1. Why did you start writing? 
“Not to be cliché, but—why does one start existing?”

2. Where do you draw inspiration?
“Every day, we feel emotions that are different to what have been felt by anyone else in the world, and I try to use mine as much as I can.”

3. How did EROTECAY come about? When did you realize you had material for a poetry book? 
“I’d been brave enough to write poetry since our first lockdown started. By 2021 I had a good bunch of publications going, and of course, many works were related thematically.”

4. How did Folktales for the Diseased Individual come about? 
“Much differently than EROTECAY. I wrote all of it pretty much within a few days. I’d been talking with my therapist about wanting to write a memoir, to make something out of my experiences—but I’d also strongly felt that I wasn’t important or unique enough for a memoir, so, a CNF chapbook it was.”

5. What brought about Wrongdoing Magazine, and what is your vision for its future? 
“I’d been thinking about putting a magazine together for at least ten years. I’d also secured a couple of journal editor positions a month prior, and I’d promptly decided it wasn’t enough.

I would really love to expand into a press, and I feel like we will at some point, but it all depends on time and resources.”

6. What got you into film?
“Growing up, I really wanted to be an actor. But it turns out I wanted to be a writer even more so. 

And you’ll be able to catch Baby Fever, my feature which I wrote and co-directed, sometime soon, I’m sure. :)”

7. What do you hope people take away from your work? 
“It’s like I was talking about earlier—it’s all about reaching emotions that have never before been felt. I think writing is about spreading those, helping people stretch out their souls, their emotional borders.”

8. What other project(s) do you hope to take on someday? 
“A big dream has been to write for a TV show!”

9. What writing advice do you find totally useless?
“Stop fleshing out characters before you even put a finger to the real page.”

10. And finally, what do you enjoy doing that you don’t talk about enough. Tell me all about it!
“I love copyediting. I feel I’m really good at it, and I do it quite a lot for Wrongdoing, though you’ll never be able to tell when or how much.”


​
Hear Pascale read her prose "ice p(r)ick" via Micro. CW: implied assault/violence. The reading starts at 3:30.

​Pascale is Editor-in-Chief of Wrongdoing Magazine. She was recently a finalist in The Conium Review's 2021 Innovative Short Fiction Contest. She is the author of EROTECAY (LUPERCALIA Press, 2021) and Folktales for the Diseased Individual (2021) and has placed work in Juked Magazine, Eclectica Magazine, Gingerbread House Magazine, and many others. She has a BAH from Queen’s University. Find her at pascalepotvin.com or @pascalepalaces (Twitter).

1. When did you start writing?
“I honestly can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing in one form or another. Before I could physically write, I used to spend a lot of time in the garden, walking around in circles and making up stories under my breath; my granny recently told me that her neighbors used to love listening to them, which is both embarrassing and flattering! My dream was always to be a writer. It just felt like something I needed to do. I remember finishing my 'first book' when I was seven and being really paranoid about losing it. It lived next to my bed, so I could grab it quickly if there was an emergency. I also used to write a lot of scripts, and I would periodically get my classmates to audition for roles and start a grueling five-day-a-week rehearsal regimen.” 

2. What is your method of writing? Notebooks, computer?
“I rarely use notebooks anymore. I prefer the computer, as I can get my ideas down fast that way, plus it’s helpful if I need to google anything. I do sometimes use the notes app on my phone though, as I seem to feel inspired in inconvenient places, like on the bus. For me, quiet is the most important thing. Low-volume music is acceptable, but silence is what works best for me. It’s strange, because I can’t stand silence the rest of the time, but it doesn’t bother me when I’m writing.”

3. What drew you to writing poetry?
“I’ve always loved poetry, and I used to write it a lot when I was younger, particularly in my early teens. I was drawn back to it in 2020 when I came across confessional poetry. At the time, I was recovering from mental illness, I had just been discharged from the eating disorder service, and I was discovering myself as a functioning adult, rather than a teenage patient. Poets like Melissa Lee Houghton and Elisabeth Horan really spoke to me because their work talked about chaos and sanity in a way that was fresh and raw and genuine. I think the poetry community is fantastic because it loves flawed voices! You can be authentic and messy and unlikeable. I also love poetry as a celebration of language.”

4. Where do you draw inspiration?
“I am inspired by other poets, particularly those who write in the confessional tradition. I love Olivia Tuck, Hala Alyan, Sophie Robinson, Gaia Rajan, Kaveh Akbar and many other incredible poets. I have discovered a lot of great writing through reading magazines and journals: Perhappened is one of my favourites, and Modern Poetry in Translation is brilliant, because it lets you find voices you would never come across otherwise. A lot of my poetry is based on personal experience, so memory is a constant source of intrigue and inspiration for me. I’m autistic, so I often find myself writing to resolve a conflict in my head, to work out what emotions I’m feeling and why. Nature inspires me, though I find it difficult to separate external and internal landscapes. Almost all of my work has an emotional component. Most of all, I am inspired to write about the strangeness of life, with all its contradictions.” 

5. Are you ever afraid to write? 
“Yes. When I first started writing poetry again, I wasn’t so scared, because I had zero expectations. I sent poems to magazines expecting a unanimous chorus of ‘no!’ so it was quite shocking to find out people liked reading my work! It does complicate matters slightly because when I’m writing a poem, I’m now aware that people will probably read it at some point; it’s difficult to not let that interfere with your level of honestly, particularly when you’re writing about topics that are so taboo. I try to mentally separate the writing process from anything that comes later. The poem needs to say what it needs to say, and I can decide how vulnerable I’m willing to be in terms of publishing once it’s finished. One thing I read was ‘write as though no one will read it, edit as though everyone will.’ That’s something I try to live by, and I remind myself that bad poems happen, but they go towards learning and improving.” 

6. Congrats on your debut pamphlet! How did After the Flood Comes the Apologies come about? When did you realize you had material for a book? 
“Thank you! I started writing poems for After the Flood Comes the Apologies in August 2020, during an especially creative and productive period of my life. I finally had the energy and spark to think again, and my emotions returned in full force, which translated into a massive outpouring of poetry. I think I started compiling poems for the pamphlet in October, and I sent it to Nine Pens in November. It all happened really fast! Most of the time I still can’t believe it.”

7. What other project(s) do you hope to take on someday? 
“There are so many things I want to do! I’d love to write a TV script one day, as that’s an area I haven’t really explored as an adult. Another dream is to translate a poetry collection into English; I study Modern Languages at university (Spanish, Italian and Arabic), and literary translation is definitely something that interests me. I’m currently working on my second poetry book, which focuses on love, neurodivergence and grief, so getting that published is the next thing on my to-do list!” 

