Installment #31
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The Habitual Poet is an ongoing series of contributor interviews. If you are a Poemeleon contributor and would like to participate copy & paste the Q's from below and e-mail your answers to: editor@poemeleon.org.
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Reading
Q: Where do you prefer to get your books?
A: Open Books in Seattle is my very favorite place to shop for poetry. They have every poetry book you can imagine, and it’s so fun to browse! I’ve found several wonderful out-of-print collections there that I really treasure.
Q: How many poetry books do you think you own, and what percentage of these have you actually read?
A: I have two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with poetry books, and I’ve read them all. I think it’s somewhere between 400-500 books. If I lived in a bigger apartment, I’d probably have more!
Q: When, where and how do you usually read? (i.e. at bedtime under the covers, cover to cover, etc.)
A: I like reading an entire book all in one sitting if I can. Anytime there’s available space in my life, I’m reading – doctor’s offices, in line for the DMV – you can bet I’ve got a book or two with me.
Q: What books of poetry have you read this month?
A: Mary Ruefle’s Selected Poems, Lisa Russ Spaar’s Glass Town, Dorianne Laux’s The Book of Men, Wreath of Down and Drops of Blood by Allen Braden, Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum.
Q: What other books/magazines/backs of cereal boxes have you read recently?
A: I have something of a magazine addiction, both literary and non-literary. They’re stacking up! Sometimes I’ll get into a kick of reading travel or cooking magazines. I’ve also been reading a ton of fiction about writing or writers – a lot of Lorrie Moore, Lucinella, Perfect Reader, How to Buy a Love of Reading, How I Became a Famous Novelist, After the Workshop, A Novel Bookstore.
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Writing
Q: When, where, how do you write, and why? (i.e. at dusk on a dock, longhand in a notebook, because...)
A: I’ve been composing poetry on a computer since I was in fifth grade. It’s probably for the best, since my handwriting can only kindly be termed “illegible.” I write mostly late at night.
Q: How many first drafts do you think you complete in a week? A month?
A: I write a couple of poems a month, on average. When I try to do more than that, they’re terrible. Sometimes I write five or six poems at a time, then nothing for two months. I try to write a couple of essays or interviews a month, too.
Q: How long do you wait before revising a poem?
A: I start revising right away. I never stop, even after it’s published. In fact, if you come to a reading if I do the same exact poem twice you probably won’t notice, but I’ll probably tweak the wording on the poems a little. It’s a habit that’s hard to stop.
Q: When do you know a poem is “done”?
A: A poem is never done, only abandoned. See above.
Q: Have you ever given up an invitation so you could stay home and write?
A: I’d be more likely to go out and then come home and write. I’m a night owl. I like socializing; it actually helps me to hang out with friends, especially writers and artists, to get inspired.
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Publishing
Q: What is your system for sending out work?
A: I wish I was better organized; I have an Excel spreadsheet, I read journals and send to the ones I like. I try to keep poems circulating, so if I get a rejection, I try to put together another packet to send out before too long. You can’t win if you don’t play, as they say about the lottery.
Q: What have you more recently received: a rejection notice or an acceptance? Was it what you expected?
A: Rejection. I’m something of a mad optimist, so I’m always unpleasantly surprised by a rejection. Though that feeling has dulled somewhat over the last ten years.
Q: Where do you generally publish: online, in print, or a mix, and do you have a preference?
A: I like both print and online journals. I wish more people would support lit mags financially, because I love having the artifact of a printed journal, but I like the fact that everyone can access my work online, too. An ideal journal would have a beautiful print edition AND a wonderful online presence.
Q: What is the worst (or weirdest, or best) experience you’ve had with a journal/magazine/press & its editor(s)? (No names, please!)
A: I plead the fifth.
Q: Have you ever received any fan (or hate) mail? If so, what was that like?
