Angel Rosen

1. When did you start writing?
"I started writing around 2002, when I was 8 years old.  My first poems were about my Neopets.  I started writing about more serious topics when I was in middle school in 2007, around age 13, when I won a poetry contest in my English Class for a poem about the color red.  I have written consistently since then."

2. Where do you draw inspiration?
"Pain, mostly.  I have always written about pain, death, and space-taking.  I write about people and psychology.  I am very inspired by Amanda Palmer and Allie Hughes (a.k.a. Allie X), I reference their music a lot when I am lacking inspiration."

3. Could you share your process and thoughts on writing?
"Oftentimes, I don’t have a say in the process.  The poem either comes out all at once despite whatever else I’m supposed to be doing, or it comes out in agonizing trickles.  Typically, if I feel the desire to write, I try to keep Twitter or a Google document open to keep track of my lines or ideas for later.  I sometimes accidentally write an entire poem in a Twitter thread, usually in the mornings."

4. How do you know when a poem is done?
"Poems are never done… right? I guess I decide that it is done when adding or taking anything from it would affect the quality.  Once I’m down to deciding between one or two words or punctuation, sometimes I feel as though it was better before I changed anything, that it was done to begin with."

5. How did Aurelia come about? When did you realize you had material for a poetry book? 
"I had always said I would publish a book 'someday.'  My friends, especially my Internet friends, had asked about it for years in passing and were always very encouraging when I would talk about the possibility.  The idea for Aurelia was to include some of my most meaningful poems in one space, so that they could be consumed as a whole. To create something that was real to other people, the way that the poems had always been real to me.  I wanted my first book to show my analysis of pain, taking up space and womanhood especially.  I didn’t specifically pick a theme for Aurelia, but there are recurring themes throughout.  I chose the name after a discussion about my book ideas with my friend, Victor Carlesi, who illustrated the cover.  I had first heard the name Aurelia while learning about Sylvia Plath, and it just seemed like the perfect fit.  Aurelia means 'golden,' which is how this collection feels to me.

6. Why did you independently publish your poetry collection?
"I wanted to have complete control of formatting and the aesthetic, and I didn’t want any piece of it to belong to another person or place.  I enjoyed doing the hard work myself, it made it extra rewarding. I wanted to be able to choose my own editor, illustrator, and the team of people who helped me by reading my poems and providing feedback.  I just really wanted to make sure it felt like it was authentically me."

7. What project(s) do you hope to take on?
"I am working on my second book now, which will be Aurelia’s 'twin' collection that I intend to release later this year. I am also going to be part of a team of people from the Amanda Palmer Patreon community to put together a poetry anthology of poems written by people within the Amanda Palmer community.  Each year, I participate in National Poetry Writing Month in April and the Annual 24 Hour Poetry Marathon in the summer, where poets all around the world stay awake for 24 hours writing one poem an hour."  

8. What do you hope people take away from your work? 
"I hope that people find something within my poetry that gives them space to exist as they are, unaltered, unfiltered.  I spend a lot of my time seeking out art and media that makes me feel like I can exist without seeking permission and that is what I hope to give back with my own art."

9. What writing advice do you find totally useless?
"I suppose the phrase “write drunk and edit sober” has never applied to me because I’ve never drank.  I’ve heard people recommend going out into nature to find inspiration when facing writer’s block.  For me, nature isn’t particularly inspiring, only people are.  There are few things I want to do less than sit in the itchy grass, in the summer heat, near a tree, and listen to life’s noises.  For me, that is the most useless advice."

10. And finally, what do you enjoy doing that you don’t talk about enough. Tell me all about it!
"I like making lists.  I keep lists of everything including the books I’ve read, movies I’ve watched, concerts and musicals that I’ve attended, my Facebook groups and even my favorite foods.  It is very soothing to make lists and update them, to feel organized, and it’s something just for me and my own personal amusement and fulfillment."  


Hear Angel read her poem "ELEMENTS."
​

Angel Rosen is an autistic, queer poet from a small town in Pennsylvania.  She is the author of Aurelia, a poetry collection, and is currently working on her second poetry book, which will be titled Blake.  Angel spends most of her time with her dogs, writing and watching tv.  She is passionate about psychology, the Amanda Palmer community, and poetry. She can be found on Twitter @Axiopoeticus, instagram at axiopoeticus, and parapoeticus.wordpress.com, her author page.