This Choice is Who You Are has been my mantra these past years: a mantra for becoming the person I want to be. I believe that choosing to live with the attention that poetry demands is a good start.
In the Podcasts, I look to other artists to learn from their experiences.
I ask poets how their work with poetry influences the choices they make in their daily lives, and how these, in turn, affect their sense of self and their relationships.
How are they using the experience of art to shape The Good Life for themselves?
Molly Gaudry is the author of the novel-in-verse We Take Me Apart, which was shortlisted for the 2011 PEN/Joyce Osterweil award. It was also the 2nd finalist for the Asian American Literary Award for Poetry.
Molly has an MA in Fiction, an MFA in Poetry, and is currently pursuing a PhD in experimental fiction. She is the founder of Lit Pub.
Desire: A Haunting is the soon-to-be-released sequel to We Take Me Apart, also from Ampersand Books.
Poems read or referred to in the podcast:
“You Fit Into Me” by Margaret Atwood.
Molly reads an excerpt from We Take Me Apart (Ampersand Books – originally published by MudLuscious Press in 2011).
Her chapbook Wild Thing (The Cupboard, 2014) is also mentioned.
Original music and artwork by Karl R. Powell.
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In some ways I believe poetry is a flowery way of being passive aggressive, particularly when I write “negative” or “dark” prose. What surprises me is that when I go back to those pieces they speak to me. I am the audience, or I can’t remember whose energy I was channeling. Poetry seems to be universal that way, despite having a clear vision of the muse at the time of creation. In short, I redirect the energy into a different form. It relieves me and it is selfish. I don’t use that tool enough as of late. And I would like to be more positive and less selfish. But I am at the mercy of the muse as it comes and goes. I’m not sure writing poetry is a choice. Yet, I try to be responsible for the words I choose, knowing that they have power as they turn to thought, and may manifest into reality.
Really interesting thoughts here! I think I used to write for revenge (in my teens) – going to go back to my old journals to see…