katie o’brien : part one

katie o’brien is a poet, community worker, queer activist, and Netflix enthusiast originally from St. John’s, Ktaqamkuk, on unceded Beothuk land. they are the founder and editor of blood orange, an experimental poetry tarot. a peal of thunder, a moment of (The Blasted Tree, 2019) is their third chapbook. katie dislikes lying, sings a lot, and doesn’t kill bugs.

What are you working on?

in late 2019, I decided to stop dreaming about a project that I’d been mulling over for a long time and actually jump in: I launched an experimental poetry tarot called blood orange. the idea is to publish a poem for each of the cards of the tarot, both upright and reversed, and I’m amazed at the positive reception it’s garnered online. I’m already scheduling poems into 2021! so, I’m currently working on reading submissions, editing pieces, corresponding with the phenomenal collage artist doing visuals for the online deck (Hannah Reilly), tinkering with website code, and figuring out how to make the whole thing financially sustainable (if you’re stoked about the project, you can find and support us on Patreon!).

in terms of my own writing practice, I’m really in love with concrete work right now. I published a chapbook with The Blasted Tree last year, and I think it may be the beginning of a full-length collection, if I can find anyone interested in publishing 100 pages of weird musical squiggles.