You can change the way that you’re thinking and the way that you’re seeing, even just for a second. There’s this alchemy that happens when you’re reading a poem. First of all, poetry is such an old, timeless art form and I don’t see how that would ever go away because it’s lasted for so long. But then the bright side of that was seeing everyone’s pushback on Twitter and the conversations it sparked. I’m sure that you saw the article that The New York Times published a while ago about the death of poetry…Why do you think poetry is still worthwhile? We tend to think that poetry is only admired in the coastal cities where all the big magazines are, but it’s beloved everywhere. That feels really surprising in a good way. I’m always struck by how many random people will take the time to drive to a reading for someone who they don’t know personally. A couple of months ago, I was in Indianapolis and then Portland and Las Vegas for poetry events. I had thought, “Even within this little sector that I’m in, it’s such a small niche.” Then, after the book came out, once I could do events in-person, I did a lot of traveling. I didn’t realize how many people in how many different places actually enjoy and care about poetry. What has been the most surprising thing you’ve encountered so far? I was very lucky to be nudged by excellent, enthusiastic professors all the way who told me “You can and should keep doing this.” Later, in college, I decided to study literary arts as well as environmental science, pursuing that same early combination of writing and the outdoors. That’s the first time I was like, “Oh, you could be a Capital P Poet? That’s a real thing to be?” That was a moment where something clicked.
We saw all these real-life poets, and it seemed so glamorous.
I had a really amazing teacher in my sophomore year of high school who took us to the Dodge Poetry Festival in Newark. Then I think in high school is when I started to seriously consider writing and literature as my path. I would fill up composition notebooks with short stories about my brother for fun.
I spent a lot of time outside and always loved reading and writing. I grew up in suburban New Jersey, a very green grass, bike ride, cul-de-sac childhood. To start, I wanted to know about your background and how you got started writing poetry.
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