8. What do you hope people take away from your work? 
“That’s a tricky question! I like to think about my readers stepping inside my skin, living with my brain for a few minutes. I’ve been told my writing is dark, gritty, ominous... I love those comments, but I also know that the topics I address in my poems are realities for so many people. If my poetry is challenging, then it needs to be. I hope people walk away with a renewed sense of what it is to be young, messy, and mentally ill. And I hope that the people who already know what it’s like read my poetry and think, ‘I know that feeling!” Maybe that’s how we feel less alone.” 

9. What’s your favorite writing advice you’ve been told or happened to overhear? Or what writing advice would you offer?
“I can’t remember the exact words, but it was that good writing describes the abstract in a tangible way, rather than the tangible in an abstract way. I don’t think any rule works all the time, but I do find this advice helpful, particularly when I’m trying to talk about emotions without falling into cliches. It’s magical how much power lies in sensory description.” 

10. And finally, what do you enjoy doing that you don’t talk about enough. Tell me all about it!
“My first thought was poetry, but I talk about that whenever I find anyone who’ll listen! My other main hobbies are baking and singing, but university is keeping me very busy at the moment. One thing I love doing is making excel spreadsheets. I know that it’s not the most creative hobby, but it keeps my whole life in order; every week I write a to-do list and figure out how many hours of work I’ve got to do, and every night I write a timetable for the following day. My life is planned out is half-hour chunks! I’m fanatical about it, but if you tell people in real life, they think you’re putting yourself under too much pressure, whereas I find it makes me less stressed, as it means I don’t have to remember anything. Saying that, I’ve always loved a good timetable. If I had to guess why I like two things that seem so different (spreadsheets and poetry), I’d say that it’s because they both create sense and order from a world that seems frighteningly chaotic.” 


Hear Naoise read her poem “Memory.” 

​Naoise Gale is a poet from West Yorkshire whose first pamphlet, ‘After the Flood Comes the Apologies’, was published with Nine Pens in October 2021. She has been shortlisted in the Creative Futures Writers Award 2021 and longlisted in the Fish Poetry Prize 2021, as well as various other poetry and flash fiction competitions. Her work focuses on mental health, identity and addiction; it has been widely published in magazines such as Anti Heroin Chic, Versification and Opia Lit. She regularly attends Todmorden Writers’ Collective open mic nights. You can find her on twitter as @Naoisegale13.

1. When did you start writing? 
"As cliche as it may sound, I think since I was actually capable of forming stories. I have always been a storyteller, but most of my family would tell you I was actually just a straight up liar and that’s why I was so into stories, which isn’t too far off. I loved to make up wild stories about strangers that I saw on the street, animals I encountered, all of that. It was therapeutic; I was always either throwing a tantrum or telling everyone story after story. And it would get on everyone’s nerves, so once I was able to write I went from oral to written storytelling." 

2. What is your method of writing? Notebooks, computer?
"Computer. Mainly because so many of my poetic thoughts (and, the best ones, usually) occur while I’m doing homework assignments on my laptop, so I’ll jot the down exactly when I have them, which may be a bit of an annoyance for my teachers when I forget to remove them before turning an assignment in. And writing on a computer saves much more time; I’m less worried about whether or not I’m writing particular letters properly (yes, I still worry about that whenever I’m writing anything by hand), so I can focus on whole words and phrases and sentences. I also still don’t really understand how to hold a pencil properly, so writing on paper is simply painful which does not encourage me much."

3. Where do you draw inspiration?
"Lately, I’ve been drawing a lot of inspiration from media I really liked in my childhood. Not just writing poems specifically about them, although I have done that quite a lot recently, but the themes I see in them. We underestimate children’s media a lot, which is understandable considering the nature of it, but I quite enjoy overestimating it. Treating Fireboy and Watergirl as though it is an intentional analysis concerning gender theory, for example. 

Also, I take a lot of inspiration from my writing friends, other teen writers especially. I used to try to master the style of all these famous poets that I hardly ever know about, but I’ve found it’s so much easier to look at something a little closer to home, especially since I can actually have conversations with them about their pieces. And their pieces are just as gorgeous as any famous writer’s, which makes me believe mine can be too." 
 
4. How do you title poems?
"I don’t have much of a method for titling poems and I’m trying to work on it, but essentially I ask myself a handful of questions. Firstly, does it warrant a long or short title? I used to be one of those people who gave all my poems ridiculously long titles to make up for the fact that I simply could not think of anything concise enough, but now I determine length based on if the poem seems to say, ‘you cannot contain me’. Vague, sure, but there’s always an immediate answer. Secondly, I look for recurring phrases, images, metaphors and all that in the poem and pick something that I can almost analyze within my own title.

I’m also a big fan of contradictory titles that show a certain nuance; like, my poem ‘recovery’ is clearly about unhealthy tendencies, and the title is meant to really stress the sorta delusional the narrator is experiencing. 

And a lot of the time I actually build a poem from the title. These are usually the titles with an almost aggressive image, like ‘DISSECTING THE MOON AS A SHITTY LOVER’. I usually find it much more enjoyable, like I’m using a prompt that I made myself."

5. What do you hope people take away from your work?
"This is really hard for me because sometimes I still have trouble comprehending that people even perceive my writing, so it’s difficult to imagine people may even take something away from it. I guess all I really want is for someone to read a poem of mine and think, 'wow, I’ve never thought about it like that before'. I don’t want my writing to depict something someone has never experienced (that seems a bit too intimidating) and I don’t want it to “rewrite” any experience either; I just wanna add something raw and new that people can think of the next time they experience what I’m trying to depict. Not every time they experience it. Just the next time would be nice."  

6. On your author page you have a unique feature where you include bookmarks linking work by other writers. What brought this about?
"I’ve actually seen a handful of author pages with bookmarks, although it looks like it may be a bit of a trend just among a certain group of teen writers. Personally, I really enjoy sharing pieces that stopped me in some way; and by that I mean, pieces that are so emotional, raw, or simply beautiful that they make me pause enough that it creates its own memory that I feel the need to recount when talking to other writers. So when I saw other’s adding this bookmark section I thought oh, that’s a great way to express my ecstatic feelings about some pieces, so I frantically did it myself and I’ve continued to quickly add any pieces that make me feel that way."

