1. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself (in general, but specifically as a writer)?

Hmm. I hate this question in general. You might say that my writing life began when I
enrolled in Introduction to Fiction taught by Leon Driskell. He literally taught me how to
read and to write and inspired me to take courses in creative writing. I continued to take
courses with Leon, who supervised both my undergraduate Honor Thesis and Master
Thesis. Meantime, I studied with Maureen Moorhead, who taught me the cumulative
effect of the poetic sequence, which I discovered namely through her Laura and Purple
Lady poems. From Sena Naslund I learned the beauty of the sentence and the usefulness
of imitating writing models in teaching. From Jeffrey Skinner, I learned not to overwrite.
From reading Sylvia Plath I acquired an obsession with assonance. I suppose my work,
now, is more underwritten than overwritten. I love the construction of a solid sentence. I
continue to write in sequences. And I consider assonance a coherence devise.

2. What inspired you to write poems about Alice from Alice in Wonderland?

I don’t think I began with Alice particularly in mind but the feeling of falling, which of
course leads one to Alice. She also seems to me to be very matter-of-fact and solid. Also
courageous. She falls, she shrinks, she meets nonsensical characters and keeps going
because she has a strong and stable mind of her own. I suppose she was my vehicle for
finding solid ground.

3. Is this your typical format for writing or does this differ from your norm? (The use of
pre-established characters, the brevity of the pieces, poetry vs prose, etc.)

Established literary characters are useful because they provide both a context (which
allows brevity) and a point of departure. In addition to Alice, I’ve written sequences
about Harry Bosch, a detective created by novelist Michael Connelly; Philip Marlowe, a
detective created by novelist Raymond Chandler; a poem in the voice of Wendy; and a
sequence in the voice of Peter Rabbit.

For the most part, I believe, I tend to discover a form, complete a series in the same form,
discover a new form, then eventually return to a previous form. I do write in both poetic
lines and prose. A majority of my prose poems are much longer than the Alice Poems,
but all of my work is brief. By nature, I am a minimalist. Furthermore, my mentor, Leon
Driskell, instilled in me the practice of eliminating every unnecessary word. You might
say I’ve taken this concept to the extreme.
4. Do you feel that you identify with the pieces in The Alice Poems?

I do identify with the Alice Poems. In some of them, I am simply playing, but in others I
explore concepts central to my identity, of lack thereof.

5. What’s your favorite piece from the collection? What do you like about it?

“Alice Sings the Blues,” which is in first person rather than third person, is the poem I am
most connected to. I wrote it after my dog died, and I cry when I read it aloud.

6. Feel free to elaborate on any other things you’d like to mention about the collection/
your writing process.

My work is at its best in the form of a sequence, which provides a sense of narrative.