In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Ernie Reynolds
In your flash fiction, "The Sergeant’s Daughter," you’ve built a tightly-knit piece that revolves around a man’s relationship with his to-be wife over the course of 10 years, and her father. Where did these characters come from? The characters come from fragments of...
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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...
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...