7. You are a Staff Editor at Interstellar Literary Review. What has this experience taught you so far?
"Holding someone’s writing in your hand, having to decide whether or not it will be a good fit for our mag, it’s almost painful. I’ve always loved critiquing writing, so the experience of giving feedback to submitters is something I enjoy no matter the piece, but it’s so difficult taking that feedback and having to make a ‘yes or no’ decision with it. But my experience as an editor has really taught me to approach pieces differently because I have to figure out what I really like about a submission before getting to make a decision, and the experience is so much better if I immerse myself in what I really like about a piece first. So I’ve really started enjoying reading and writing more, which is a bit ironic considering it is now sorta like a job for me."
 
8. What other project(s) do you hope to take on?
"I’d really like to write some chapbooks when I have the time, which may not be for a while considering how hectic my life is and also just the fact that I still have so much learning to do (I am only 16, although I always forget that). I did already start working on a chapbook over the summer actually, but I’ve given that some much needed rest and will hopefully get back to it next summer. 

I’d also really like to write a song in the future. I’ve written some lyrics before and I have a bit of singing experience, and I think I’d really enjoy it."

9. What’s the best writing advice you’ve been told or happened to overhear? Or, what writing advice would you offer?
"Maybe not the best writing advice, but my favorite writing advice I’ve ever received came from my 8th grader English teacher. She told me something along the lines of ‘everyone always says to write from your heart, but that’s not gonna be enough and just ends up being stupid sometimes. You have to trust your gut and write with that too.’ I’m sure someone has said it in a more graceful way, but more hard-truth wording such as that always leaves more of an imprint on me. I never really consider this advice until I’m stuck, lost trying to figure out the perfect metaphor to represent the exact grief I was feeling or the perfect ending line to one of the saddest poems I’ve ever written. I spiral really easily and get frustrated, so at this point I want to give up and I do actually give up a lot of the time, but sometimes I’ll do what that teacher told me. Read over the poem again and just think “well what is my gut telling me to do here?”, then I do exactly that and just leave it be for at least a day. It gives me a sense of clarity that makes it so much better to revise if I need to, but often I end up leaving that gut-feeling addition simply because it’s perfect for the poem. Not always the most beautiful, not always even truthful to the inspiration story behind the poem if there is one, but still perfectly fitting for the poem that is actually on the page and I have learned to make that my goal for every single bit of every single poem." 

10. And finally, what do you enjoy doing that you don’t talk about enough. Tell me all about it!
"Fashion! I’m certainly not an expert and I don’t care to learn to be one, but I really enjoy putting outfits together. I have pinterest boards full of individual clothes items, whole outfits, and some designs. I’ve even drawn some of my own designs, but they were never too impressive. My particular obsessions are funky earrings and colorful grunge." 

​
Hear Jaiden​​ read their poem "Birthrights," on page 37 of Southchild Issue III: Technicolor Sunrise. 

Jaiden Thompson is a young Black, queer poet. They are a three-time Best of the Net nominee.  They have work published or forthcoming in COUNTERCLOCK, Stone of Madness, Lumiere Review and perhappened, among others. They are also an editor for Interstellar Literary Review. Learn more about them here: https://jaidenthompson.carrd.co/

1. When did you start writing?
"I really don’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. My mother taught me how to read at a very early age, and I picked up writing very young as well. Professionally, I have made a two-decade-plus career as a ghostwriter for several high-profile leaders, and I write poetry because I feel like I have to. I know many people don’t know me as a poet because I didn’t start attempting to publish my poetry until last year. The time didn’t feel right until then. The pandemic made me feel my mortality, as did my mother’s death in 2017. I guess you could call me a late-blooming poet on the publishing front."

2. What is your method of writing? Notebooks, computer?
"I write on everything—the Notes app on my iPhone, my laptop, sticky notes, scraps of random paper, receipts, and in journals. Lately, I’ve turned more and more to my iPhone. I often wake with a line or two already in my head, and type it in my Notes app while it’s fresh. From there, I’ll email it to myself, and work it out on my laptop. I like to print work out to revise on paper. Some poems don’t make it to paper, but most do. I feel like I owe it to the reader to make sure the poem works well on the printed page, and I read all my poems out loud, too, to see how they will sound to the reader."

3. Are you ever afraid to write?
"I am never afraid to write, but I am cautious about what I publish. There are definitely topics that are difficult for me to take on, but I don’t seem much harm in getting everything out. There are poems I write that are for my eyes only and those that I write for publication. Rarely do I blur the lines. I am becoming braver with time, though." 

4. Where do you draw inspiration?
"Inspiration is everywhere. Real life. Dreams. Other poets and artists. I also feel like a lot of poems come to me from somewhere I can’t explain. There are some that I intentionally sit down to write and others that feel like they are being dictated to me, but in my own voice. It’s difficult to explain. There is definitely this sense of otherworldliness to what I do, and not just in poetry, but other writing as well. I can also channel this otherworldly muse when I write. I wish I understood it, but maybe it’s better if I don’t. A little mystery is good for the soul, don’t you think?"

5. What drew you to writing poetry?
"I like poetry for its sound, for its compression, and also its freedom. I like to be able to get things out and move on. I like all of the forms available to me in poetry, and choosing which one to use for each specific poem. There is so much variety in poetry! I also love choosing which rules to follow and which to break. There aren’t dire consequences for breaking the rules in poetry, and that to me is freeing."

6. Recently you interviewed Chen Chen and Jose Hernandez Diaz (SQUEAL). What got you interested in interviewing writers?
"I loved interviewing Chen and Jose! They are both so incredibly brilliant and generous. It honestly hadn’t occurred to me to start interviewing writers until I was approached by Clifford Brooks III. He reached out to interview me in the winter 2020 for The Blue Mountain Review, and I guess he liked what I had to say. From there, he asked if I’d be interested in joining The Southern Collective Experience (SCE), which I was. I have been interviewing writers ever since, and my debut chapbook, Something Kindred, is forthcoming from The SCE Press in January 2022. It will be available for pre-order in December. I’ll send you the link when it’s ready. : ) I’m also finishing up my full-length debut. We’ll see where that lands."

7. What other project(s) do you hope to take on someday?
"I love collaboration. I was introduced to this concept by two magical poets: Maureen Seaton and Denise Duhamel. In fact, I just finished leading a collaborative Heroic Sonnet Crown project with 28 local poets as part of my role as the Poetry Ambassador for the Mayor of Miami-Dade County. (I’ll send you a link when it goes live next Tuesday, October 26!) I would love to collaborate more with poets and work on some projects that tackle pressing topics: like climate change. I would also like to see poetry paired more with music. The idea of setting poems to music fascinates me. I would love to see a group of poets and musicians collaborate on something, especially with stringed instruments. I don’t play, but I really love the violin."

