In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Jey Ley
“Relume” is a beautiful poem that blends this idea of fireflies and relationships. Where did this idea stem from? Inspiration for the poem came from Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. I first learned about the author and book four years ago from the Overlooked No More...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Michaela Chairez
Your poem, “On the Eucalyptus Trail” starts off with the powerful sentences, “I tell my friend the city is a whitewashed tomb.” What was the inspiration for this piece? The inspiration behind this piece is based on my hometown. I have a love/hate relationship with the...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Johnny Cordova
Where were you when you first had the idea for “Li Po took a driving test?” What inspired this poem? Where did the impetus to use the title as part of the piece come in? It was the last day of a generative workshop with Jose Hernandez Diaz. I’d had a poor night of...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Amanda Chiado
“The Carrying Kind” is a beautifully descriptive poem. Where did the inspiration for this piece come from? My brother lost his infant daughter, and it is an all-encompassing grief, an unbearable grief, that no one knew how to process or “carry.” I desperately wanted...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Felicia Zamora
You have two poems in Volume 28 of Water~Stone, "lEcogodliness” and “Always Incomplete." In "Ecogodliness," what drew you to use brackets instead of parentheses? In the full collection of poems, Ecogodliness is a series with all the same title. This particular...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Christopher Citro
Your poem, "Why Our Bathtub Sparkles," is about a couple preparing to have guests over—but deeper than that, about connection and community in a shifting world. What inspired this poem? Thank you for this opportunity to respond to your questions and for your reading...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Steve Castro
You have two poems in Volume 28 of Water~Stone, “Postcard from the Central American Town I grew up in before I learned to speak English,” and “Most likely an imperative from a Confederate soldier’s descendant.” How did these poems come about? Long titles, huh? “Most...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Victoria Blanco
I love the storytelling in your nonfiction piece "Corn-Yellow Light." You did a lot of research for this piece. How did you sift through everything to create a narrative? What was the process like to piece together your research into something that flowed? I sifted...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Alice Paige
What inspired your poem, “An Untitled Hunt?” Where did you draw the title from? This poem is centered around the miracle of survival and the expectation of violence and death to be visited upon the creature deemed huntable. The “untitled” aspect of this poem looks to...