think there are so many great questions, but I’m usually trying to remember 3 layers. First question / layer is how engaging is this work? Will it delight? Will it entertain? 

Second layer. Is this work relevant? Is it connected with something of concern in our culture, in our world right now? Does work attempt to transform attitudes and beliefs in a way that makes reader, world, more expansive, more generous, less judgmental, more open-minded? 

Third layer. Is the work innovative. Will work inspire someone who hasn’t written before? Will work inspire another practitioner, give them some tools to further their work? Add something to their lifelong practice? 

7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
Tough to answer these. I feel every writer will answer these questions uniquely. For me, they go back to those three layers that I think of for my writing practice: how entertaining, relevant and innovative can my work be to serve whatever readership I have the opportunity to serve. 

I also love that Chinua Achebe quote, that goes, “Clearly  there is no moral obligation to write in any particular way. But there is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless. An artist, in my definition of the word, would not be someone who takes sides with the emperor against his powerless subjects.” (From There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra )

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
I feel like this process can be so lucky and rewarding and important for the work. Editor is helping to shape the work to become more itself. Editor is helping me to see all of the different strands in the work, how they are chiming, resonating off of each other. Editor is also helping to shape the work to be more interesting, exciting, memorable for the readers they serve. 

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
I love what Jane Wong says about her poetic practice. The things you don’t use for one poem you put them on the “compost pile” because they may germinate something for another piece. Nothing goes to waste. You can always go back to your compost. And you don’t have to try to cram everything into one piece if it’s just not working right. 

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 have young kids now, so they dictate all the schedules and routines in my life. But some key commitment for me is a weekly writing meeting I have with the writers Aaron Fai and Megan Cummins. They are extraordinary writers and people, and we’ve been meeting on Friday mornings. Typically we talk shop and set goals and intentions then do some timed writing sprints, usually between 18-25 minutes. It’s a way to keep going to and stay serious about writing, even if the rest of the week is a whirlwind. 

11 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
If I’m stalled in poetry, I need to go watch or listen to some standup comedy. It’s an art form that seems so profoundly difficult and scary and complicated, and I find it to be intoxicating to watch. And I also find it has some overlap with poetics in a way that inspires me. These folks who are thinking about how all these different voices and scenes and moments will work moment to moment. Coming at an old topic from a new, sometimes strange angle. Being so careful and intentional about word choice. Those folks who do that really inspire me. 

12 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Lemons. And hominy. 

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?
Right now I’m sort of obsessed with films by Hong Sang-soo which have these fascinations with iteration, duplicity, doppelgängers. 

And I love , in particular Force Majeure . Films about embarrassment and shame and the physical power and beauty of the human body. 

14 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
A huge percentage of what I read these days is literature for young readers, picture books, graphic novels. Really love books by Raina Telgemeier, Dan Santat, Kazu Kibuishi, Dav Pilkey, Scott McCloud, Lynda Barry. 

And there are so many craft books that have been key to my development, WONDERBOOK by Jeff VanderMeer, CRAFT IN THE REAL WORLD by Matthew Salesses, A SWIM IN A POND IN THE RAIN by George Saunders. 

15 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Write a romance novel. Or write a screenplay for a romantic comedy. 

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?
If I had the talent, and the bravery, and the right brain, I wish I could’ve done many other art practices. Music. Standup comedy. Visual arts. I’m not sure what I would’ve ended up doing if not for writing and teaching. Though my first job was washing dishes, and I was pretty good at it. 

17 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I wish I could’ve done something else. But then, I think reading and writing and seeing the world as a reader and writer has added so much to my life. Also, I think I write because it’s super cheap. Very little equipment to buy. 

18 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
I’m going to name two great books I read recently, both by comedians. The first is YOU’RE BETTER THAN ME by Bonnie McFarlane. And 488 RULES FOR LIFE: THE THANKLESS ART OF BEING CORRECT by Kitty Flanagan. 

The film that I thought should’ve been a huge runaway indie hit was I WILL MAKE YOU MINE by Lynn Chen. Sadly the film came out during the pandemic which likely complicated its release. But I loved that one and the other two films in that series.

19 - What are you currently working on?
I’m often working at some poems and fiction. Right now I have a folder on my desktop called NOVELS I WILL NEVER WRITE. It comes from an anxiety of having not enough years ahead of me to finish projects that I think would be fun or meaningful. And so the idea is to try and condense some novel ideas down into a summary, but summary kind of gets carried away and turns into a short story. 

