In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Jean McDonough
Your nonfiction piece, “Vanishing Point,” expertly braids painting and Cubism techniques, specifically Picasso’s Guernica, with a turbulent childhood, layered within the reality and metaphor of driving. What was the spark that made you blend these together? How did...
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In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Sam Stokley
What was the spark behind your poem, “Ark/ee/awl/uh/gee,” that appears in Volume 27? The spark was an ancient, buried loneliness that hit me while I was at home on an average day. Other disabled people might experience a similar feeling at times—knowing that every day...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Amy Pence
Your poem, “Red Oak, Black Oak” blends nature and family into a real family tree. Where did the inspiration for this piece come from? Thank you for these questions, Jenn. I wrote the poem looking out a picture window in my previous home. I faced 100 acres of woods: in...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Rob Arnold
Your pair of poems, “Chimera” and "Chimera" speak to growing up, terror, and a cycle of life and death. What was the impetus for these poems? How did they evolve from single poems into a pair? These two “Chimera” poems are, in fact, part of a longer sequence...
In the Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—April Darcy
Your fiction piece, “The Bright World,” is about a daughter losing her father to cancer, and how she’s trying to balance her own life, a complicated friendship, and caretaking. How did this story come about? First, thank you for reading and for asking such...
In The Field—Conversations With Our Contributors: Anne Piper
Your poem, “Already all the ghosts,” is a beautiful and haunting look at pre-grief. The speaker compares their past to the present, and looks ahead into the future. What made you write this poem at this time? I wrote this poem in February of 2023, when old age and...
In The Field—Conversations With Our Contributors: Christopher Gaumer
It’s always wonderful to have a graduate of our MFA program in Water~Stone! What sparked the creation of your poem, “On a Farm in Iowa?” Hi, Jenn! It’s wonderful to be close to Hamline again through Water~Stone! My family lived in Perry, Iowa until I was nine. My mom...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Davi Gray
Your poem, “Caravan of Wounds,” crafts a dramatic setting and builds a world where pain and injury are clearly visible. Where did the inspiration for this piece come from? I have consumed a lot of dread-inspiring media, more written words than anything else, but it...
In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—Samantha M. Sorenson
Your work, “How to Eat an Elephant” creatively blends the idea of consuming both information and food. Can you talk about what sparked you to write this piece? The journey of writing “How to Eat an Elephant” began when I started working toward recovery for my eating...