What’s your creative process like? Why do you write?

It’s fairly undisciplined, and I wish I did have more of that drive and dedication to sit down and write more regularly. Between different jobs and interests, going back to school for my Master of Social Work, and life in general, I find it hard to make time. Sometimes I worry I’m not serious enough, but then I’ll get some inspiration and write down an image, or idea or fun sounding line, and I’ll return to that seed to try and grow a poem.

How do you push through creative blocks?

I need to get away from the internet. There have been a few places (cafes etc.) where I lived over the years that do not have internet, so I leave my phone at home, take my laptop and an old pocket, single book, encyclopedia I found at a book sale. I page through it and get struck by something, and start to write…sometimes it will be fruitful, other times not so much, but it gets me going again.

Give us some background on the pieces you contributed to this issue.

“Universe” became a poem after many years of dog ownership. I walk my dog, Lulu, a lot, and because she carries her tail in a curl, her butthole is exposed. I realized during one walk, after a particularly short haircut, just how much I look at it – it’s like this lodestar, guiding me through life. I love when something seemingly gross is beautiful, and I wanted to capture that.

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