LatinosUSA

NF: Tell me about your personal writing journey. What drew you into writing?

KM: I remember as though it were yesterday, the moment I realized I wanted to be a writer. It was a Friday. I had gotten up early to put the finishing touches on a poem I was excited to submit to my middle school’s newspaper. The satisfaction of finding just the right words to express myself fully was nothing less than exhilarating. Perhaps it’s in my DNA. My father was not only a writer but a poet. He would stay up into the wee hours working on his poems.

NF: What attracted you to short-form/experimental poetry?

KM: I grew up as an insufferable goody two shoes, doing everything by the book and seeking approval. It has taken decades for me to shrug off expectations. However, I’ve found myself in a place where I can’t help but to be true to myself. Though some of my experimental work may feel ever-so-slightly out-of-reach, none of what I write is gratuitous or weird for the sake of being weird, though true absurdism is something I’d definitely like to explore. My greatest challenge in this lifetime is to come to terms with the meaninglessness of existence. Since I’m not there yet, it’s via discordant images and juxtapositions that I tend to make sense of the world. I feel things deeply, and conventional symbols simply fall short in processing what I can’t unknow. 

NF: Tell me about your writing process and what sparks your poetry (for example, life experience, prompts).

KM: Everything I write comes from personal experience or topics I tend to ponder. Relationship dynamics and existential questions are always on my mind. I’ll never have it all figured out, but through my work, I’ve come to understand myself pretty well.

NF: How did you choose the poems in Hushpuppy?

KM: I began by gathering many of the poems that are most meaningful to me; however, I quickly came to realize that, when viewed collectively, a narrative arc had emerged. The book begins with a touch of euphoria, which soon transforms into disillusionment and ultimately a tentative sense of acceptance and self-fashioned optimism.

NF: You have a magical way of combining words and images that wouldn’t seem to go together to make something new. What is your process to make this happen?

KM: Honestly, such pieces are a gift. They come unbidden and fully formed.

NF: Your short poems appear to be effortless creations. On average, how long does it take you to think about a poem, and how long does it take you to write it?

KM: The pieces that work come to me in a flash. It is as though they are born just as they are meant to be. That being said, I have written every day for decades and have poured buckets of sweat over pieces that will never see the light.

NF: Many of your pieces revolve around love and family. Please talk about how your personal experience percolates into your work.

KM: I’ve always been too honest for my own good. Even the collection of free verse I published in my mid-twenties was ripe with heartbreak, frustration, and too much tenderness. I’ve found that oftentimes readers are more empathic than one’s friends and confidantes. 

NF: Your poetry showcases your love of wordplay. It’s a bit like having tea with Humpty Dumpty. How do you go about choosing words (such as bumbershoot or cervixen)?

KM: I adore the sound of language. Sometimes I feel as though the cadence of words communicates more honestly than their definitions. For example, I desperately wanted a child with my husband, who simply wasn’t up for the endeavor, and those feelings of longing have ended up on the page over and over again. In order to leave that desire amongst all the other detritus of my life, I needed to become playful with it. Call me crazy, but a “bumbershoot” sounds more like a penis than an umbrella to me. As for “cervixen,” the merging of “cervix” and “vixen” came as a flash, but it was also the origin of my roller derby name, Sir Vixen.

NF: What are you writing now?

KM: I’m still writing lots of ku and free verse. Always will, I imagine. However, I’m finding the greatest satisfaction in teaching my cat, Jean-Paul, to write. In just a matter of months, he’s surpassed me on every measure of creative genius.

NF: Do you have any new projects in mind, and if so, what are they?

KM: Always! I’ve recently begun an absurdist novel, which I’ve wanted to write for quite some time. My husband and I are also preparing for the launch of our experimental short-form poetry journal, Bacon Grease on the Trapdoor. And, of course, I’m still writing ku, which remains a thrill as the form is constantly evolving.

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Kelly Moyer can often be found wandering the mountains of North Carolina, where she resides with her husband and two philosopher kittens, Simone and Jean-Paul.