poetry mini interviews

How does a poem begin? Typically a poem begins as I hear it—in a fury, somewhere between clear thinking and the subconscious. Many take ye...

How important is music to your poetry? It is a subject I have given a lot of thought. If when you’re writing or conveying a private moment...

What do you find most difficult about writing poetry? I have no problem of consciously entering a state of utter delirium, but I have a pr...

How do you know when a poem is finished? That’s such a hard thing. It’s hard to know. Sometimes a poem’s penultimate line is the last line...

How did you first engage with poetry? Through my mother first. World literature and poetry from the Romantic movement—specifically from th...

Russian-American poet Stella Hayes is the author of poetry collection One Strange Country (What Books Press, forthcoming in 2020). She g...