In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Mary Jo Thompson
1. Tell us about your poem in Volume 20. How did it come to be? I dread that day each fall when all color fades to phantom. I wrote this poem with Keats’ ode “To Autumn” as a reference point, but instead of earnestly reveling in fall’s beauty, I decided to approach...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Deborah Keenan
Tell us about your poems in Volume 20. How did they come to be? There’s Nothing Wrong comes from considering what lying means, and also, as for many white writers, trying to understand through image how privilege works, or doesn’t. I also think about the power that...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Susan Power
Tell us about your short story in Volume 20. How did it come to be? A few years ago I was working on a play about rape culture—the heinous scourge of sexual violence throughout the world—writing in a variety of voices, exploring fictional characters from...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Ann Keniston
1. Tell us about your poem in Volume 20. How did it come to be? I have been thinking and writing (in scholarly ways) about post-9/11 poetry for years, but I could never figure out how to write a poem about that topic. Thinking about the Rapture as an...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Wendy Brown-Baez
1. Tell us about your poem in Volume 20. How did it come to be? The impetus for this poem came out of reflecting on a time when I was part of a group that traveled together.It is a compilation of places but Spain in particular. One young woman and I would...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Angela Morales
1. Tell us about your essay in Volume 20. How did it come to be? “Alive Girl Walking” is about a trip I took, alone, when I was eighteen years old. That trip basically shaped my view of the world as I entered college. There were moments in that trip that seem to me,...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Katrin Arefy
1. Tell us about your essay in Volume 20. How did it come to be? “On the Other Side” is the result of a lengthy contemplation. It began when I heard the news about my cousin, and it took about two years for me to finish the thinking process, find what was there for me...
read moreIn The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Melanie Richards
1. Tell us about your poem in Volume 20. How did it come to be? My poem “Late August, Uncomplicated by Desire” came about through a process of avoidance, meaning I was supposed to be cleaning my back bedroom, but instead I sat down in the rocking chair and hand-wrote...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Steven Harvey
1. Tell us about your essay in Volume 20. How did it come to be? “Another Way” is a lyric essay about the acceptance of life as it is, a letting go that opens new possibilities for discovery and love. I remember when I wrote it that I wanted to draw on a lively mix of...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Emily Tuszynska
1. Tell us about your poem in Volume 20. How did it come to be? My third child was born in the springtime. The weather was absolutely luscious, and I spent a few days cuddling her in bed as my milk came in and I recovered from her birth. We left the windows open day...
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In the Field: Conversations With Our Contributors–Linda Downing Miller
In The Field is a series devoted to highlighting the writing life and artistic process of our contributors. Tell us about your short story in Volume 20. How did it come to be? A threat of violence at my daughters’ school ended as a non-event, but the idea that we now...
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