A: I do get e-mails – a lot of times from high school or college students, telling me what they liked about my book or a specific poem they found. I love it! I mean, that’s the reason I write – because I hope something resonates with a real-life person out there.
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Practical considerations
Q: What is your day job, and how does it affect your writing?
A: I teach part-time, do freelance writing, and occasionally other odd jobs. I’ve found teaching – well, not teaching, but grading – to take away a bit from my creative-writing-energy, but it’s worth it because (I hope) I’m building a love of poetry out there in the world.
Q: How does your significant other’s occupation affect your writing life?
A: Not much, except when he works from home – we have a tiny apartment so we literally have to stay on opposite ends of the place in order to hear ourselves think while we bang away at our computers. And he keeps me up to date on the techie side of the world. That’s a perk!
Q: Have there been periods in your life when you couldn't write?
A: Yes, but they’ve always been, mercifully, fairly short.
Q: Do you have a “poetry budget”?
A: Yes! I keep a separate bank account for poetry income and expenses. Of course, the expenses mostly outweigh the income, at least thus far. Some years I go to writing conferences, and other years I enter more contests. Remember: writing expenses are tax-deductible in most cases, so I encourage other writers to keep track of things like fees and stamps and printer ink.
Q: Have you ever suffered (or made someone else suffer) in the name of your art? (i.e. picked up your kids late from school so you could finish a poem, forgone lunch to buy a book, left a relationship because the other person just didn't understand, etc.)
A: I think I’m very lucky that not only does my husband support and encourage me in my own writing pursuits, he actually attends other poet’s readings with me and has a fairly good ability to discuss the critical aspects of writing. It makes marriage so much more pleasant when you can actually talk to your spouse about the stuff that’s bugging you – if I get stuck in a review I’m writing, if I feel like discussing some frustration with my manuscript. So, luckily, if the relationship has ever suffered because occasionally I lock myself in a room and write, I’ve never heard about it. (By the way, if you’re reading this, thanks sweetie!)
On the other hands, my cats are less understanding, and often sit on my poems and crumple them and put their tails on my computer keyboard when I write. Selfish little guys!
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Random nonsense
Q: Do you have any superhuman abilities? (i.e. can you tie a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue, or write a double sestina with both hands tied behind your back?)
A: I’m a supertaster, does that count?
Q: You write a scathing poem about your mother and she learns about it. You:
a.) Move to South America and leave no forwarding address
b.) Delete the poem and insist it never existed
c.) Show it to her (she’s already written you out of the will anyway)
d.) Do none of the above; instead you: _____
A: I have an eccentric but understanding family, so I’d make sure to send them a copy of the poem before I sent it out.
Q: If the best medical specialists in the world told you that if you didn’t give up your poetry habit today you would die in six months, would you get your affairs in order or would you leave that up to your family?
A: I would get another opinion!
Q: If you could be a vowel, which one would you be and why?
A: I’m more of a consonant girl. Like a T, or maybe an S. Vowels are easier to get along with.
Q: Finally, what piece of advice would you most like to share with our readers? (This can be on writing, the writing life, or anything else...)
A: Everyone tells you to read. I’d say be sure to read outside of your comfort zones – read physics articles if you’re afraid of science, read poems in a language you only slightly understand, read scholarly work on insects or Icelandic folklore or something you’ve never learned about. I think half of my poems come from this kind of trick – giving my brain something new to chew on.
Jeannine Hall Gailey's first book of poetry, Becoming the Villainess, was published by Steel Toe Books. Poems from the book were featured on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac and on Verse Daily; two were included in 2007’s The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. She was awarded a 2007 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Prize for Poetry and a 2007 Washington State Artist Trust GAP grant. Her poems have appeared in The Iowa Review, The Columbia Poetry Review, and Ninth Letter. She volunteers as an editorial consultant for Crab Creek Review and currently teaches at the MFA program at National University. Her second book, She Returns to the Floating World, will be published in 2011 by Kitsune Books.