12 or 20 (second series) questions;

Emily Austin, Gay Girl Prayers

 

Lot’s unnamed daughtershad an unnamed mother.
She was turned to saltfor looking backwards.
At nighttime, before thegirls slept,
they must have talkedabout her.
“Should we keep her saltybody?”
“How will we remember herwithout pictures?”
“Cameras don’t exist yet.”
Maybe they hummed songsshe sang,
or made recipes she taughtthem.
Maybe she saw her intheir dreams,
or wrote poems about herface and wonders.
Could girls write backthen?
How did they rememberher?
How do we remember them? 

Spit on the ground,
Put the mud in your eyes. 

JOHN 9:1-12 

As part of the recent shortlist reading for this year’sArchibald Lampman Award, Ottawa writer Emily Austin spoke of composing the poemsthat became her full-length poetry debut, Gay Girl Prayers (Kingston ON:Brick Books, 2024), while simultaneously working on what would become the firstnovel, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead (2021). These werepoems, she said, but she didn’t necessarily presume anyone would be interestedin reading them. The poems of Gay Girl Prayers, each of which are titledafter each specific chapter and verse source, exist as a reclamation, set asresponses through her own Biblical studies and Catholic upbringing. “Take thestones you plan to throw at her / for not screaming,” she writes, to rework “Deuteronomy12:23-27,” “or not screaming loudly enough / while she was raped / put them insideof your pockets / and walk on water [.]” As she said at the event, she didn’t thinkof these as poems per se, or herself as a poet, and instead focused on two furthernovels (with another forthcoming), all of which appear with Atria Books andSimon & Schuster Canada: Interesting Facts About Space (2023), We Could Be Rats (2025) and Is This a Cry for Help? (due to appear in January2026). What she composed as her own playful sketch-notes responding to some ofthe Bible’s darker elements, then, were temporarily set aside. “Your mothercame named from her mother’s womb / and returned there gutted,” the poem “Job 1:21”writes, “Cover yourself in a golden chamois / return to the forest adorned [.]”

Gay Girl Prayers, as the copy forthe collection informs, is a “collection of poetry reclaiming Catholic prayersand biblical passages to empower girls, women, and members of the LGBTQIA+community,” a curious blend prompted by, among other factors, the fact that herauthor biography provides that she “studied English literature, religiousstudies, and library science at King’s University College and WesternUniversity.” The poems of Gay Girl Prayers, quite literally, work to reclaimagency against certain Biblical language, especially those elements too often cherry-pickedand weaponized. “Heaven is ten girls / who take their lamps / to one another’sbed chambers / to light their rooms /until they sleep.” writes a short poemnear the beginning, the title set at the end as a footnote, rewriting “Matthew23:1.” These are poems translated away from weaponization or shame, away fromthe suggestion that any of God’s creatures, so to speak, as they truly are, hasany less value than any other. These are poems of reclamation and biting humour,attempting a kind of play through translation, comparable in form to otherbook-length poetry-projects such as bpNichol’s Translating Translating Apollinaire:A Preliminary Report (1969) or Derek Beaulieu’s THE NEWSPAPER (2013),but with a far different and more specific intent, approaching the sourcematerial as something that requires adaptation beyond simple translation,however the approach. Far too often, Biblical text is approached as unironic,pure fact instead of as a living, breathing text; a series of book-lengthmetaphor texts, lessons that should be held as guidelines for approaching thought,instead of a bludgeon with which to weaponize. Through Gay Girl Poems,scripture offers a new way of approaching text, some of which sit as koans, oneto a page. In Gay Girl Poems, Austin has allowed her own responses,turns, and twists to open up new possibilities through antiquated language, andantiquated thinking. Or, as the poem “Exodus 22:18 & Isaiah 43:2” ends:

Read the lines in yourpalms.
Ask the stars: ask thedead.
Fortune tellers know
thou shalt relish a witchto live.

Susan Howe, Penitential Cries

 

To Whom It May Concern,It’s time for an update. Insertion of needle into vein for collection of bloodsample deeper than ruins are

I’ve been lucky I say tothe indifferent universe

“There is a great riverthis side of Stygia”

Geriatric tachycardiamurmurs pounding or fluttering even chaotic; an echocardiogram can onlytell so far

7:15 am. It’s hard tomake out the numbers on my watch because it’s an ordinary Timex with a smallface under glass and a narrow leather strap made to fit around a widow pariah’sthin arm while the Connecticut River flows to a cosmic unknown place where the“elderly” get lost. “The River of Rivers in Connecticut,” Wallace Steven’sgreat poem, is a poem of resignation. “The river is fateful, // Like the lastone. But there is no ferryman, // He could not bend against its propellingforce.”

