Lesley Wheeler : part five

Why is poetry important? 

Each strong poem creates a pocket universe you can travel to for a while. I can handle this world more resourcefully when I don’t feel trapped in it.

Lesley Wheeler : part four

What other poetry books have you been reading lately?

I’m writing about Samiya Bashir’s Field Theories, from 2017. Two new books that left strong after-impressions are Paisley Rekdal’s Nightingale and Hai-Dang Phan’s Re-enactments.

Lesley Wheeler : part three

What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?

Staying weird. It’s so easy to fall into familiar patterns, but the best poems are strange and surprising.

Lesley Wheeler : part two

What do you feel poetry can accomplish that other forms can’t?

I’m more willing to contemplate wrenching subject matter through poems than novels or film; poetry’s brevity makes the pain of feeling with others easier to face. I really DO get the news from poems.

Lesley Wheeler : part one

Lesley Wheeler’s forthcoming books are the poetry collection The State She’s In; her first novel, Unbecoming; and a suite of hybrid essays, Poetry’s Possible Worlds. Poetry editor of Shenandoah, she lives in Virginia.

Photo credit: Kevin Remington

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?
I’m more thoughtful than I used to be about the work a poem might do in the world. I so appreciate poems that feed hope and insight. I hope my writing does that, too, at least sometimes.