Blackbird ArchiveTracking the Muse
Since 2007 we have invited contributors featured in our annual Introductions Loop to comment on their creative process. This year, Colin Bailes, Hayley Graffunder, Danielle Kotrla, Rebecca Poynor, Waverley Vesely, Caitlin Wilson, and Brandon Young step up to the task.
Colin Bailes
Hayley Graffunder
Danielle Kotrla
Rebecca Poynor
Waverley Vesely
Caitlin Wilson
Brandon YoungColin Bailes reflects on how his poems begin as fragments of feeling and image collected before finding their form.
FeaturesSplintersHayley Graffunder reflects on the tension between narrative and lyric in her poems, including one written after a childhood friend's mother died.
FeaturesThe ‘Invisible’ PathDanielle Kotrla reflects on how moving from Richmond to Georgia for a philosophy PhD and taking up trail running reshaped her writing process.
FeaturesLiminality, Place, and PoetryRebecca Poynor describes how her poems typically begin with tension and are grounded in a strong sense of place.
FeaturesPhenomenological Thresholds of Art, Poetry, and PerceptionWaverley Vesely reflects as a trans-nonbinary writer on how gendered meaning shapes their engagement with the body in art and writing.
FeaturesInvisible MountainsCaitlin Wilson reflects on writing two poems during the early COVID-19 pandemic while struggling to find creative meaning.
FeaturesThe Places We InheritBrandon Young reflects on how his rust-belt Midwestern upbringing among factories and pollution shapes his poetry.