to me, they have surprised me at some point in the process of writing them. I’ll often start with an idea of what I’m going to write about (maybe a specific event in my day, an old story, or a mood) and then I start to hear the lines in my head, and sometimes they go in a different direction than what I originally intended. I think that’s the magic of poetry—when your idea for the poem transforms into something unexpected that reveals new meaning.
confessional poetry. When I read poetry (or even fiction), it’s important to me that something is at stake, something I can get emotionally invested in. I think poetry can certainly have emotional weight without confession, but I think it’s a very powerful avenue that often gets a bad rap in academia. My poems aren’t always literally confessional. For instance, I have never set my brother on fire (as is suggested in “For My Brother on His Sixteenth Birthday”). However, I think there is usuOQ: The contrasts and convergences between the three Rachels ally a very honest emotion in my poems that is confes(in “Three Rachels”) are interesting, and suggest (to me) both sional of what I’m feeling at the time I’m writing them. the interchangeability and complete uniqueness of the individ- I think poems often get away from the original intention ual in matters of love. If there were three Stevies, what would I have for them, but usually when I follow the strangebe the main difference between them? ness that comes out when I’m trying to write, I think the EDWARDS: Well, in a lot of ways, I think the “Three poems become more interesting and complex. Rachels” are probably projections of my own attitudes about love. I suppose if there were three Ste- OQ: You’ve got a book coming out. Congratulations! Want to vies, one would be quite bitter about how past loves talk about that for a moment? have thought it was appropriate to treat me, one would EDWARDS: I do indeed have a book coming out— be apologetic for the bullshit I’ve put some past loves which still sounds weird to say! My first book, Good Grief, through, and one would be hopeful for the prospect will be coming out at Write Bloody Press in Spring 2012. of the next love. Maybe I should take that as a writing Write Bloody is doing really great things right now in the prompt and try to come up with a less cheesy answer. publishing world, and I am extremely excited to be a part of their talented and daring family of writers. I’m curOQ: If you were a Transformer, what would you become? rently working on continuing to revise the poems in that EDWARDS: Today, I would want to become a plane book, along with starting the manuscript for my second because I’m a little homesick for Chicago and wish it book and my MFA thesis project. were easier to get there. OQ: Orange juice—pulp or no pulp? OQ: Your poems masquerade as confessional poems, but their EDWARDS: I’ve recently become a fan of pulp. It surrealism and magic and strangeness make me feel like there’s just feels more wholesome to me for some reason. something besides confession, here. What’s the relationship be- Although, as long as it isn’t from concentrate, I’ll tween confession and poetry, for you? drink either. I probably love orange juice an abnormal EDWARDS: I personally have always been drawn to amount, actually. STEVIE EDWARDS currently resides in Ithaca, NY, where she is working toward completing an MFA in creative writing at Cornell University. Her first full-length collection of poetry, Good Grief, is forthcoming at Write Bloody Press in spring 2012. She also released her first chapbook, Pain Needs to Remember, at tiny house press in February 2011. She is the editor-in-chief/founder of MUZZLE Magazine and a proud alumnus of Real Talk Ave. in Chicago. Her work has appeared in several literary journals, including Rattle, Thieves Jargon, Union Station, Night Train, Word Riot, PANK, and decomP.
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