In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Jenifer Browne Lawrence
Your poem from Volume 26, “Reading Alone in a Square Room,” is a tightly-crafted, highly imagistic piece that leaves readers feeling refreshed. What was the inspiration behind this poem? This poem began with riffing off of the first line of John Donne’s poem, “The...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Bryan Price
Where did the first spark of inspiration for ”Unidentified flying object” come from? It’s hard to say now, but I think it has a lot to do with politics and history. I think it has to do with being disappointed with this country’s present and the future of this...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Ty Chapman
You have two poems in Volume 28: ”They Tried to Bury the Neighborhood” and “My Middle Name is Christian,” both of which deal with colonialism and white-perpetuated violence, but in different ways. Where and when did the spark for these poems come from? As to where the...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Suqi Karen Sims
Your fiction piece, “Fungirl,” takes the idea of mycelium network and puts it in a child-shaped body, telling the story of a chef who uses those mushrooms from this creature to create dishes. This work is both beautifully written and disconcerting to read. What...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors— Kathleen Kimball-Baker
Your poem “The Mushers' Daughter” speaks of a running girl in a picture. What sparked the creation of this poem? Is there an actual picture it was based on? Yes! I saw the picture on Facebook. I’m friends with the daughter’s parents, Iditarod veterans Jennifer and...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Kim Blaeser
When was the moment you realized you needed to write “Wars and Small Wars,” your nonfiction piece in V. 28 of Water~Stone highlights the violence that women face on a daily basis? When did the war comparison develop? Honestly, the essay sneaked up on me. Old incidents...
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...