12 or 20 (second series) questions with Tia McLennan
Tia McLennan’s (she/her) poetry has appeared in variousCanadian literary journals including Riddle Fence, Vallum, Arc,CV2, Room, and Prairie Fire. In 2022, she won the NLCUFresh Fish Award for her unpublished poetry manuscript. Her first book ofpoetry, Familiar Monsters of the Flood is forthcoming in April 2024 withRiddle Fence Publishing. She holds an interdisciplinary MFA in creative writingand visual art from UBC Okanagan, and a BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art andDesign University. Originally from so-called Vancouver Island, B.C., (territoryof the K’ómoks people), she gratefully resides in kalpilin (Pender Harbour),B.C. with her partner, their 6 year old son and a big cat named Basho.
1 - How did your first bookchange your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? Howdoes it feel different?
As I write this, my first book hasyet to be born (forthcoming in April 2024) so I can’t answer this questioncompletely. Even so, having a soon-to-be book, there have already been somedoors opened that weren’t before. I still haven’t fully adjusted to the ideathat something I’ve been working on for so long in relative privacy will be outin the world and I’m curious to see how everything will unfold!
2 - How did you come to poetryfirst, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
I was drawn to poetry earlyon…in Junior High and high school. I remember writing very young andwonderfully terrible poems. As a prize for getting a high mark in English Lit12, my teacher gave me a copy of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and ofExperience. It was the first time I felt that deep magic of connecting witha poet through time and space and it kind of got me hooked. There’s a certainfreedom in poetry—it can come in so many shapes and forms and is alwaysevolving. I have a background as a visual artist and for me, visual art seemsmore closely related to poetry than other genres; I find the two speak to eachother.
3 - How long does it take tostart any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly,or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their finalshape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
I don’t think I can properlyanswer this one yet, as I’ve only just started my second project. With my firstproject, it took me 2 or 3 years to realise I was writing a book, then another12 years (including an MFA and much learning, starting, stopping, and revising)to finish it. There are a few poems that come out fully or almost fully-formed,but most come out of many notes, revisions, and edits.
4 - Where does a poem usuallybegin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into alarger project, or are you working on a "book" from the verybeginning?
My first book was certainly acase of many shorter pieces coming together into various poems and a completemanuscript over a long period of time. I have notebooks filled with fragmentsand thoughts, and these are usually the seeds that I grow into something moresubstantial. My second project that I’m currently working on has been a bookfrom the beginning with an overarching theme—a new way of working for me, andit’s outside my comfort zone, a bit counter-intuitive.
5 - Are public readings part ofor counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoysdoing readings?
I do enjoy doing readings (eventhough I get pretty nervous). I like connecting with people and finding how thepoem can subtly shift depending on how I read it and the tone of the room.During the creation phase, I don’t really think about readings. I do try toread my work out loud once in a while in order to properly hear the rhythm andsounds of a piece, but I don’t start thinking about sharing my work with anaudience until it’s time for it to be published. So overall, I’d say it’s partof the process though not in an immediate or conscious way.
6 - Do you have any theoreticalconcerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answerwith your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
In my forthcoming book, thereare quite a few questions and/or theoretical concerns that drive the poems.Certainly there is a mix of ecological grief, fear, and a touch of hope which Ithink is a common concern or question of our time. The human-ecological predicamentthat (at least for me) permeates the book is “can we come back from our currentcourse toward ecological disaster?” I don’t know if anyone can really answerthis. I think, increasingly, we’re realizing we live in a time of multiple crisis.I mean, our world has been watching a genocide be livestreamed and very little hasbeen done to stop it. We’re also in a time when systems of oppression (such ascolonialism) are being more openly questioned, resisted, or dismantled and Isee this reflected through what many writers and artists are grappling with invarious ways. On a more personal level, my book investigates my relationshipwith my father, his illness and passing, and ghosts of intergenerationaltrauma. The other concern that became central to the book was learning aboutmaternal-fetal microchimera. This is the scientific term for the exchange ofDNA through the placental barrier between the mother or birth parent and fetus.Essentially (as a birth parent) your unborn child’s cells take up residence inyour body and are able to graft themselves into almost any organ and becomephysically part of you, giving you more than one set of DNA and essentiallychanging your body. The etymology comes from the Greek mythical monster knownas the Chimera (a female hybrid monster with the head & body of a lion, ahead of a goat and a tail that ended in a snake’s head). This exchange of cellshappens even if there is no live birth. After I experienced six consecutivemiscarriages, I became fascinated by the implications and unanswered questionsin this scientific area, as well as in the medical language itself. I like how thisphenomena undermines the idea of a singular, contained self. I also went downplenty of rabbit holes regarding the myth of the Chimera, and in our creationof modern-day “monsters”, and these concerns found their way into poems.
7 – What do you see the currentrole of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do youthink the role of the writer should be?
I don’t see writers having a singularrole, but some possible roles or things that writers can do that come to mindare: to notice, pay attention, listen, reflect, resist, bear witness, restore, givevoice to, challenge, entertain, celebrate. I also think a lot about being awriter (and a teacher) in this epoch where misinformation abounds, while AI(which steals from original creators) and Chat GTP rapidly change the communicationlandscape—so I’m curious to see how the role of writer will shift and adapt.
