Poet Karen Rigby joins me today to chat about her new collection titled, Fabulosa.
Bio:
Born in the Republic of Panama, Karen Rigby now lives and writes in Arizona. Her latest poetry book is Fabulosa (JackLeg Press), which was named by Ms. Magazine as one of its Best Poetry of ’23-’24 selections. Her debut poetry book, Chinoiserie (Ahsahta Press), was selected by Paul Hoover for a 2011 Sawtooth Poetry Prize.
Karen’s work has been honored by a National Endowment for the arts literature fellowship, a Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, and an Artist Opportunity Grant from the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council. She is a 2023 recipient of an Artist Opportunity Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Her poetry is published in journals such as The London Magazine, Poetry Northwest, The Oxonian Review, and Australian Book Review.
What do you enjoy most about writing poems?
I love the search for language. The unusual juxtaposition of words, sounds, connotations, and patterns all come to mean more than I had anticipated. I also like the illusion involved in conjuring, seemingly, out of thin air. Also, too, the deliberate nature of a poem appeals to me, because it reveals my own thinking process. My favorite part about writing is revision.
Can you give us a little insight into a few of your poems – perhaps a couple of your favorites?
“Kissing Booth,” in my latest collection, uses the idea of a vintage fairground kissing booth. From the inivitational and flirtatious, to the lighthearted (there’s an Olive Oyl mention!) and on through the serious, by the poem’s finish, it’s an experiment in shifting through multiple tones. I’m also partial to “Walking Down Millionaire’s Row,” about Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh, where I once lived, and to “Lady with Glove,” a sustained contemplation of William Adolphe Bougereau’s painting that tries to explore what seems so ominous about it.
What form are you inspired to write in the most? Why?
Each poem takes on the lineation that seems necessary to that poem. A poem might appear in couplets, tercets, a column, a double-column, fragmented sections, or even as a prose poem. I don’t decide this ahead of time. Deciding is partly instinctive, partly according to how a poem sounds out loud, to my ear, and partly down to how it feels as a visual arrangement on the page.
What type of project are you working on next?
A book of poems focused on one theme and its many variations.
When did you first consider yourself a writer / poet?
I don’t know that I always do! It’s not a mantle to wear. Sometimes “writer” is a job that pays. More often “poet” does not. To be more serious: it’s been a long pursuit, since the first grade, and I expect to remain an apprentice forever. Even if it looks like I might know what I’m doing, every new poem demands the same attention as though I were beginning all over again.
How do you research markets for your work, perhaps as some advice for not-yet-published poets?
I look at the acknowledgment pages in the books of writers I respect and admire, whose sensibilities seem close to my own. I look at new online journals with fresh designs that appeal to me, and at international journals, also. For the not yet published, read widely. Look through directories and find out which journals are stocked at your local library or bookshop.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
That I don’t force the work.
As much as you might hear that you shouldn’t wait for inspiration, and should be disciplined, and write daily, or aim for volume (or anything similar)…let the the field go fallow, if you must. Trust that the writing does return, even if the interval in-between projects turns into years.
As long as I’m paying attention and absorbing what feeds my writing, it won’t be time lost. Because I will have changed in the interim, too, and will bring those changes to bear on the new work whenever I begin again. Being a writer is as much about life perspective and wisdom as it is about putting words to a page. There are poems that won’t be written until I’ve caught up to them.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer. I used to type stories on an old Olympia typewriter. I’d visit libraries and wonder what it might be like to have a book on the shelves.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
We make a study out of what we love. Deep attention across time, reading, failing, and the act of writing will show you far more than any “how to.”