Beth Gordon : part five

What other poetry books have you been reading lately?

Kaveh Akbar’s Calling a Wolf a Wolf, C.T. Salazar’s This Might Have Meant Fire, Alicia Mountain’s High Ground Coward, Bianca Stone’s The Mobius Strip Club of Grief.

Beth Gordon : part four

What poets changed the way you thought about writing? 

Early on, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath in that I learned from them that no subject was taboo.  Later, Robert Haas and Mary Oliver made me think about how my poetry engages in the world beyond my interior. Charles Wright’s work also has a special place in my heart…I love the gracefulness in his poems.

Beth Gordon : part three

What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?

Making sure that I continue to evolve. I think this is true of all artists. I practice my craft and I go through a phase where I get proficient at writing a certain kind of poem – whether it’s form or subject matter or both – and then I explore that “type” of poem for awhile. Then I get to a point where I’m tired of writing that type of poem and I also feel myself being lazy. That period of time when I push myself to improve my craft…for me, it feels like I’m lifting something very heavy. Pushing to the next level is difficult…then I’m there and writing feels “lighter” again. Until the next plateau.

Beth Gordon : part two

How did you first engage with poetry? 

As a child, reading Mother Goose nursery rhymes. I am fortunate enough that I do not remember a time in my life with books and poetry.  I started writing poetry almost as soon as I could write. My engagement with poetry as an adult(ish) began in college and I’ve been fortunate more recently to engage with the wider poetry community that is online, including social media.

Beth Gordon : part one

Beth Gordon is a poet, mother and grandmother, currently landlocked in St. Louis, MO. Her poems have been published in numerous journals including Riggwelter, Into the Void, Five:2:One, SWWIM, Verity La, Califragile, Pretty Owl Poetry and Yes Poetry. She is the author of the chapbook, Morning Walk with Dead Possum, Breakfast and Parallel Universe, published by Animal Heart Press. She is also Poetry Editor of Gone Lawn.

What are you working on? 

I just had my first chapbook published: Morning Walk with Dead Possum, Breakfast and Parallel Universe (Animal Heart Press).  My second chapbook, Particularly Dangerous Situation, will be published later this year by Clare Songbirds Publishing.  Both those books dealt in some manner with my grief journey following the unexpected death of my granddaughter in 2013. I’m now writing a full-length manuscript.  It’s just starting to take form in my mind, but I believe it’s about trying to re-enter the world of the living.