There’s long been a deep precision cut with themetaphysical through the works of American poet Susan Howe, including in herlatest offering, Penitential Cries (New York NY: New Directions, 2025), offeringprose stretches that seem to break apart even as they interconnect. Her poemshave long held that particular tension: between breaking into component partsand small piles while simultaneously held together through sheer, impossiblecoherence. How does, one might ask, the centre actually hold? I’ve been readingher work for years now without fully able to articulate what it is that strikesme so deeply, while also finding it incredibly generative, a series of worksone needs to sit in for some time, to allow into and underneath the skin. Istill recommend her collection That This (New Directions, 2010), a bookthat included the death of her husband [see my review of such here], to anyonewho has experienced a recent loss, finding the collection enormously helpfulafter the death of my mother, allowing or even providing a permission toattempt my own examinations. Through Howe, connections of sound, meaning andform interact and interconnect underneath each book’s umbrella, whether that bethrough a particular subject matter through idea, or a phrase, watching thewhole of her life and thinking and research and immediacy fall into how herinquiries take shape.

Morning. Early light wherehave they lain him? Mary come running the door is open the Lord is gone. We don’twant to say goodbye even if we have to leave the “present” present with othergroups of retirees, pariahs, and ancestral stutterers. It is up to us even ifwe are dead even if there is nothing in the tomb. I know this, but someone iswaiting at the top of the steep hill covered in sand we must climb to reach thelost family fable. It’s easy, no pain in the knees, no balance, canes thrownaway—when we finally arrive there is Lady Honoria Dedlock seated at her deck toChesney Wold reading old love letters, even older than the ones our mother keptin a cardboard box beside the washing machine in the cellar. Children can see athousand miles off

Heart pictograph littlefrills.

As the back cover of this new title offers, Howe isthe author of numerous collections, including more than a dozen through NewDirections, including: My Emily Dickinson (1985; reissued 2007), The Europe ofTrusts (1990), The Nonconformist’s Memorial (1993), FrameStructures: Early Poems 1974-1979 (1996), Pierce-Arrow (1999), TheMidnight (2003), Souls of the Labadie Tract (2007) [see my review of such here], That This(2010), Sorting Facts, or Nineteen Ways of Looking at Marker (2013) [see my review of such here], SpontaneousParticulars: The Telepathy of Archives (co-published with Christine BurginBooks, 2014) [see my review of such here], The Quarry: Essays (2015), Debths (2017) and Concordance(2020). Over the years, her lyric collage has expanded across multiplestructural points or perspectives within each collection: a prose section, avisual/collage poem sequence section, and, in this particular collection, a(relatively) more straightforward poem, each of which offer her usual density,collage and clipped language. Sometimes a line or sentence is cut off orwithout period, even in prose, allowing that line or phrase to hang in the air,having already provided its point, not requiring ending or punctuation; eitherway, we know the thought will continue, further down the line, down the page, throughthe collection or the one or ones that might follow. However thorough, completeor self-contained, is any thought or idea finished? Other times, thepoem-collage of her phrases and fragments overlay to a point of unreadability,showcasing a sense of visual cluster; providing, in its own way, tone and aclipped, blended and collaged information all at once.

Through the four sections of Penitential Cries—fromthe opening, title prose sequence, the visual collage sequence of “SterlingPark in the Dark,” the shorter prose sequence “The Deserted Shelf” and closing,clipped lyric density of the poem “Chipping Sparrow”—one might feel that thisis Susan Howe (born in 1937, for point of reference) feeling her age. Shewrites of, or quickly references, medical appointments and widowhood, managinga freshness across a lyric prose and stitched collage that manages such remarkabledepths, while simultaneously suggesting a skimming across the archive, literaryreferences and deep reading, across personal details and observations, acrossthe boundaries of time and the distances of human limitation.

I woke up this morninghalf out of a dream and thought Widows and Pariahs was a good title—forto be one or both is to be anonymous in soft rain on a quiet street waitingquietly alone. We feel even more alone Saturday and Sunday. Nevertheless, insuburb twilight there is happiness in listening before leaving the simplicity oflife, no matter what supernatural messages are nesting in physical therapy anddistinguishing marks. Frailty means nothing Night of my soul, not yet forced togo paperless, branches and brilliance, willing to run the risk of whistlingdust beside lists of other authors and what admiration and affection meansdisclosed to a worldwide interpreter who whispers low in each baby’s ear no oneknows what chrism in cradle. Little wandering sonic Juvenilia formed to bodylikeness you seek nothing but authentic substance, still depths of the mightyforest. Thank you love of the sea under whose breaking waves

