Jill Mceldowney : part one

Jill Mceldowney is the author of the forthcoming chapbook Airs Above Ground (Finishing Line Press) as well as Kisses Over Babylon (dancing girl press 2016). She is a cofounder and editor for Madhouse Press. Her previously published work can be found in journals such as Vinyl, Fugue, Half Mystic, Whiskey Island, and other notable publications.

What are you working on?

At the moment, I’m finishing what ended up being a very difficult, emotionally draining project. Part of the project is forthcoming this Fall from Finishing Line Press in a chapbook entitled “Airs Above Ground” which is very exciting.

In this chapbook, I occupy a space that directly encounters familial abuse, violence, and its direct implications on the female psyche, body, spirit, and relationships with the Divine. In truth, it is poetry I never saw myself writing, never really wanted to write, and I spent most of Fall 2017/Spring 2018 paralyzed with anxiety over it.

In finishing this manuscript, and seeing this chapbook through to publication, I’m just trying to have fun with writing again, enjoying the process, exiting ‘revision mode’, and trying to figure out what I want to write about next.