8. ​What do you hope people take away from your work? 
"I hope people read my work and feel like I’m real and approachable. I hope that my work helps people, that it connects people, and makes them feel less alone. I also hope that it sparks joy. I write a lot of heavy stuff, but I also write light and funny stuff because I like balance. Hey, it’s Libra season! I’m a Cancer, by the way. Not that you asked. Lol.  But I like to write poetry that is cathartic and poetry that is fun. Speaking of fun, I had a really fun time writing a Garbage Pail Kids poem for It Came From Beneath the Ink!: An R.L. Stine Tribute Anthology, edited by Lannie Stabile, and a love poem for Fire-Star for Marvelous Verses, a Marvel-inspired poetry anthology that Jared Beloff is editing for the Daily Drunk Magazine. I suppose I like to make people feel a range of emotions with my poetry: light and dark."

9. What’s the best writing advice you’ve been told or happened to overhear? Or what writing advice would you offer?
"Be true to your voice and write like you speak. Also, know your audience. I think it’s really important to find your people."

10. And finally, what do you enjoy doing that you don’t talk about enough. Tell me all about it!
"I enjoy spending time alone. I know that’s not something a lot of people admit. But I’m an only child, and I love spending time with my thoughts. I get more joy out of reading and writing than just about anything else. I also love watching movies and going for long walks—especially when there’s a light rain. I’m also obsessed with scent. I could spend hours in the forest, in an old bookstore, or in a place like Aftel Archive of Curious Scents. I sometimes make my own fragrances. I had considered writing a book of poetry with accompanying scents for each poem, but thought it would likely be a publishing nightmare. Maybe I’ll do it anyway one day. If anyone wants to collaborate on that, I’m open."  
 

Hear Nicole read her poem "On Reading Poems, I Now Sympathize with Daughters of Dead Mothers" on page 45 of The Blue Mountain Review.

Nicole Tallman is a professional writer and poet. Born and raised in Michigan, she lives in Miami, serves as the Poetry Ambassador for Miami-Dade County, an Associate Editor for South Florida Poetry Journal and Interviews Editor for The Blue Mountain Review. Her debut chapbook, Something Kindred, is forthcoming in January 2022 from The Southern Collective Experience (SCE) Press. Find her on Instagram and Twitter @natallman and on her website nicoletallman.com.

1. When did you start writing?
"I’ve always written in some form or other. Poetry has always been my own personal therapy, ever since I was a teenager. Going into adulthood I had a number of writing projects or ideas kicking about in my head— children’s books, novels, short stories— but nothing much ever really came from it. Then CoVid happened and I caught the virus and was in a very bad way for quite a long time. I spent my hours rewatching period dramas and rereading regency and victorian classics that I grew up on. From there I segued into reading some retellings of classic novels like Pride and Prejudice, and fell down the Fanfiction rabbit hole— very happily I might add, there are some really talented writers out there! 

I connected with another writer who encouraged me to have a go myself. I did, and my retelling of Elizabeth Gaskell’s 'North and South' was a hit with readers and, most importantly, taught me that I had it in me to be a writer, and that there was space out there in the world for my art. Then, towards the middle of the pandemic I found myself on the recieving end of quite a few personal losses and traumatic experiences, and the poems just began to fall out of me. At that point I hadn’t written poetry in years, but my experience writing and publishing fanfiction gave me the confidence to send my poetry out for publication. Selcouth Station, a small but brilliant UK based indie press were the first to publish me, and the rest is history. My audience has grown steadily, and there’s nothing more rewarding that having someone reach out to you to say your work resonated with them, and that they found comfort, or consolation in your words." 

2. What is your method of writing? Notebooks, computer?
"I don’t have the wrist strength to write by hand, although I would love to! I plan novels and outline short stories on paper, but the actual piece is always written on my computer or phone. I’m a busy mum, I homeschool my kids, run a small business, and teach part-time, so time is of the essence! 

I tend to jot down poems or stories in my Notes app on my phone, and the rest of my work is organised in googledocs just because it’s easier to manage and share. I write whenever I get the chance- during my kids' TV time, while the pasta boils, during swimming lessons or dance class. But one of the key steps in taking myself 'seriously' as a writer was carving out time just for writing. My Tuesday afternoons and Wednesdays are childfree, and those are my set-in-stone writing hours each week. During my writing time I am not to be disturbed. Unless the house is on fire, or someone has lost a limb..."

3. Where do you draw inspiration?
"From everything and anything. Music, Ludovico Einaudi, Violeta Parra, Caetano Veloso, Kaya. Other works of literature, classic or otherwise. From people I see on the street, stories I hear, nature, the countries I’ve lived in. From the depression I battle constantly, the minute struggles and moments of sweetness in each day, my daughters, my body, my ancestry. From crippling compassion for a world that is, more often than not, going up in flames. From my faith, my beliefs, my sense of justice. From my past— what it has been, what it should have been. From the future— what I would like it to be. What it most likely will turn out to be."

4. What drew you to writing poetry?
"As I mentioned, poetry has always been my personal therapy. But discovering the small-press and indie-poetry world has ben life-changing for me. I discovered forms and subjects I never even knew existed. That is what I love about poetry— everything can be a poem! It is the most flexible literary form out there, and this somehow makes it the most powerful. Nothing can punch you in the gut like a good poem. Nothing can move you to tears in one line, then have you belly-laughing in the next like a poem. Nothing can convey so much feeling in so few words as a poem. 

I honestly think I can’t not write poetry. Even as I move on to other genres and projects, I don’t think I will ever completely leave poetry behind. Even now as I’ve finished my first full-length collection I’m already starting to work on poems to go into another two chapbooks. To me poetry is like that old, well-worn cable-knit jumper— no matter how many other new clothes I buy, nothing ever fits quite as right or feels quite so warm."

5. Congrats on your debut poetry collection! How did Cajoncito: Poems on Love, Loss, y Otras Locuras come about? When did you realize you had material for a book? 
"Thank you so much! It’s been quite a ride! Basically I had a wealth of very personal poems that I wasn’t sure what to do with. I honestly didn’t think anyone would be interested in them, as they were so raw and intimate, I doubted anyone else would be able to relate to them. I had written other poems about language, race, motherhood that I thought were more 'marketable,' so I tried to focus on writing about those, but the poems for Cajoncito just kept coming- poems on love in all its forms, loss of lovers, children, friends, family, my own identity… soon I had enough for a chapbook, and then a full collection.

