Lauren Bender : part five

What are you working on?

As of late, I’m mostly editing and submitting existing pieces. That also includes working to construct a chapbook of poems that focus on appearance, clothing, and fashion, and the way those intersect with personality development and mental health. When I use the word fashion, I mean in the broad sense, because I am definitely not a person who is “fashionable” or in touch with what is “in fashion” at any time. But I am very drawn to certain styles and to the idea of using clothing as a form of speech; I think everyone does that, to an extent, but perhaps more so those who are introverted or socially anxious and struggle with directly speaking to others. There are so many ways clothing can send clear, loud messages about what you want, need, like, and/or feel. I really got into this about a year ago after reading Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, and Leanne Shapton. That book was a pleasant surprise, as I was expecting it to be a light, casual read, but it ended up truly fascinating me and generating a ton of poetic inspiration.

Lauren Bender : part four

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

Answer 1: I think all forms can (and do) blend together – so we have the joy of prose poetry, novels in verse, visual poetry, and all other kinds of hybrids. In that sense, in the sense where other forms borrow poetry, essentially, they are also borrowing what poetry can accomplish. Answer 2: poetry in its “purer” iterations has a roominess and space and more air. It allows you to slow down. It compels you to slow down. So while prose might feel sometimes like rushing through a busy city (which can be both overwhelming and exciting), poetry is a calmer, quieter walk, maybe down a less populated path, one where you’re going to want to mindfully pause from time to time to appreciate your surroundings.

Lauren Bender : part three

What other poetry books have you been reading lately?

I’ve been reading online lit mags more than anything else lately, but one book I have been engrossed in for a long time (at least a year now!) is Shira Erlichman’s Odes to Lithium. That book is a masterpiece, and I have not actually finished it yet. I keep having to set it aside, because it’s so amazing it overwhelms me. It’s definitely going to join the ranks of my top 10 favorite books of all time.

Lauren Bender : part two

When you require renewal, is there a particular poem or book that you return to? A particular author?

Absolutely, and what/whom I return to depends on what kind of renewal I’m looking for. For heart, vulnerability, I go to confessional poets, especially Anne Sexton (my original favorite, the first poet whose work I fell in love with) or the incredible Naomi Shihab Nye. For playfulness with language and musicality, Marvin Bell (The Book of the Dead Man and Ardor: The Book of the Dead Man Vol 2) or Amy Clampitt. I love the grab bag feel of anthologies, too, especially ones centered around a theme (like a nature / ecopoetry anthology), and I often dip into lit mags for inspiration in the same way. The weirdness of the work in Diagram always gets me going, for one.

Lauren Bender : part one

Lauren Bender is a queer poet living in Burlington, VT with her wife and rudely adorable gray cat. Her work has appeared in IDK Magazine, Yes Poetry, Nat. Brut, Rogue Agent, Wine Cellar Press, and others. Her poem “#wife” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Pittsburgh Poetry Review. You can find her on twitter @benderpoet.

How do you know when a poem is finished?

I never feel fully committed to the idea that a poem is finished (until, perhaps, the poet is no longer alive?), since it comes from a person, and the person is not finished. I usually see my poems as snapshots of moments in my life, but in (mostly) a more internal sense, like a snapshot of my state of mind at that moment – a particular period of my life, state of wellness, mood, level of talent, body of knowledge, etc. So there is a fixity implied in that (you could say that draft is fixed/finished), but I’m not the same person, looking back at them, and I want to make alterations, to try to integrate those selves with my current self, I suppose. I have often made changes to poems even after submitting them or having them published.