Pyre006

Kathy: When did you know that you wanted to write poetry? Did you try other genres first?

Jess: I began to seriously think about poetry in the 5th grade (American system). I didn't have many friends and I was picked on a lot in elementary and high school so when the Language Arts teacher announced that we would be reading poetry and everyone else in the class started groaning and/or complaining bitterly I thought: If they don't like it, it must be good. When I was very young I wrote stories about talking spiders on construction board with crayons. In college I tried submitting my poetry to magazines for publication but I did not get any acceptances. Then I discovered twitter fiction and that really helped me hone my craft, strip all the superficial fluff and really think about words. I didn't start having my poems published until January of this year.

Kathy: What was your earliest influence for writing?

Jess: Three things, I think: my mother's encouragement to read everything I could get my hands on, animals and travel. The first time I got on a plane I was three years old, my mother received several teaching grants that took her to Panama, Central America and I got to tag along. Seeing a different culture, living in a different house for a few months out of the year, the warm climate and being around the ocean really played with my head in a good way. I am a huge animal lover and as a child I would make up stories about what the animals did when all the people weren't looking.

Kathy: Is there a certain genre you prefer to read? Feel free to introduce us to your favorite authors.

Jess: Zombie literature (Mira Grant), speculative/surreal fantasy (Catherynne M. Valente, Maureen F. McHugh), old school scifi (Frank Herbert, Alfred Bester) and if I could choose only one form of poetry to read for the rest of my life it would be haiku. My favorite haiku poet is Issa.

Kathy: What brought you to the Flame?

Jess: I saw the Flame in the LJ spotlight in the fall of last year and I decided it would be a really good idea if I tried the contests.

Kathy: Tell us about your latest project that was published.

Jess: On July 11 the micro zine Short, Fast, and Deadly published a themed issue in response to the oil spill in the Gulf. Editor Joseph Quintela introduces the issue: "In May a darkness was unleashed by our greed. Into the sea. Into the abyss of solitude. I offered this theme with the hopes that the Short, Fast, and Deadly community of writers and poets would be brave enough to wander, nay wade, into that blackened sea. And contemplate." My piece is a 420 character flash fiction story about Charybdis, the giant boat munching whirl pool in The Odyssey, jumping out of the ocean and flying into space. You can read it here: http://www.shortfastanddeadly.com/issue-31-11-july-2010/

I also edit and publish a twitter based fiction and poetry zine called trapeze magazine. I feel that micro fiction is a widely underestimated genre and while the twitter zines already in existence are phenomenal, I felt there should be more so I made my own. I publish 140 character surreal/speculative science fiction, fantasy and horror only. trapeze does not cater to mainstream literature. Stories and poems are published every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at http://trapezemag.wordpress.com and on twitter at http://twitter.com/trapezemag

Kathy: When you're not reading, writing, working and tending to family, what other activities do you like?

Jess: Between 2006 and 7 I lived in England and my boyfriend at the time (now my husband) taught me how to play darts. We could spend *days* in a pub throwing darts at the target. The first time I actually won a game was at our wedding reception (yes, in a pub). Now that we live in Arkansas there aren't a lot of places to play darts and still have a cheap night out so we don't do that much anymore but we're going to save up money for a dart board at some point. I don't have time to do much, now that I've started grad school but I really enjoy going on dates out to eat or to the movies.

Kathy: Do you have a five year plan?

Jess: I have a two year plan that consists of having enough material to circulate one full length poetry manuscript (60-80 poems) and one chapbook to various publishing houses. I'm almost finished with the chapbook in that I think I only need three or four more poems shy of a unified entity and it would be really awesome if I could find a publisher for that this year. But in two years time I hope to have at least one book published and to have begun a career teaching creative writing to either college students or prisoners.

Kathy: If I were to give you a million dollars with the instructions to disperse it to your favorite charities, what charities would you choose?

Jess: Animal Rescue, Defenders of Wildlife and Panthera: partners in wildcat conservation.

As I said before, I am a huge animal lover. I get along with some animals better than I do people and I know loads of people who I would throw under a bus to save an animal's life. I believe that as intellectual beings we have a responsibility to take care of our planet and every creature on it. I know there are a lot of wildlife/pet charities out there, these are just the ones that popped in my head first. If I could, I would donate to all the charities that are trying to conserve natural habitats everywhere. Animal Rescue supports pets and wild animals, visit their website www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces and you can donate half a bowl of food to an animal shelter for free. They have concrete, up to date information on domestic and wildlife issues all over the country and sell awesome merchandise, the purchases of which also help towards donating food to shelters. Panthera is an amazing organization that focuses on big cat conservation all over the world. Defenders of Wildlife supports environmental and animal conservation and are one of the many wonderful charities working in the Gulf.

Kathy: Would you write a poem for me? Prompt: Blue skies. Take it where you may ;)

Jess: I used your prompt "blue skies" to write a two thirds gahazal (there are only 4 couplets, not five) about a little girl named Blue Skies who lives in a world whose oceans have been destroyed. I would love to read comments and criticisms.

Was The Ocean

It was night, Blue Skies ran to the spot that was the ocean.
Hopped across puddles of sludge to the spot that was the ocean.

Here is nothing but desertion. A black morass.
A red sea swallow's ribcage dissolves on its way to the spot that was the ocean.

Death is a horseshoe crab digging a nest; one of many.
pilgrims fall on their faces at the spot that was the ocean.

One little girl alone on the beach.
Blue Skies counts the cries to the spot that was the ocean.

 

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