It was my husband who encouraged me to do something with them. 'If your work is good,' he said, 'you should put it out there.' So I did. I curated the poems into a collection, separating them into 3 chapters of Love, Loss and Madness (Otras Locuras). By that point there were almost an even number of English and Spanish poems, and a few of my English-speaking beta readers suggested I include translations so that every poem could be enjoyed by readers of both languages.

And so 'Cajoncito' was born. The name means small box or drawer in Spanish, and that’s exactly how I see these poems— pieces of myself that deserve their own little space to exist and tell their story, before I put them away forever for safekeeping. There’s a continuous thread about moving on throughout the collection, and I guess that’s what the book is about— acknowledging things, and gathering the strength inside of you to move past them."

6. You do a wonderful series on your author page where you interview writers. How did this come about? What got you interested in spotlighting writers for your blog? 
"I love the small-press community! It’s full of creatives making wonderful art because they can’t do otherwise, and for very little or no money at all! I’ve come across such an admirable work-ethic, such dedication to the craft, such artistic integrity in this community that I want to do all I can to promote those doing such great work! 

The idea just popped into my head one day. I asked myself 'What is my platform? What is my reach? And how can i use it to help other artists like me?' But I must confess it is more work than I first thought, so I keep my interview series limited to only a number of authors at a time. So far I run two series #EMCWriteroftheMonth showcasing poets and writers, and #EMC6Things which aims to promote authors and their books of poetry or prose. I’m hoping to run another series in the next few months."

 ​7. What other project(s) do you hope to take on someday? 
"I have a queue of projects in my head that should tide me over for the next 10-15 years at least! I have a few more poetry collections in the works, and some short story collections. After Cajoncito I do want to get back to my victorian retellings— I have 4 novel-length ones mapped out, which I will publish under a different pen name. I also have a few children’s books series, a children’s poetry podcast and a few bilingual picture books I would like to get a move on with. I started drawing my own webcomic about motherhood and depression, so I’d like to pick that back up again, although I’m not sure where I’ll be going with it. And at some point I’d like to start writing some contemporary women’s fiction— I have about 5 novels based in France and Mauritius, outlined and ready to be written. There’s also 2-3 plays, and an environmental science-fiction screenplay I’d like to write a produce into a film."

 ​8. What do you hope people take away from your work? 
"I hope my poetry speaks to the reader, that a line or two stays with them for a few days after they’ve read it. That they find something of themselves, something hopeful that says 'you’re not alone in what you’re going through. Tomorrow, the sun will rise again, and so will you.'

As for the rest of my writing, quite honestly I just hope they enjoy it. That they find whatever it was that brought them to my story/book/play/film in the first place."

9. What’s the best writing advice you’ve been told or happened to overhear? What writing advice would you offer?
"The best writing advice I’ve ever come across is from Chilean author Isabelle Allende who said 'Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up too.' You can’t always wait for moments of great inspiration to come upon you- sometimes, oftentimes in fact, you’ve just got to plough through.

In the same vein the writing advice I usually give is 'just write the thing, and worry about how good it is later.' That’s what drafts and editing are for. Although a reminder to 'Be kind.' is also often needed in the writing community, unfortunately." 

10. And finally, what do you enjoy doing that you don’t talk about enough. Tell me all about it!
"Gosh… I don’t know… I guess I do love crafting my entire life into an act of quiet rebellion against the system of the world as we know it. I love being creative, championing kindness, compassion, and forgiveness even if it’s not fashionable. I love striving to live a slow life, even though I am always so excruciatingly busy. I love homeschooling my children, letting them wake and sleep and learn and play at their own rhythm. I love having a household routine that is out of the norm, loving my people, my projects, my plants and whatever else comes across my path. I firmly believe that the life I lead, and everything I do is my message to the world— and I work hard at making it a good one!"


​
Hear Elizabeth read her poem “Unwelcome.” 

​Elizabeth M Castillo is a British-Mauritian poet, writer, indie-press promoter. She lives in Paris with her family and two cats, where she writes a variety of different things under a variety of pen names. In her writing Elizabeth explores themes of race & ethnicity, motherhood, womanhood, language, love, loss and grief, and a touch of magical realism. She has words in, or upcoming in Selcouth Station Press, Pollux Journal, Revista Purgante, Feral Poetry, Streetcake Magazine, Fevers of the Mind Press, Bandit Fiction, Epoch Press, among others. Her bilingual, debut collection “Cajoncito: Poems on Love, Loss, y Otras Locuras” is available for preorder from her website, and for sale on amazon as from Oct 29th 2021. You can connect with her on Twitter and IG at @EMCWritesPoetry.

1. I heard you made a new poetic form and it’s included in your chapbook. Tell me about it! How did you create a new form?
"Actually, for self-portrait as poems about bad poetry, I used pre-existing forms! A couple are newer--to poetry or otherwise--but the rest are more common. For example, couplet stanzas, general free verse, and prose poems are often utilized throughout the chapbook. As for the newer ones, there’s one poem that’s a burning haibun--but with water imagery as opposed to the traditional fire imagery--which was created by torrin a. Greathouse; one poem is in the style of contrapuntal; also, one poem is in the style as a choose your own adventure. It’s certainly not a new concept since there’s been a book series (and now board game series!) created by Chooseco since the late 1970s. Its influence is prevalent in other writing, namely Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House and Netflix’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. I started writing that particular poem, In Which Your Poems Were a Choose Your Own Adventure, in 2019. It was originally supposed to be a character chapbook, but I got too caught up in the minutiae that I worried it would 1) be an outright trademark infringement and 2) too intricately confusing given my skill set and understanding of poetry at that time. I wasn’t really in the place to write a whole chapbook with that conceit, and I’m not sure if I even would be ready now. Anyway, I wanted there to be a mix of more 'traditional', in the contemporary sense, forms and a sprinkle of the experimental/newer forms to best explore the mechanics of poetry in BAD POEMS. 

However, if you’re curious, I do have an original form or two in my next poetry chapbook, Trick Mirror or Your Computer Screen, which is all about tech, trauma, toys, and transformation all circumgendered by the wild west of the Internet. I don’t think I can discuss the fine details as far as a release date goes, but it is forthcoming."