Enjambment tipped in withwings extended

before forgetting theintellectual part not even two syllables not the least sting in thearm—sometimes even exultation

Hello Usurper

 

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Christine Estima

Christine Estima is an Arab womanof mixed ethnicity (Lebanese, Syrian, and Portuguese) and the author of theshort story collection The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Society , which the CBCcalled one of the Best Fiction Books of 2023. She has written for The New YorkTimes, The Walrus, VICE, The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Maisonneuve, theToronto Star, and the CBC. Her story “Your Hands Are Blessed” was included inBest Canadian Stories 2023. She was a finalist for the 2023 Lee Smith NovelPrize and was shortlisted for the 2018 Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism.Christine has a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from YorkUniversity and lives in Toronto.

1- How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent workcompare to your previous? How does it feel different?

Wellthe obvious answer is that after 24 years of writing manuscripts and trying toget a book deal, my first book THE SYRIAN LADIES BENEVOLENT SOCIETY was myentryway into achieving my dreams. I had sold short stories and essays toalmost every single newspaper and magazine in Canada, and several notableoutlets in the US, like the New York Times, New York Daily News, VICE, theObserver, and more. So it was baffling when I just couldn’t break into the bookworld. Now, having one book under my belt, and LETTERS TO KAFKA being mysecond, I feel like I have not only achieved my lifelong dream, but I also feelmore comfortable in this world. I’ve started referring to my occupation now as“an author” rather than “a freelance writer.” That feels good. 

2- How did you come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction? 

Ihave never been a poet, so that was never on my radar. To be honest, it’salways been fiction. I remember in grade 4, all the students had to write ashort story for English class. Most kids turned in 3 or 4 pages. I turned in40. I even attended the Young Authors Conference held at McGill universitycirca 1991 or 1992. I couldn’t have been more than 10 or 11 years old. This wasalways what I wanted to do. Writing non-fiction pieces was simply a way to paythe bills until I got my all-hallowed book deal. 

3- How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does yourwriting initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appearlooking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copiousnotes?

Honestlyit depends on the project. I have to say, after I finished 4 years of researchfor LETTERS TO KAFKA, the manuscript flowed out of me so quickly because I hadbeen living with Milena for so many years by that point. But THE SYRIAN LADIESBENEVOLENT SOCIETY was a bit different in that some stories flowed out of mequickly and were barely edited, while others needed some shaping from firstdraft to final. There’s no rhyme or reason to this thing, I’ve found. 

4- Where does a work of prose usually begin for you? Are you an author of shortpieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a"book" from the very beginning?

Hmmm,I guess I don’t look at it from that point of view. I write the story and thestory dictates whether it is appropriate as a short story or a larger piece ofwork.  

5- Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you thesort of writer who enjoys doing readings?

Idefinitely enjoy them. I know most of us authors can be an introverted bunchand find them a slog, but I am an extroverted-introvert. I look forward topublic events because my work is so solitary and I essentially have nocoworkers. So I look forward to being amongst others. However, after a publicevent, I usually need to retreat to my bathtub and soak for a few hours insolitude. That’s the introvert in me needing to recharge after being so “on”all the time. 

6- Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds ofquestions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think thecurrent questions are?

Mybody of work has always been concerned with the voices and narratives of women.If you look at my published short stories, my non-fiction essays and op-eds,THE SYRIAN LADIES BENEVOLENT SOCIETY, and now LETTERS TO KAFKA, you’ll see thatethos permeating everything within the narrative. I’m interested in women’sagency, women’s volition, women’s sexuality, and how we can be robbed of thosethings.

7– What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Dothey even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?

James Baldwin once said that artists are here to disturb the peace. I live by that.My art is here to push people’s buttons, ask questions, provoke thought, andtake the reader on an emotional journey. I am here to share stories that makereaders question their biases, beliefs, and staunch viewpoints on how the worldworks. I am here to make readers look beyond their tiny little keyhole. 

8- Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult oressential (or both)? 

It’sfunny because I always joke, “When I’m editing authors, I find them to be suchcrybabies. Then when I’m being edited, I’m like HOW VERY DARE YOU!” Workingwith outside editors is definitely essential and I have had some fantasticeditors over the years, whether they be at literary magazines, newspapers, ormy books. I’ve only had small issues with editors where they can bedisrespectful either to me or to the work with their notes and comments. Thatrarely happens, but I am infamous for never being a shrinking violet orwallflower, and I tend to give back as well as I take it.

9- What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to youdirectly)?

Noone really told me this advice, but I figured it out on my own after years inthis industry: you cannot let rejection hold you back. You have to let itpropel you forward.

