Friends On Friday Presents ~ CHERYL SNELL 11/30/07

Well, yesterday was a bit of an emotional challenge for me, but thankfully I made it through with flying colors!! Speaking of flying colors, today's guest writes with such imagery and follow-through that it reminds me of flying colors. Earlier this week, we shared in her piece Stone. Strong yet almost light and fragrant.

As I said earlier, just what one needs to unleash the mind's constraints. Funny how life has a way of putting what you say to the test. I went home and read through Cheryl's work again, and it broke me down. Her works are about life, which is not typically pretty or poetic. But skillful use of syntactic arrangement can take the most obtuse aspects of our world and still manage to bring the mind to a place of reconciliation, SO Thank You again Cheryl, today your work was not only thoughtful and the focus of "Friends On Friday" it became my pacifier! Exactly what good work should do! NOW, onto our chat with Cheryl!

Cheryl, Your work is both provocative and characterized with words that emote realism. What I find most amazing about your work is that you can go from writing poetry to stories seemingly effortlessly. Can you please share with us are you able to write consistently, or do you go though phases where you prefer to write one and then the other.
Thank you for the compliment! I try to put real toads in my imaginary gardens.
I do genre-hop, slowly. I’ll work for a long time on several poems, for instance, revising and shaping them until I’m empty of ideas. Then I switch to prose, and write until my concentration frays. Fiction demands a particular type of attention. There’s a sense of urgency to get the story told. Poetry feeds fiction, gives the language color and character.

You are also musically inclined. What does music mean to you? Which of your crafts are most important, or are they like children -- there are no choices, you love aspects of them all equally.
I begin every day by playing Bach at the piano. There's something about his nuances of harmony that transcend the ego and ground me at the same time. And then I read until my head is full of language. Music and writing have so many elements in common-- line and dynamics and rhythm---that it’s difficult to assign value. I’m immersed in all of it, and the process of mastering a piece of music is not unlike getting a piece of writing right. When at last I set whatever it is aside-- for days, weeks, or months-- the work continues underground. I’m always amazed at the way a switch of focus can untangle a particular difficulty.

What inspires you? What do you do when you get blocked, if you get blocked and if you do get blocked -- what was the longest period you were stricken?
I live in Washington DC, a culturally rich city where sources of inspiration are plentiful. I like old music and new art. I’ve written many poems based on my sister’s paintings. My husband, a mathematical engineer, communicates a reverence for how things work that is very inspiring. He’s also a great raconteur. His stories about growing up in India have filled my novel, Shiva’s Arms.

I don’t get blocked, partly because I’m willing to “kill my darlings”. At times, I’ll revise a work until there are only a few of the original words left in it. Ned Rorem, the composer and writer, revises everything, too. If he’s reading a book by Henry James, for instance, he “puts blue pencil in the margin…may circle a "perhaps": There are too many perhapses in this book. I'm a walking blue pencil.”

I really like the computer for revision, the ease with which phrases can be moved around, sparking new ideas. A sense of play is important. It leads to fresh connections, new ways of looking at the world. These endless possibilities can lead to other problems, of course. Ralph Ellison couldn’t finish his second novel, and it grew to thousands of pages.

Are you an artist as a way of life or must you hold a day job as well?
After years of teaching and performing, I am free to follow my bliss.

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Thank You So Much Cheryl!!!! Cheryl is also culinary, her recipes will be published as an add-on to the novel, Shiva's Arms.

Cheryl's Publisher's Link

Also please visit the Snell Sisters here FOR GREAT INSPIRATION

K.R. Copeland 11/16/07

Today we will be celebrating the works of K. R. Copeland. She is a writer, a poet, an editor (thank you very much), artist and a friend.
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You are a celebrated poet and writer. When did your voice come alive? Did you nurture it or was it a lifeline; something you had to do to live? Have you always felt it?
I remember as a small child being entirely mesmerized by the polysyllabic fodder on the nightly news programs my parents watched. It was as if the correspondents were speaking in some strange tongue, some secret language. I knew I HAD to one day know all the fabulous words they so freely flung. Thus, my lexiconic love affair was born.

I began reading voraciously…children’s books, newspapers, the dictionary (yes, the dictionary). I was especially fond of poetry, Shel Silverstein’s, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and anything Seuss. I began to develop an ear and an appreciation for the musicality of language.

In fourth grade, we had to write some story or another, though I’ll be darned if I can recall the topic. What I DO recall, was my teacher, Mrs. Ambercrombie, taking me aside and praising me for my writing ability. She also encouraged me to continue to hone my talents; I’ll never forget that, and to this day, credit her with inspiring me to write on. During my teen years I wrote poetry prolifically, although, looking back on it, it was your typical angst-ridden drivel. I didn’t start to actually study craft until in my twenties. I read every poetry handbook known to man, ingested volumes and volumes of poetry, both the classics and contemporary, and began participating in critical forums, all of which were invaluable.

I began submitting poems for publication roughly 7 years ago. At that time, I also volunteered as a poetry judge for the literary magazine, Beginnings. I did that for a few years and once I had several publication credits under my belt, then began getting my chapbook, “Anatomically Correct” together, which was published by Dancing Girl Press, a small, independent press, right here in Chicago, owned and operated by fellow poet, Kristy Bowen. I have had umpteen poems published, both here in the U.S. and abroad, and am in the process of putting together another compilation. I also volunteer as Art Director for the political lit-zine, Unlikely 2.0. and act as co-administrator of an online poetry discussion group, A Wild Iris Poetry.


How do you incorporate who you are literary wise with who you are as a mom, wife, and sister? 
Sometimes it is hard to be a passionate incantation while you have life responsibilities, tell us how you handle your calling.
I’m not entirely certain my writing life permeates these relationships, except for the fact that I try to instill a love of literacy in my kids. I run stuff by them, (which often times goes over their heads), and they humor me. We read together daily and, during poetry month, I even got my daughter to commit to writing a poem a day, which was wonderful! They have been terrifically understanding and patient with me (as has my husband) if I’m working on something, as I can become utterly engrossed when the muse is present, putting everything else on the back burner. Luckily, I have been able to stay at home the past couple years making it less of a balancing act.


How does writing make you feel? You once said " I have been entranced, awed, and utterly consumed by the written word, by the infinite possibilities language allows." Tell us about this deeply personal and profound revelation.
Writing, as it has been said, is a lot like giving birth (only much less painful). I view each of my poems as an extension of myself. The process is both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. I love the daunting task of putting pen to paper and the very act of creating something from nothing, never really knowing ahead of time what the end product will be. It is in fact a passion, and something I’d not choose to relinquish. My goal, first and foremost, is to entertain, to dispel the preconceived notion many have about poetry (having been forced to read the often vapid, academic works) and also to be an integral part of what I only hope will be a widespread resurgence of and affinity for the written word.

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Thanks K.R.!!! We will be printing more works of K.R.'s soon!!

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