2. Songs in your head while writing this chap?
"So, I leaned heavily into music for Trick Mirror or Your Computer Screen, but for BAD POEMS, I didn’t. Actually, I don’t recall music being an impactful element for the book. Instead, I was reminiscing on other popular culture phenomena from my youth, such as Luigi’s Mansion on the GameCube, Disney’s Pocohantas and The Little Mermaid, Tokio Hotel (yes, the band, but more so the concept of them rather than a focus on their music), Blockbuster, and more." 

3. Tell me a story behind one of your favorite poems in this collection :)
"I don’t have a favorite poem, really, but I do have a favorite story of a poem in the chapbook! One of the first three poems was written when I was 17 years old. I wrote it for A Chapbook Which Will Not Be Named (that isn’t its name, and if you know, you know, but now I’m taking it to my grave) that I was so sure of as a high schooler. I thought it was going to change the poetry scene. It’s really really funny how grandiose teenagers think sometimes. Anyway, it was for a chapbook concept I thought would really take off. I was right and wrong on that, but my chapbook was certainly not it. A few months before I decided to piece BAD POEMS together, I was searching into my main three chapbooks I wrote in high school to figure out the merit, if any, behind them. One of my colleagues has copies of two of them, and he kept trying to assure me that they were good, especially for their time, but I didn’t (and still don’t really) see any merit behind any of them. Except for one poem. So, I plucked that poem from the old manuscript, pared it down a little, and modified one word which changed the whole conceit of the poem. Thus, it was placed in BAD POEMS." 

4. Why did you decide to self-publish your collection? 
"So, the poem I’m talking about in the previous question...well, it’s not the only poem I wrote when I was younger and repurposed it for BAD POEMS. There’s a lot about this chapbook that rings true of a DIY aesthetic with how much I’ve pulled from older writings, drafts. Almost as if this poetry chapbook is more of a scrapbook than anything else. So, I highlighted that and ensured it was a design-heavy book. Because of that, I really wanted total control of the chapbook--design, especially, but also the pre-order campaign and selling platform. The thing about publishing with a publisher is that while it’s still your book and your brand, it’s also under their brand, too. Your chapbook will definitely be branded by your publisher/the publishing house, even if it’s something as small as their logo in the front or back matter and their standard typeface. However, a publisher can help build your author platform and/or vice versa. It’s a symbiotic relationship, at heart, and it’s a great path to choose, but it’s certainly not for every single book out there. I didn’t want BAD POEMS to rely on a relationship between author and publisher; I didn’t want any other branding than a branding fully suited for BAD POEMS. I’m lucky enough to have a small (but mighty) platform, partially in thanks to my magazine (the winnow magazine), which is one of the few reasons that it was possible to publish this chapbook. Anyone can certainly self-publish, and it’s also totally valid to just do it for yourself and/or those close to you. But if you’re hoping to distribute it widely, you’ll either need a publisher or a platform. Both are king if you want it to be distributed to as many people as possible. Anyway, this has turned more so into a tangent than anything else. All I meant was that I required at least a small platform to do what I sought out to do. Ultimately, I decided to self-publish this chapbook so I could have the final say on everything and because I want it to reach the people I currently reach now." 

5. And finally, tips for how you would arrange a manuscript of poems?
"This is a great question because it’s tough to answer. It all really depends on the manuscript itself, such as what is it setting out to accomplish, what are the overall themes (or just one theme), what/how many poetic forms are being utilized, etc. Not all chapbooks need sections. Not all chapbooks need to be a tete beche. (I’m calling myself out on those two.) But, if you’re writing a poetry chapbook, there should be something to thread it together. A theme, an overall conceit, a narrative. My best advice is to understand that and adjust accordingly. I haven’t written a full-length collection or micro-chapbook before (or successfully), so I’ll refrain from any advice on that one." 


​Pre-order self-portrait as poems about bad poetry via Rachael's author page. 


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Hear Rachael​​ read their poems "In Which You Write About Ghosts and Bodies" and "In Which You Said You Wouldn't Write About Him." CW: difficult relationships/suggested sexual abuse for ​latter poem.

Rachael Crosbie is the Editor-in-Chief & Founder of the winnow, poetry editor of Dollar Store Mag, and poetry reader for Persephone's Daughters. They have a BA in English Literature from Waynesburg University and a MS in Publishing: Digital and Print Media from New York University: School of Professional Studies. Rachael has two chapbooks with ELJ Editions, Ltd.: swerve and MIXTAPES. Their next work of poetry, Trick Mirror or Your Computer Screen, is forthcoming with fifth wheel press. You can find them on Twitter @rachaelapoet posting about She-Ra and The Princesses of Power, squishmallows, and cats.

1. Why did you start writing?
"I am a huge daydreamer, especially when I get bored—I wish I had a more impressive origin story than that! I wrote my first book (and the novel that landed me my agent) during breaks while I was working as a lifeguard at a community pool. I would sit next to the (usually empty) pool for entire shifts at a time, and the only way I could keep myself from going insane with boredom was by getting really into these stories inside my head, and eventually I started writing them down on my breaks. I’ve always been someone who staved off boredom by telling myself stories; there’s just something so alluring about that elite level of daydreaming where you get this whole plot and characters in your head. At least, I find it super addictive (and here we are, with me trying for a writing career)."

2. Where do you draw inspiration?
"I feel like the thing that jolts the best story ideas loose from my brain is always some very stupid or fantastical ‘what if’ question. I love urban fantasy and speculative fiction, anything that takes real life and makes it weirder. I feel like I’m just wandering around and I’ll have these oddball thoughts, like ‘what if this gas station was haunted’ or ‘what if the ghost in my apartment was nice, actually’ or ‘what if the back door to this diner led to another dimension.’ For me, when I can take a scenario that’s really fun and weird and combine it with a character who would hate to be in that situation, that’s when I know I’ve got a story going. I love combining something normal with something weird and kind of twisting them together – and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t (but you’ll never see those drafts 😉). "

3. What is your method of writing? Notebooks, computer?
“Oh, laptop all the way. Between you and me, I have pretty scraggly handwriting. Back before the pandemic, I commuted by bus and would do most of my writing on the bus ride, which is funny because I definitely get carsick. Just imagine me, 22 and in my first city on my own, trying to write a story at 7 am while also trying not to puke on the pristine shoes of the businessman sitting next to me. But I am definitely a digital writing girl – I change my mind too often to put words down in ink!”