10- How easy has it been for you to move between genres (short stories toacademic essays to op-eds/editorials to the novel)? What do you see as theappeal?

Hmmm,I’ve never thought of it in those terms. It’s all creative to me. Any creativework, I am drawn to. So whether it’s an op-ed or a short story or an essay or anovel, it’s all creative. I don’t demarcate between genres in that sense. Ilove any excuse to write!

11- What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one?How does a typical day (for you) begin?

Anyauthor will tell you that no two days are the same. There have been some dayswhere I jump out of bed and plop myself in front of my laptop and bang away atthe keys for hours. There are other days where I need to take long walks togather my thoughts and have some distance from the material. The creativeprocess is rarely tidy. 

Theonly process that I live by is writing all of my drafts by hand first. I onlytype them out on my laptop after I’ve written everything by hand first. I don’tknow why, I think it’s because I feel like typing can be too fast (I type 90wpm), so when I’m working on a sentence or a paragraph, I need to slow it downquite often, and physically scratching the ideas out into the page tends tohelp slow it down and work the idea through. 

12- When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack ofa better word) inspiration?

Ithink this is related to question 14 here, but I tend to turn to other forms ofart. I love instrumental music, I love theatre, I love dance and opera, and Idefinitely love reading the books of my peers. For example, in order to help meanswer these questions right now, I am listening to an overture by Alexandre Desplat.

13- What fragrance reminds you of home? 

Coffeebecause my mum drinks a bajillion cups of it a day and so her hugs smell likecoffee :) 

14- David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there anyother forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visualart?

Soas I mentioned above with question 12, definitely. I love instrumental music tohelp get my brain moving in different directions. I love the works of Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds, Canadian composer Chilly Gonzales (who is also afriend!), and more. I love arthouse independent movies because of how visualand non-linear they can be, which helps me to visualize some of the images ofmy stories. Many readers have called my descriptions vivid, and I think that’sbecause I can picture them clearly after using motion pictures to inspire mycreative mind. For example, just yesterday I attended a TIFF screening of theCanadian indie movie SHOOK which takes place in Scarborough, Ontario. It wasbeautifully shot and as I walked home from the cinema, I felt incredibly intouch with the sounds and sights around me. That always helps the creativemind. 

15- What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply yourlife outside of your work?

Honestly,I’ve always said that the only way to know what is good writing is to read alot of bad writing. To do so, you have to read. You have to read everything youcan get your hands on. While this might not be very specific, I have honed mystyle, my talent, and my voice over 30 years simply by reading everything andtaking my style where it needed to go. If you read something I published 20years ago, it is markedly different to what I’m publishing today.

16- What would you like to do that you haven't yet done? 

Becomea bestseller. 

17- 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 awriter?

I’vealways loved dancing and to move my body. I took ballet and gymnastics andswimming as a little girl. So a part of me thinks that I would have loved to bea modern and contemporary dancer. As an adult, I’ve also taken ballroom dancinglessons (Viennese waltz, east coast swing, the rumba etc) so I like to think inanother life I danced the chorus in Vaudeville or with Bob Fosse. 

18- What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?

Idon’t think I had a choice in the matter. I’ve always been a storyteller andhad this innate need to tell stories, even as a little girl. There never was aplan B. It was writing or bust.

19- What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?

Iread so much, so this is difficult to narrow it down to one! I just finishedreading LIARS by Sarah Manguso which was a revelation.  Before that I readGOOD GIRL by Aria Aber which was beautifully written. THE VEGETARIAN byHan Kang was so haunting. THE CAFE WITH NO NAME by Robert Seethaler wasgorgeous and a continuation of his body of work that explores the small momentsin a person’s life. I also surprisingly loved a kinda pulp fiction book calledTHE ALICE NETWORK by Kate Quinn which was set during the First and Second WorldWars, of which I am an aficionado, so I eat that shit up.  When it comesto films, as mentioned earlier, I just saw the Canadian film SHOOK at Tiff,which is set in Scarborough, Ontario, and it was beautiful. So funny, so poignant,so inspired. Two enthusiastic thumbs up. 

20- What are you currently working on?

I’mworking on a new manuscript that I’m superstitiously unwilling to talk about indepth (it will jinx it!) but I will say it’s a continuation of my body ofwork’s ethos, which has to deal with women’s stories, women of the globalmajority, and 20th century history. I’m about 160 pages in, and I’m aiming for350, or just under 100,000 words, so wish me luck!

