Another interview originally from Freshette; Kristina Marie Darling’s Footnotes to a History of the Victorian Novel is out next month from Birds of Lace:
I love writing prose poems about classical music, which can be found in e-chaps from BlazeVox Books and Gold Wake Press. New work is available or forthcoming in journals like Gargoyle, Cider Press Review, Miller’s Pond, Puffin Circus, and Pear Noir!. I’m also a poetry critic, and have reviews and essays appearing (or soon to appear) in Pleiades, Shenandoah, The Colorado Review, and The Gettysburg Review.
For me, the best part of the creative process is that it brings you into contact with other artistic people, so you’re constantly being exposed to new ideas. While most of the time I write alone, I find that learning about other people’s work is integral to my own process as a poet. There’s nothing more inspiring than seeing other writers flout the rules, revise literary traditions, or modernize old forms (like the sonnet, the ghazal, or the pantoum). For me, it’s great to be reminded of what’s possible in a poem.
I have this fear that every poem I write is going to be my last poem. I think part of that comes from stereotypes about artistic people, who supposedly sit around by themselves waiting for the inspiration to strike. When I start feeling like this, I try to remind myself that the best artists aren’t passive, and they certainly don’t work in isolation. Writing is like a conversation with other creative individuals, and there are as many ways to join in as there are people.
5 Recommendations:
1. Janus Head, a journal of interdisciplinary studies in continental philosophy, literature, phenomenological psychology, and art
2. Futurepoem Books, a fantastic publisher of experimental writing
3. Souvenirs of a Shrunken World, a book of prose poems by Holly Iglesias
4. Friend Among Stones, Maya Pindyck’s first book of poems
5. Night is a Good Child, an album by Crooks and Children