A Prose Take
If you like the material in my new book, this is another way to experience it.
People sometimes ask me how I started writing poetry.
It just kind of happened, starting when I was in high school. I had read poetry in school and at home, and when I wrote it myself, it gave me a place for ideas and feelings I just could not express otherwise. I also tried my hand at short stories but found I lacked the patience for explication and felt poetry was more satisfyingly direct and concentrated and suited to what I wanted to say. I kept going with it, majoring in Creative Writing with a concentration in Poetry in college, getting some early encouragement in the form of the annual prize given at my school, and publishing individual poems throughout my young adulthood. Motherhood changed the focus of my work and brought me new opportunities, like becoming a Visiting Poet in our local school district in Arlington, Virginia.
Fast-forward to the pandemic, which is when I finally undertook reaching a life goal: getting my MFA in Creative Writing. Of course, what one writes and thinks about at middle age is different than what one thinks about as a young adult, and I was increasingly consumed with understanding my family history and the place where I grew up. As my poetry sometimes became more and more narrative at times, I decided I needed to try actually writing creative non-fiction and took some excellent courses with Kyoko Mori during my MFA studies.
One result of that work was a 26-page essay I published in Tupelo Quarterly in 2025 called “Not That Walden.” One of the interesting challenges and opportunities I had in writing the essay was covering material I had been writing about in poetry for decades. Whereas poetry requires us to pack emotion into every word, prose allows for a slower and more complete and logical unpacking. However, it was a fascinating process to combine historical and sociological data with my family’s personal story and allowed me to do things in the essay that I could not with my poetry. I was really happy with the result.
Many readers also find prose accessible in a way that they do not always find poetry, and I have been really gratified and inspired by the very positive feedback I have received from people on the essay. The name of the game for me as a writer is connecting with others, and whether I can do that best in poetry or prose remains to be seen, but it is wonderful to feel like I am able to use my pen effectively in both genres.
So if you liked The Enchantress Queen and The Ghost Who Made Me, my first poetry collection, please feel free to dive into “Not That Walden” to get a fuller picture of some of the events from that time and place.