12 or 20 (second series) questions;

new from above/ground press: Sharpe, Saklikar, Heroux, Cone, Ladouceur, Ramos (trans. Greene), eckhoff, Sikkema, Browne, Gordon + Ross,

Premières Poésies by Eudore Évanturel (1878), Jamie Sharpe $6 ; Voices from Planet X ~ speculative verse from the THOTJBAP series, Renée Sarojini Saklikar $6 ; My Life as a Notebook, Jason Heroux $6 ; What's Left, Ken Norris $6 ; Against Perfectionism & other poems, Jon Cone $6 ; The Last Man, Ben Ladouceur $6 ; EL REY MURCIÉLAGO // THE BAT KING, by Yaxkin Melchy Ramos, translated by Ryan Greene $6 ; POEMS I DIDN’T WRITE, kevin mcpherson eckhoff $6 ; Just a Minute, Moon’s too Loud, Michael Sikkema $6 ; Daily Self-Portrait Valentine, Laynie Browne $6 ; COPIUM …or…The Audacity of Dope, Nada Gordon $6 ; AND THEN THE GENTILE LIT THE CANDLES: Seven Stories, Stuart Ross $6

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
August-September 2025
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy of each

And did you see my report on this summer's above/ground press 32nd anniversary event?

To order, send cheques (add $2 for postage; in US, add $3; outside North America, add $7) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button (above). See the prior list of recent titles here, scroll down here to see a further list of various backlist titles, or click on any of the extensive list of names on the sidebar (many, many things are still in print).

keep an eye on the above/ground press blog for author interviews, new writing, reviews, upcoming readings and tons of other material; and you know above/ground press has a substack now? sign up (for free!) for announcements, and even new features! catch recent/forthcoming interviews with Guy Birchard, Jill Stengal, Lillian Nećakov, Cary Fagan, Renée Sarojini Saklikar, Ken Norris, Michael Sikkema, Ben Ladouceur, Nathanael O'Reilly, Micah Ballard, Lydia Unsworth, etc.

With forthcoming chapbooks by: Lance La Rocque, David Gaffney, russell carisse, Kevin Spenst, Lillian Nećakov, Jill Stengel, Cary Fagan and Rebecca Comay, Guy Birchard, Benjamin Niespodziany, Buck Downs, Jeremy Luke Hill, Eudore Évanturel (trans. by Jamie Sharpe, Charlotte Jung and Johannes S.H. Bjerg, Mrityunjay Mohan, David Phillips, and probably others! (yes: others, (I've actually been reading submissions lately, which is pretty exciting,

AND 2026 SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE (but you probably already know that,

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Bruce Hunter

Bruce Hunter is an active writer, speaker and mentor. His award-winning novel In the Bear’s House was just rereleased by Frontenac House. In 2024, as Nella casa dell’orso, it was published in Italy as was his 2023 poetry collection Galestro, following in 2022, A Life in Poetry, all by iQdB edizioni. 1n 2021, his memoir essay “This is the Place I Come to in My Dreams” was shortlisted for the Alberta Magazine Publishers’ Awards. In 2024, his eco-poem “Dark Water” also originally published in Freefall won the gold prize for poetry for the same awards. Bruce’s poetry, fiction, reviews, interviews, translations, and nonfiction have appeared in over 100 publications and in seven languages internationally.  www.brucehunter.ca.

1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different? 
My first trade book Benchmark was released by Thistledown Press in 1982 in my second year at York University. It included a long poem about government military action against Canadians I wrote in bp nichol’s class and published as a chapbook by Chris Faiers’ Unfinished Monument Press. CBC Radio broadcast a section and Benchmark received positive reviews across Canada.  The title refers to the starting point of a survey or mapping. Indeed it was.  In the forty years since, so much of my prose and poetry came out of the seeds planted in that first book.  I still use nichol’s teachings on the breath line in near everything,

2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?  
After listening to many lofty sermons at our tiny local Anglican Church and much reading, I wrote a lofty long epic love poem. I was thirteen. I knew little about poetry and even less about love.  Suddenly, I now existed.  At least  on the page. As a deaf kid, it was a kind of hearing aid. Before others can hear us, we must hear ourselves.  I could hear myself now.

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?  
It depends on the project.  In the past, I’m just wrote,  then gathered poems or stories until I can see a narrative arc that brought the gathering together. Now that I’m I’m in the grandfather years, I make lists or a fictional table of contents and go to work.  I’m profoundly aware these are the legacy years. Life is so brutally swift and short.

