Thanks to Simone Muench for inviting me to be part of her writing process blog. You can read her responses to the prompts about writing and the writing process at the Jet Fuel Review Blog. Simone is the author of so many great books of poems it's hard to know where to begin, but start with her fantastic collection Lampblack and Ash. She and I are collaborating on a series of poems we're calling Frankenstein Sonnets! |
T H E W R I T I N G P R O C E S S B L O G T O U R
Thanks to the gifted and gracious Catherine Staples for letting me into the inner circle of her writing process blog tour! Read her responses to the process questions on her website.
Cathy is author of The Rattling Window, which I loved. Winner of the Ashland Poetry Prize, it is a lyrical meditation on land, landscape and our place in it. I recommend this book; it is simply fantastic. |
D E A N R A D E R A N S W E R S T H E Q U E S T I O N S (L A M E L Y)
1. What are you working on?
Only about 50 things. Some of which are:
2. How does your work differ from others of its genre?
Mine often includes both frogs and toads . . .
3. Why do you write what you do?
Well, what I write depends on the form I want it to take--whether it's a review, a critical essay, a poem, or a scholarly work. Right now, I'm particularly interested in poetry because I'm dually obsessed with 1) compression and 2) language
4. How does your writing process work?
Whenever I have a free moment, I try to write something. I try to write every day, but that doesn't always happen. I'm chairing a department, I have two young sons, and I have a wife who is a Vice-President for a major dot.com. So, I'm staggeringly busy. Writing feels like a luxury; rather than a duty.
Only about 50 things. Some of which are:
- A new anthology of poetry called 99 Poems for the 99 Percent (forthcoming in July of 2014). I'm very excited about this book.
- A new book of poems, tentatively entitled Self Portrait as Wikipedia Entry
- A scholarly book on reading poetry, tentatively entitled Practical Poetry or Can Poetry Do Anything and if so, What?
- A translation of Pablo Neruda's epic poem Alturas de Macchu Picchu with Katie Jan
- A collaborative sonnet series with the incredibly talented Simone Muench (see above)
2. How does your work differ from others of its genre?
Mine often includes both frogs and toads . . .
3. Why do you write what you do?
Well, what I write depends on the form I want it to take--whether it's a review, a critical essay, a poem, or a scholarly work. Right now, I'm particularly interested in poetry because I'm dually obsessed with 1) compression and 2) language
4. How does your writing process work?
Whenever I have a free moment, I try to write something. I try to write every day, but that doesn't always happen. I'm chairing a department, I have two young sons, and I have a wife who is a Vice-President for a major dot.com. So, I'm staggeringly busy. Writing feels like a luxury; rather than a duty.
N E X T U P : L E A N N E H O W E + J U D Y H A L E B S K Y
The wildly funny, amazingly gifted LeAnne Howe is the author of two novels (Shell Shaker & Miko Kings, an award-winning book of poems (Evidence of Red) and a brand new memoir-slash-collection of travel writing, cleverly entitled Chocktalking On Other Realities.
Look for her writing process responses on April 17 on her Prairie Diamond Blog. |
The multi-talented Judy Halebsky is a hotshot. She keeps winning prizes. Ho-hum, says Halebsky, another award . . .
That book to the left, the beguilingly entitled Space/ Gap/ Interval/ won the Sixteen Rivers Chapbook Prize. She has a new collection of poems forthcoming from New Issues in the near future. You can read her responses on her blog. |