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...
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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—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...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Cheryl Clark Vermeulen
What inspired your poem, "Patriarch"? Thank you for your astute questions about my poem! It is lovely to have great listeners. My inspiration for “Patriarch” was very much influenced by work meetings, whether corporate, academic, or otherwise organizational,...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Josh Nicolaisen
Your piece, "Sometimes I Walk Barefoot Through Freshly Tilled Soil," wraps up Volume 27. Where did the inspiration for this piece come from? Yes, and thank you so much for such a prized spot in the journal. I was truly awed and honored when my copy arrived. I...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Abie Irabor
In your poem, "Movie Star," you create a spotlight of excitement surrounding a parent coming home. What sparked this poem's creation and the comparison of the homecoming to a celebrity? This poem's creation originated from a short story I wrote back in Graduate...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Jennifer Bowen
There are so many facets of your nonfiction piece "Just the Song." Where did the spark for this piece come from? The pressure to write it came while watching my kid perform in Cabaret on the day of Donald Trump’s first inauguration. It was haunting to watch my son’s...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Lisa Higgs
Your two poems, “About Nothing” and “Pandemic Dreams” are beautifully-worked pieces. Where sparked the creation of these pieces? As one might imagine with “Pandemic Dreams,” I wrote this poem at some point during the lockdowns or soon thereafter. I don’t think I was...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Bill Marsh
In your piece "Water Striders," you emphasize the steps involved "in learning, once again, how to love." Where did the idea for this piece come from? I wrote the first draft in early 2021, deep into COVID, when life was unstable on many levels. At the time my wife and...