4 - Where does a poem or work of prose 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?
Poetry especially often starts with a word, a musical note like a high C hum, or a discovery in another’s poem or in random research and reading, or daydreaming.I have many points of departure. It seems different every time.  There are many paths to the waterfall, as Raymond Carver once said.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?  
When I started out, readings were essential sounding boa.  I still enjoy hearing and meeting other writers.  As a mature writer, I work in relative solitude and read in many genres and topics including the earth sciences, a lifelong passion.  I’m more content in solitude now. I find workshops tend to distract me from my quiet routine, my mad method.
 
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?  
I shy away from theory and prefer experimentation outside the lyric, including the anti-pastoral,  the dystopian, the noir, and mixing lyric with then dramatic, with “dirty” or documentary realism, or even magic realism . The Italian call me a jazz poet.  I bring as much of the world into my work as I can. My work is not cloistered, so I hope.

7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?  
I d believe my role as a writer is to expose the secrets of unacknowledged truths.  Other times, the voice is simply a quiet exaltation or exhalation.

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?  I’ve always sought out editors. I enjoy the process.  
A good editor amplifies the work.  I make a distinction here between a proofreader and  a substantive editor. I wish more writers sought out a substantive editor who can take the work to the next level.  I very much enjoy seeing the work grow as we  edit it.  A good editor is a coach who challenges us to do better.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?  
B.C.’s Ron Smith was my very first writing teacher and told us, no matter what anyone says  about your writing, just say thank you.   I believe it’s best to be gracious even if it means gritting your teeth.  It’s not about you but about what capacity someone brings to your work.  And that is beyond your control.

10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to fiction to essays)? What do you see as the appeal?  
I was naturally drawn to longer poems which led to longer narratives so short stories and novels seemed an inevitable step for me.  When I started publishing my pants were baggy and my poems were skinny — all lower case, two words to a line. I’ve come to love the expansive poems that bring in all the world’s rhythms, cacophony and euphony. 

11 - 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 need my caffeine, often a workout  and my best time is between 2 and 4 pm. I’m awake, energized and ready to sprint. Then it’s time for supper prep as my wife is still working.  Work/life balance is critical in the long haul. 

12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?  
I garden, do research to jog my mind and extend my range.  Our minds need breaks and it’s often doing something away from my desk or home, that gets the brain’s light flickering again Overthinking and anxiety restricts risk taking which is essential for creative leaps that bring our work alive.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;

Anna Swanson, The Garbage Poems

My review of Newfoundland poet Anna Swanson's The Garbage Poems (Kingston ON: Brick Books, 2025) is now online at The Wood Lot: Canadian Poetry Reviews & Essays.

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Lynda Williams

Lynda Williams ’ stories have appeared in Grain, The Humber Literary Review, and The New Quarterly, among others. She holds a graduate certificate in Creative Writingfrom the Humber School for Writers and is a recipient of the LieutenantGovernor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award. Her debut collection of stories, The Beauty and the Hell of It , is now available from Guernica Editions.

1 - How didyour first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare toyour previous? How does it feel different?

The Beautyand the Hell of It is my debut, so it’s too early to tell, but Ican speak to how my first story changed my life. I submitted it to a contestand it won. The prize, which I still consider to be one the best I’ve ever won,was a couple mentorship sessions with Gail Sobat. The goal was to revise thestory in preparation for a reading at Audreys Books in Edmonton. I’m notexaggerating when I say Gail taught me the value of both revision andmentorship. That story is actually the first in the collection. The storiesincluded span about 15 years, so there’s an evolution to my writing within thebook, but voice and compression remain my top concerns.

2 - How didyou come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?

I didn’t.My first paying gig as a writer was for a local newspaper when I was still inhigh school and I started submitting poetry to literary journals when I was 15.It took me four years to get my first publication credit. I was still writingpoetry when I started university and happened to take a creative writing class.I was one of two people in a group of twenty writing poetry and next to thetitle of one of my poems the prof penciled the words: Pam Houston CowboysAre My Weakness. I didn’t read it right away, but when I did, it blew meout of the water. That collection changed my perspective on short fiction. Upto that point I thought stories were a punishment teachers assigned in highschool. I should also add that I read a lot of novels and when I picturedwriting a book, that’s what I envisioned—until Pam came along.

3 - Howlong does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writinginitially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear lookingclose to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes? 

I neverresearch stories before I write them. They usually begin with a line bouncingaround in my head, and sometimes I just repeat it to myself obsessively as I goabout my day until I’m compelled to sit down and write. Other times I’ll writethe line in my notes app or on a scrap of paper and free-write for a bit. ThenI sit back to assess what I’m working with. I’m already revising at this point.Sometimes the initial draft comes quickly (there’s one piece in the collectionI drafted in the span of an afternoon), but usually there’s a point where Ipause in the middle. This probably wouldn’t happen if I outlined, but I learnedearly on that I write to discover what will happen and knowing the outcomekills my enthusiasm. Some drafts changed dramatically, and others stayedremarkably true to my initial vision. It varies so much from piece to piece.

