Jami Macarty Reviews Tangled in Vow & Beseech for New Pages
Celebrated poet Jami Macarty's review of Tangled in Vow & Beseech appears in New Pages. Macarty commends how the poems address "the most pressing socio-political issues of our contemporary time,' and states, "With her 'eye | toward balance' and inclusion, Jill McCabe Johnson 'breaks the bones of what we know. Resets them' to offer readers Tangled in Vow & Beseech, a book of both the 'jurisdiction of the past' and an 'edict of hope' for the future.'"
Click here to read the full review.
Click here to read the full review.
Review of Tangled in Vow & Beseech in Full House Literary
Acclaimed poet A.R. Arthur writes a glowing review of Tangled in Vow & Beseech in Full House Literary. An excerpt from the review states, "Tangled in Vow & Beseech by Jill McCabe Johnson is a boisterous collection of poetry that touches on a variety of topics from the natural world to the protesting against racism and the omnipresent, ever ravenous nature of the patriarchy that continues to loom over the world. Johnson’s passionate poetry speaks to the reader like that of a longtime friend with a bold honesty that embeds the reader solidly in the centre of Johnson’s must powerful of narratives.
"A sonorous sense of lyricism alongside the stellar and precise diction usage equally elevate this collection through a sustained high calibre of readability and narrative progression that ensures that the poems in this collection remain with the reader long after they have been savoured."
Click here to read the full review.
"A sonorous sense of lyricism alongside the stellar and precise diction usage equally elevate this collection through a sustained high calibre of readability and narrative progression that ensures that the poems in this collection remain with the reader long after they have been savoured."
Click here to read the full review.
Hedgebrook Online Workshop "Lost & Found" Available through August '24
Want to bring a little Hedgebrook mojo into your writing practice? The live webinar I taught for them is available through August 2024 as part of their Online Writing Series. "Lost and Found: A Generative Writing Workshop on Trusting Your Inner Compass" is a complete-at-your-own-pace workshop designed to spur new writing from the deepest core of your writerly self.
Class Description:
What can we discover when we lose ourselves in the world, in our thoughts, and in our writing? Open to all genres, this webinar will venture in the tradition of French Medieval poets and the chanson d’aventure, or song of adventure. We’ll explore ways in which getting lost can help us find our way. Join writer Jill McCabe Johnson for a generative workshop and path of discovery. Through a series of writing prompts, we’ll venture into what it means to be lost, ask ourselves what are we really afraid of, and look for ways to trust our inner compass. Writers of all backgrounds and experience levels are welcome!
Class Description:
What can we discover when we lose ourselves in the world, in our thoughts, and in our writing? Open to all genres, this webinar will venture in the tradition of French Medieval poets and the chanson d’aventure, or song of adventure. We’ll explore ways in which getting lost can help us find our way. Join writer Jill McCabe Johnson for a generative workshop and path of discovery. Through a series of writing prompts, we’ll venture into what it means to be lost, ask ourselves what are we really afraid of, and look for ways to trust our inner compass. Writers of all backgrounds and experience levels are welcome!
Tangled in Vow & Beseech Published by MoonPath Press
Happy news! My third full-length poetry collection, Tangled in Vow & Beseech, was a finalist in the Sally Albiso Poetry Book Award from MoonPath Press. Contest judge Lana Hechtmann Ayers selected the manuscript, which released in Spring, 2024.
Finalist in Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize
What a lovely surprise to learn my poetry manuscript, Tangled in Vow and Beseech was selected as a finalist in Michigan State University's 2023 Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize.
Thank you to the editors and judge Tyehimba Jess, and congratulations to Robert Gibb for his winning collection, Pittsburghese.
Congratulations also to the other finalists, including:
In My Mind There Is a Room by James K. Zimmerman
Kindling by Christine Rhein
Lucyland: A Visitor's Guide by Nancy Gomez
Preparing Not to Drown by SM Stubbs
The Right Blue Dream Home by Claire McQuerry
They're Not Lying When They Tell You You'll Dream of the Dead by Mary Ardery
The Vanishing by Moira Magneson.
Thank you to the editors and judge Tyehimba Jess, and congratulations to Robert Gibb for his winning collection, Pittsburghese.
Congratulations also to the other finalists, including:
In My Mind There Is a Room by James K. Zimmerman
Kindling by Christine Rhein
Lucyland: A Visitor's Guide by Nancy Gomez
Preparing Not to Drown by SM Stubbs
The Right Blue Dream Home by Claire McQuerry
They're Not Lying When They Tell You You'll Dream of the Dead by Mary Ardery
The Vanishing by Moira Magneson.
Bethany Reid Reviews Diary of the One Swelling Sea
In her review of Jill's first poetry collection, Diary of the One Swelling Sea, highly accomplished poet, editor, and teacher Bethany Reid writes, "the poems introduced to my mind’s eye a whole world of creatures: monkey cups, kelee shad, brackenmuck, gillraker, ulve-weeds, black-tailed godwits. The names don’t obscure the poems but animate them. Lia Purpura describes them as 'entries in a daybook, bejeweled moments, cries from the heart.'"