8 - Do you find the process ofworking with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
So far, in my limitedexperience, it’s been essential and wonderful. The editors I’ve been lucky towork with have provided excellent insights and direction without beingoverbearing or insistent. Sometimes an editor will give feedback and it willtotally ring true, but it means the poem has to fall apart and be rebuilt. Thiscan be difficult, but has always resulted in a stronger piece of writing.
9 - What is the best piece ofadvice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
It was from a visual artistfriend of mine and it was simply to continue. There’s usually plenty ofrejection and can be a lot of interruption (especially as a parent) on thecreative path. To find even small ways to continue and move forward is theadvice I continue to give myself.
10 - What kind of writingroutine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day(for you) begin?
I have no real routine and wishI could be more disciplined in this department. I currently work as a teacheron call three days a week and have a couple of days dedicated to writing. I’malso a parent of a very active & freedom-loving almost 6-year-old, so lifeis busy. On my writing days, I drop my son off at school and then do my best toget at least 3-5 hours of writing/reading/research done. I often getside-tracked by gardening, house work and/or life admin tasks. If I’m workingfull time, there’s virtually no time to write and I rely on sporadic moments oronce in a while stay up late to get some words down.
11 - When your writing getsstalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word)inspiration?
I think it’s important when Ido truly feel stuck, to give the writing and myself a break from each other andI usually just read until I can catch the spark or impetus again. I’ll returnto some writers that continue to be a compass for me (whether it’s poetry orother genres) and will often seek out new (to me) writers. Also, being innature, moving my body, or having a visit with a good friend can all help shiftmy frame of mind.
12 - What fragrance reminds youof home?
Cedar, seaweed, fried onionsand garlic, coffee.
13 - David W. McFadden oncesaid that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influenceyour work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
I totally agree to a certainextent. As a writer, I think I’ve learned the most about craft and voice throughreading others’ work. So books remain the biggest influence and I love theobject of them, but influences come from endless sources. We (or most of us)live in this constant deluge of information, which is both miraculous andnightmarish—this aspect of our world certainly influences my writing. Being outin nature and our view of and relationship to “nature” absolutely is somethingI question through my poems. My forthcoming book relies on found text frommedical records, and I am interested in scientific language—its etymology andsounds. My background and schooling is in visual art and I find writing and artmaking are very much connected for me, not in the ekphrastic sense, but in how thetwo creative processes play off each other.
14 - What other writers orwritings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
There are many! To name a fewand in no particular order: Liz Howard, Tomas Tranströmer, William Blake, Natalie Diaz, C.D. Wright, Joan Didion, Joshua Whitehead, Seamus Heaney, Karen Solie,Jordan Abel, Adrienne Rich, Mary Ruefle, Sue Goyette’s Ocean, AlanWeisman’s The World Without Us, Brenda Shaughnessy, Ocean Vuong, Canisia Lubrin, Emily Dickinson, Tracy K. Smith’s Life on Mars, Louise Glück, Leah Horlick.
15 - What would you like to dothat you haven't yet done?
There’s a long list that includestravel to distant lands. But my current daydream/obsession is to try and growshiitake mushrooms on inoculated logs.
16 - If you could pick anyother occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do youthink you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?
Botanist, horticulturalist, gardener.I do currently have a job as a teacher, a profession I really love, but beingpaid to be outdoors with plants would be pretty dreamy.
17 - What made you write, as opposedto doing something else?
First I did something else. That is,I went to art school (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) for my undergrad.I’d always written but never took it seriously. When my father was ill andafter he passed, I had time to reflect and basically decided to turn mycreative focus toward writing. My MFA from UBCO was interdisciplinary—in visualart and creative writing, though I ended up leaning more toward the creativewriting. I still loosely keep up a visual art practice(drawing/painting/printmaking/collage), it’s still important to me, but writingbecame more essential, a more direct channel of expression.
18 - What was the last greatbook you read? What was the last great film?
Too hard to name just one! I readOcean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous in the past couple yearsand was incredibly moved. I’m currently immersed in (and in awe of) CanisiaLubrin’s Code Noir, Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass,and Danielle Vogel’s A Library of Light. I absolutely loved the film Everything Everywhere All at Once, directed by Daniel Kwan and DanielScheibert—it had me laughing so hard I was in tears.
19 - What are you currentlyworking on?
I’m working on ahybrid book rooted in non-fiction, and memoir. It’s based on and from the placemyself and my family have recently returned to live—Garden Bay, kalpílin(Pender Harbour), B.C., unceded territory of the shíshalh nation. This is wheremy father retired to in 2003, and then sadly passed away from cancer in 2006.I’m interested in the history (recent, colonial and pre-colonial), and want topay specific attention to the capture and subsequent sale of half a pod ofnorthern resident orcas from Garden Bay in 1969. Writing from a time and place ofongoing drought, I’m questioning and thinking about my (and our) relationshipwith the land and waters and wondering how we will navigate climate crisis and movetoward a sustainable and just future.