4 - Wheredoes a work of prose usually begin for you? Are you an author of short piecesthat end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a"book" from the very beginning?

I find theidea of working on a book to be very intimidating. The very suggestion of itactivates imposter syndrome, so I work on short pieces and try to gather themaround a theme. It’s easier to admit that you’re writing a book when 2/3 of itis already written.

5 - Arepublic readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sortof writer who enjoys doing readings?

Publicreadings make me incredibly nervous, but I also find them very energizing.Making an audience laugh is one of the greatest pleasures of being a writer. Soas much as I agonize over readings, I do believe they are central to thecreative process.

6 - Do youhave any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions areyou trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the currentquestions are?

I didn’tgive a great deal of thought to theoretical concerns in this collection. Myoverarching concern as I was writing the stories was how do women push backagainst expectations of how they should behave. I often refer to theseexpectations as the “loveliness imperative”—the patriarchal notion that womenshould make themselves appealing to men in everything they do. It isunfortunately an evergreen topic. Above all, my goal is to make my readers feelsomething, so I try not to intellectualize what I’m doing while I’m doing it. Ithink the current questions of our time centre around the climate crisis andgenocide.

7 – What do you see the current role of thewriter being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think therole of the writer should be?

I’m anordinary schmuck, but on a good day I can write a paragraph that will make youfeel something and perhaps even cause you to reflect on what you believe. I’mnot a moral compass, but it’s my job to think critically about whatever sh*tthe world is shoveling.

8 - Do youfind the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (orboth)?

Essential.Feedback isn’t always easy to receive, but I’m always grateful when someonetakes the time to read my work and reflect on it. It might sting at times, butit can also open up possibilities for the work that you didn’t recognizeyourself.

9 - What isthe best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?

It’sactually something I started telling myself to deal with hard mental healthdays years ago: You can do some of your best work on your worst days. Whichessentially means show up.

10 - Whatkind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How doesa typical day (for you) begin?

When I’mimmersed in a story, I try to wake up before my inner critic (between 4:30 and5:00), so I can start typing before I’m fully awake. But not every day is awriting day for me. Sometimes I find other ways to touch the work—submitting orrevising something old—and that tends to happen in the afternoon. I dofreelance copyediting as well, so if I’m not writing a story, the day oftenstarts there.

11 - Whenyour writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of abetter word) inspiration?

I return to my favorite books: Austen’s Persuasion,Pam Houston’s Cowboys Are My Weakness, anything by Lorrie Moore, Carver’sCathedral to name a few. I bake because it feels creative to me, but it’snot remotely related to writing. If I’m still struggling I look for lighterreading. Something outside my genre.

12 - Whatwas your last Hallowe'en costume?

I was apirate. 

13 - DavidW. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other formsthat influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?

McFaddenhas a point to the extent that books are in conversation with other books, butwhen I think about what influences my stories, music and movies are top of thelist. Nearly every story in the collection has a soundtrack, one song Ilistened to on repeat while I was working because it evoked in me the feeling Iwanted to evoke in readers. Movies are interesting. I watch them to escape,which means a lot of them are mediocre, but sometimes there will be a fantasticscene buried in an average film and it will just haunt me. I’ll reinvent thesituation and give my own characters a better chance. Love Does Not Insist wasinspired by a scene in a movie with two minor characters that had a plot linethat eclipsed the rest of the film. I watched that scene over and over tryingto figure out why it undid me and then I found a song that did the same thingand the rest is history.

14 - Whatother writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your lifeoutside of your work?

Everyonenamed in question 11, but also mentors like Danila Botha & Alissa York, andpeers like Su Chang.

15 - Whatwould you like to do that you haven't yet done?

Mentorother writers at the beginning of their journey.

16 - If youcould 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?

Assuming Ihad different aptitudes, a musician. 

17 - Whatmade you write, as opposed to doing something else?

I trieddoing other things, but writing is the only thing I’ve ever been passionateabout.

18 - Whatwas the last great book you read? What was the last great film?

Book: Verminby Lori Hahnel. I love how she puts Calgary on the map and her range isincredible. Film: John Candy’s Delirious.

19 - Whatare you currently working on?

Morestories. More women misbehaving, but this time I’m working with themes ofbetrayal.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;