4. You’ve published a novel this year, congrats! How did The Follower come about? When did you realize you had material for a novel?
"Thank you! The Follower is actually a bit of an atypical publishing story. Although it is technically my debut novel, The Follower actually isn’t an original novel of mine, but a commissioned book that I wrote for the publisher, Amulet Books. (Basically how that works is that sometimes, publishers will want to publish a book with a certain plot—in this case, they wanted a social-media-based thriller—so they hire an outside writer to make the novel happen).

At this point in my writing career, I had just sent my first novel—the lifeguarding novel, from question #1, actually—on submission to editors, and it had failed to sell, which was… rough, honestly. But because I was still with my agent, she let me know that Amulet was looking to hire someone to write this book, so I was able to successfully audition for the project. From there, the publishers gave me an outline and I pieced the book together. It was definitely a huge learning experience for me – both in terms of the book writing and in terms of just existing in the publishing industry (so many firsts – first time being on deadline, first time writing to plot points that weren’t mine, first time navigating a relationship with contracts and an editor). While I’m glad that The Follower is finished and definitely learned a lot from it, I would still love to publish an original novel one day—that’s the ultimate dream."

5. Talk to me about AuthorTok! What got you interested in joining, and how do you come up with topics for videos? 
"Truly, nothing makes me internally panic like someone from other parts of my life learning that I have a TikTok, lol. Publishing The Follower made me get on writer social media for the first time – I joined twitter to be able to promote the book, but after getting inundated with everything ‘business’ about the twitter part of writing, I was looking for a spot online where I could exist as a writer and also just… be myself.  And, I mean, I was already spending too much time on the app, so why not? I am hardly an influencer – I have, like, 12 followers, haha – but I think the key to having fun online is just embracing the fact that sometimes the only person who is going to think that a video is funny is me, and that’s perfectly fine."

6. On your author page, you link a Spotify playlist called “New Book Jams.” Can you say a little on what you’re working on now? Also, how did you pick those songs?
“I am the kind of person who can’t do a anything without making a themed Spotify playlist about it first. The playlist is for my latest novel, which will (hopefully!) be going on submission sometime this fall. It’s an urban fantasy set in Washington, DC (where I work! – hence all that writing on the metrobus), and my elevator pitch is ‘It’s march madness for wizards and someone is rigging the tournament.’

I absolutely adore this playlist, and writing playlists in general. I always make one, they help me get in the mood for writing on the days when I wake up and simply don’t want to do it. The fun thing for me is that these playlists become timestamps of all my favorite songs from the years that I was writing and editing that manuscript. I actually finished editing my current WIP while listening to the playlist from that first book I wrote while lifeguarding, which was a cool, full-circle moment for me. I hope it brings some good vibes 😊

In terms of song selection, I feel like I have three general categories – 1) songs that I think capture a mood I want to tap into (usually angst, lol) 2) songs that describe relationships between characters (this is also usually angst) and 3) songs that make me happy or make me just want to nod my head to the beat while I’m writing, because sometimes that’s all that keeps me going haha.”

7. What other project(s) do you hope to take on someday? 
"Of course, I would love to get an original book out there someday! And I have absolutely been falling in love with the short story community on twitter – it’s been such a great way to grow as a writer and make some writer friends. I would say that one of my goals is definitely to get out there and build community, so if you’re reading this, feel free to DM & say hi 😊"

8. What do you hope people take away from your work? 
"This might sound lame, but I kinda just hope it’s fun. I always write for some sense of escapism, and that’s one of the main reasons that I read, too. I do find that, inevitably, some real world things that I feel strongly about manage to worm their way into my stories, but hopefully in a way that manages to keep that element of the fantastic alive and interesting."

9. What’s the best writing advice you’ve been told or happened to overhear? Or, what writing advice would you offer?
"I’m always looking for tips on how to balance writing with school, jobs, life! The best advice I’ve gotten is to try and strike a balance that is sustainable. Treat it like working out – by which I mean, make sure you schedule days of rest and prioritize having a social life and existing as a person who isn’t just a writer. When I asked him about work-life balance, author Jimmy Cajoleas (paraphrased here, of course!) was kind enough to tell me to ‘make sure it’s fun, because otherwise, I mean, what’s the point?’

I’m really trying to focus on sustainability as I prepare to dive into more writing projects. But it can be hard! And if you haven’t struck the balance, that’s OK too – you’re in good company. Every time I meet another author, I like to ask them how the heck they manage their work-life balance, and every single one of them says something different, followed by ‘but I haven’t figured it out yet.’"

10. And finally, what do you enjoy doing that you don’t talk about enough. Tell me all about it!
"Lately, I’ve been trying to embrace having hobbies that I am… not good at. I like to boulder, make beer, and attempt to play musical instruments (all with varying degrees of success). I’ve also been getting more into graphic design and art lately, and I’ve been having a TON of fun with it. 

But, most importantly, now that it’s the fall, I’m SO excited to get back into bread baking and start making every soup recipe that I can get my hands on 😊 If you are a soup person and want a recipe to start, here is one of my favorites – and if you have a soup recipe, well, my DMs are open."


Hear Kate​​ read her flash fiction piece "Dentata Non Grata."

​Kate Doughty is a writer who loves all things strange and magical. When she's not daydreaming, you can find her tweeting at DoughtyK2 and online at katedoughtywrites.com.

1. When did you start writing? 
"Like many writers, I started early. I wrote a picture book when I was six which was my first experience with creative writing. I got really inspired by a talk our elementary school class had with a visiting author. He told us that writing was something we should want to quit but couldn’t, and I felt like that was one of the first times I really identified with another person.

A fourth-grade friend and I wrote poetry together, so I really have her to thank for getting me started as a poet. More serious fiction writing started happening around 7th or 8th grade and continued for many years, with fits and starts, until I decided to leave my graduate program in philosophy and become more serious about creativity. More recently, I took a break from writing to deal with real life issues and came back in October 2019."

2. What drew you to write poetry?
“In addition to collaborations with Liz as a child, my parents and I employed poetry as a love language, writing each other poems on special occasions. In my teenage years, poetry became a way to connect with others in my friend group and express my identity—and, as for many, emotions and problems I couldn’t quite manage. Poetry was one of my favorite genres, and even though my education was quite traditional and limited, I loved getting lost in Poe, Blake, and foreign language poets like Rilke, Lorca, and Borges. However I became really discouraged in college and even in my MFA program. I took a guilty pleasure poetry workshop on the side because I felt like I would never be good at poetry, but I couldn’t quit writing it. So I boxed myself in as ‘solely’ a fiction writer and poetry as a ‘hobby.’ 

