Poet Lauren Martin chats with me about her new book, Night of the Hawk.
During her virtual book tour, Lauren will be giving away a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn participant. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
Lauren Martin is a psychotherapist, an award-winning poet, and a devoted Ìyânífá. She lives in Oakland, California. Lauren studied poetry at Sarah Lawrence College. She spent years writing without submitting her work due to a long shamanic journey, which led both to Ifá and to this collection of poems.
Welcome, Lauren. Please tell us about your current release.
Night of the Hawk was released in May 2024. It was published by She Writes Press, a press that is an advocate for strong female voices which feels aligned with the themes of this book.
What inspired you to write this book?
I have always written but never found the time to compile a book. In 2015, I was injured in a back procedure and became bedridden. I developed a complicated injury call a CSF leak. While I was laying in bed writing, my sister suggested I had the time and to try to submit my work.
Excerpt from Night of the Hawk:
Essentials of Man
Give me peace
Give me hope
Give me a soul
From which to stand
What exciting project are you working on next?
I have a new collection of poetry and an essay book I am trying to get picked up. The poetry follows similar themes of enduring illness, my parents’ decline, my love and concern for the natural world, my experience of misogyny as a woman aging in our society, and my experience as a seer in a world unfamiliar it. The essay book is psychological.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’m not even sure I do. There are so many great writers and I spend a lot of time reading. I dream my poems so I often consider them gifts from the spirit realm and it is difficult to feel ownership of them.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I do not write full time. I am a psychotherapist, poet and shaman but I think all these modalities (therapy, poetry and shamanism) hold depths of darkness and expression that are similar. I force myself to carve out time to write and turn off my phone in those times.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I have to listen to music when I am first writing but when I am editing, I need silence.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
The first female president, a professional baseball player and a magician. One ended up being true.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
My 87-year-old father came to my first reading despite having severe Parkinson’s and I was able to read After the Fall (a poem about him). I will never forget and always be grateful for that moment.
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