Lana Crossman : part one

Lana Crossman grew up in rural New Brunswick and now lives in Ottawa, Ontario. Her debut chapbook, Buoyant, at last, will be published by Rose Garden Press in fall 2022. Lana's poetry has appeared in untethered magazine, FEED, FERAL, flo., The Light Ekphrastic, Bywords, G U E S T, and Apt613. She won Carleton University’s Lilian I. Found Award for Poetry (2020), and was on the shortlist for the John Newlove Poetry Award (2018). 

How did you first engage with poetry?

Like many people I studied poetry in high school and the loved the idea of the Romantic poets wandering the English countryside. But I think my earliest appreciation of poetry came through song lyrics. Growing up in rural New Brunswick, I was mostly exposed to folk, country – and even Baptist gospel music. So often the songs evoke feeling through a simple story - and that’s something I carry into my work today.