When I returned to writing in 2019, I felt freer to explore my interests and primarily came back as a poet. I took a workshop in early 2020 where our motto was “run towards what scares you” and for me, what scared me the most was trying my hardest and still being terrible at poetry. So I ran towards that.”

3. What drew you to write prose?
“I think imagination encapsulates it, as well as the many many wonderful books I read especially as a child. I wanted to create that type of immersive world you could get lost in, characters you could resonate with. Even when the canon writing was flawed, I’d find myself returning to those lands in my imagination over and over again. Growing up as an adoptee, I was hungry for representations of myself that could fill this gap I perceived in my world. I had no words to even begin to express this, but I knew I could read and, for a time, forget myself.” 

4. Where does your inspiration come from? 
“I go through periods of input—sometimes repeated input—and output. When I feel my way into a kernel of an idea, I get a good instinct for what I need to see or do to close the loop. I’m working on a Loki/adoptee prose poem at the moment and I’m watching old Marvel movies. I’m not even sure what I need to see in them, but I know there’s more material there I can unlock if I go over to that place.

I used to be someone who forgot inspiration quickly and thought you needed to be inspired to write, but graduate school and juggling a million other things broke me of that.” 

5. On your author page you say you had originally intended to become a professor. Instead, you pursued creative arts. What lead you to this decision? 
“It might sound a little morbid, but in my doctoral program I came to a fork in the road and I asked myself, if I die without doing this which will I regret more? I realized that I had always wanted to pursue arts and music, but I had always thought they were not practical enough. I got my heart broken, actually, in classical music before I applied to MFA programs. I couldn’t pursue that dream, so I turned to writing instead—that makes it sound lesser, but writing, visual art, and music have always been tantamount in my life. 

However, philosophy has been an enormous benefit to me. I don’t have a traditional writing education in many ways, but philosophy is all about distilling language, analyzing structures, establishing a way of seeing the world, and using metaphors and concrete details to explain big abstract ideas. So I don’t consider that a waste.”

6. What do you hope people take away from your work? 
“I hope that others will read my work and be as inspired as I was—not just to write, but to exist. That they’ll find some essence of belonging there, some reflection of themselves or a place they’ll love and want to revisit. I had so many struggles with my own existence in so many ways; I want to put that on display not as trauma porn, but to assert autonomy in my own personal story, and lead others by example. I see so many writers leading the charge into a better world, and I hope to be part of that.” 

7. Currently, you are an editor at Chestnut Review, Uncharted Mag, and The Hanok Review. You’ve also worked at other magazines. What have these experiences taught you so far? Has it influenced your writing? 
“I cannot describe how wonderful it’s been to collaborate with authors, readers and staff to publish amazing new work and pitch in at lit mags. It’s taught me so much about working with and respecting others, not just their writing but as people. And it has both honed my own critical eye towards my own work and my appreciation of the editorial process. I don’t like it when editors don’t exercise basic courtesy towards submitters on the one hand, and I don’t support that, but I also know how little time editors have and how much lit mags are labors of love. So although I expect some standards to be met like informing submitters of rejections, being transparent with their guidelines etc., I also know how many good pieces we have to reject and I can shrug after a rejection and move on.” 

8. What other project(s) do you hope to take on?
“At the moment, I have my hands full just trying to work on the projects I have now. I keep pushing my timelines back, which sounds bad, but it’s because I’m learning so much and expanding on what I thought was possible for me. I’m working on a literary science fiction microchap/chapbook about adoptee identity, space travel, colonization and climate, my main poetry chapbook on adoption, and I’ve recently come back to writing a novel project as part of GrubStreet’s Novel Generator. I’d love to write a speculative poetry chapbook on Korean and Korean American identity, especially centered around women. I have a couple other hybrid chapbook ideas in the works, as well as some mind worms for an essay collection. So maybe what I should really work on is either getting super rich and quitting my day job, or cloning myself so one of me can just dedicate time to writing and not worry about like, emptying the dishwasher and spending quality time with other human beings!”

9. What’s the best writing advice you’ve been told or happened to overhear? Or, what writing advice would you offer?
“A philosophy professor once told me never back down, never apologize. This was really bad advice for Maria the potential professor, but it was great advice for Maria the human being. I think you can own anything or break any rule in writing if you do it well enough, so you should keep becoming more you-like, if that makes any sense. Now, I’m not saying to hurt others and/or own your mistakes, and I’m also not saying to just mythically believe in yourself above all else and never take feedback or conventional wisdom. But you need to stand your ground somewhat and have a vision for your work. If you bend and bend eventually you will break; you will quit writing or give up on the project that’s the most important to you, because that one is the most painful to work on.”

10. And finally, what do you enjoy doing that you don’t talk about enough. Tell me all about it!
“I love online lessons, workshops, and classes—not just about writing but about almost anything. I’m the type of person who is sad when they’re not actively learning new stuff, sometimes too much stuff at once. But I’ve learned a lot of valuable skills I can apply to my writing, hobbies, job, and/or all of the above. My friends always come to me if they need help with finding classes, degrees, upskilling, etc., and I love recommending stuff to them and giving advice. 

If I had more time and money I would have a zillion certificates, degrees, and random credentials. I already do have way too many compared to the normal person. There are a couple courses I’d like to complete on EdX this year, a couple tracks in language apps, continuing my language lessons on sites like Italki, and of course I’m signed up for seven writing workshops—thankfully, mostly one-offs!—as well as the Novel Generator. I have a Trello to keep track of it all so I don’t overcommit in time and/or mental energy, and that’s even with not being able to afford a lot of interesting opportunities that I see. I love researching these kinds of things and I kind of thrive on the chaos of it all. I had a very demanding undergraduate experience and I’m used to balancing a lot of things at once. So, definitely reach out if you need my help with writing programs, opportunities, specific workshops etc. I love talking about this!”

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​Hear Maria​​ read her poem "Prose Poem for Representation."

Maria S. Picone is a Korean American adoptee who won Cream City Review’s 2020 Summer Poetry Prize. She has been published in Ice Floe Press, Bending Genres, Whale Road Review, and more, including Best Small Fictions 2021. She has received grants from Kenyon Review, Lighthouse Writers, GrubStreet, The Watering Hole, SAFTA, The Speakeasy Project, and others. She is the prose editor at Chestnut Review, poetry editor at The Hanok Review, and associate editor at Uncharted Mag. Her website is mariaspicone.com, Twitter @mspicone.