Lannie Stabile : part five

Why is poetry important?

Poetry is the diary we drip tears into when our crush doesn’t like us back. It’s the drywall we drive our fist through when we can’t afford rent this month. It’s the best friend who tirelessly encourages us to shower when the only thing we want to do is dissolve into the ocean. It’s the stranger we smile at when, for once, everything is going to plan.

How can a tether to the fucking world not be important?

Lannie Stabile : part four

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

Yes! One hundred percent! When I first started writing poetry - in 6th grade - every poem had four lines, five stanzas, a rhyme scheme, and a goofy subject matter. Think: 12-year-old Russian spies and dog bite lawsuits. Total fluff. I had no idea how to extract the juicy childhood trauma bubbling within my body. However, in the past 20 years, I’ve learned the subtle art of excavating my own hot guts. Which means I’m still sad, but now I’m also vulnerable. And people can relate to that.

Lannie Stabile : part three

How do you know when a poem is finished?

Because I’m a perfectionist, because I’m ever improving, because I’m often a murderer of good things, I don’t know if a poem is ever finished. But, at some point, I just have to let go.

Lannie Stabile : part two

How does your work first enter the world? Do you have a social group or writers’ group that you work ideas and poems with?

Simply put, I do my best to translate an idea to Google Docs, then beat the hell out of it. I’ll work it and rework it until I’m either terribly proud of the piece or sick of its face. In either case, I’ll often pass it on to some trusted friends. In fact, there’s a couple of guys, Jason B. Crawford and Rota, who give me incredible feedback. The three of us co-founded a poets’ group called The MMPR Collective, and I don’t think my skill would be half of what it is without their guidance. I also have to shout out Madeleine Corley, who is in charge of Poetry over at Barren Magazine. She’s a phenomenal editor and has gotten me through some tough writing moments.

Lannie Stabile : part one

Lannie Stabile (she/her), a queer Detroiter, often says while some write like a turtleneck sweater, she writes like a Hawaiian shirt. A finalist for the 2019/2020 Glass Chapbook Series and semifinalist for the Button Poetry 2018 Chapbook Contest, Lannie's first published collection, Little Masticated Darlings, is now out with Wild Pressed Books. Individual works are published/forthcoming in Entropy, Pidgeonholes, Glass Poetry, Okay Donkey, and more. Lannie currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Barren Magazine and is a member of the MMPR Collective. She is a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee.

How does a poem begin?

A poem begins with a whimper, I suppose. Or perhaps that red-hot wave of ire undulating behind my ears when I watch the news. Maybe it grows fat and vibrant from an infinite field of anxiety. I’d even go as far as saying a poem begins in a bog of defeat.