Click here to read the full review.
Click here to read the full review.
Collaboration Featured in Uppercase Magazine
A big thank you to Janine Vangool, editor-in-chief at Uppercase magazine for featuring "Très Fab Collab," an ongoing inter-disciplinary collaboration I've enjoyed with visual artist Corinne Duchesne and composer Garrett Hope. With a mixture of poetry, visual art, and music, the three of us have collaborated on a wide range of projects, including the Diary of the One Swelling Sea immersive art exhibit based on my first book, and more recently art films.
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"Thoughts & Prayers" featured in The Humble Essayist
“'Thoughts & Prayers' by Jill McCabe Johnson targets an American political system unwilling to protect its people from guns. It is a poem, but it is also unmistakably a paragraph and it uses the pedestrian nature of that literary form to undo the banal excuses lawmakers give for their cowardice. It is haunting." So begins The Humble Essayist Steven Harvey's review and analysis of the poem, "Thoughts & Prayers," originally published in diode poetry journal. Harvey incisively and without pulling echoes the poem's message of calling out politicians for their empty and banal platitudes. He writes, "The tired excuses from American legislators who do almost nothing about guns that rip into the bodies of our children are, through a jumbling of syntax, revealed to be an incoherent smokescreen for cowardice." He goes on to say, the poem illustrates "the shallowness of our leaders’ expressions of the tragic," and juxtaposing politicians' own words "stirs by its inanity our unrest and shatters any sense of peace."
Two Poems Nominated for Best of the Net
I was delighted and, frankly, surprised when the online journal Jake accepted two visual poems, "Embodying Language" and "Under the Thumb of Patriarchy," since they were the first visual poems I'd ever attempted. So it was especially thrilling when Jake nominated both poems for the 2023 Best of the Net awards. Thank you to the editors at Jake for supporting new, risk-taking work!
Longreads Best of 2021
I was honored to have one of my essays featured on Longreads and even more thrilled to discover they included it in their 2021 list of No. 1 Stories. Originally published in Slate, "The Night Gary Drove Me Home," details a grim discovery about a long ago encounter and how I grappled (and still grapple) with the idea I may have slept with the Green River Killer.
"Transcend Your Self-Pity" Interview
In this interview, Jonathan Small, host of the podcast Write About Now, and I discuss the craft of personal essays, including my (very personal) essay in Slate. The interview, "When a Poet and a Serial Killer Collide," delves deeply into a craft consideration I teach my students and try to remember in my own work: overcoming self-pity and defensiveness when writing memoir and moving toward transcendence, however that may look for the author. 54 minutes.
Crawlspace Podcast Interview
The co-hosts of Crawlspace Podcast, Lance Reenstierna and Tim Pilleri, invited me to be a guest on their show where we talked about my essay in Slate about the Green River Killer, how psychopaths make a study of fooling people, and advocacy for victims and survivors of violent crime.
Sound Poetry Radio Interview
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It was a great pleasure to read and discuss poetry with David Gilmour on his radio program, Sound Poetry. We talked about craft, ways in which nature can influence one's work, and walking as part of a poetic practice, including my experiences walking the Grande Randonnee in France and contemplating revolts and revolutions from the 100 Years' War to street harassment to terrorist attacks in Paris. Give a listen to the interview here. And check out the many poets he's interviewed here.
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Sweet Connections
The fabulous poetry and creative nonfiction journal Sweet Literary
showcases authors every so often in their "Sweet Connections" feature. Here's a quick interview from Spring 2021.
showcases authors every so often in their "Sweet Connections" feature. Here's a quick interview from Spring 2021.
Lateral Thinking Talk with Ethan Freckleton on The Fearless Storyteller
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Author and singer/songwriter Ethan Freckleton hosts a wonderfully inspiring podcast with weekly conversations with writers and other creatives. The Fearless Storyteller explores the heart of writing stories, songs, and scripts. Ethan considers each writer to have "their own unique Hero’s Journey and insights into the intersections between limiting beliefs and success." In this wide-ranging interview, we discussed how psychogeography and lateral thinking can literally give a cognitive boost to one's imagination and writing process. We also talked about various forms of creative collaboration. Give a listen here, and check out his other podcast episodes here.
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Thinking About Applying to Hedgebrook?
The lovely people at the women's writing residency Hedgebrook asked me if I would write something about my experience there last March: "How I Didn't Give Up On Hedgebrook, Which Is to Say How Hedgebrook Didn't Give Up On Me"
Hedgebrook's annual application deadline is July 31. If you're a writer who identifies as female, I strongly encourage you to APPLY. Their application process alone will help you look at and articulate your work in new ways. Give yourself plenty of time. Your application and your work deserve it!
As you can see from the photo at left, my cozy cabin was surrounded by snow during my residency, but their woodsy site on Whidbey Island is gorgeous any time of year.
Hedgebrook's annual application deadline is July 31. If you're a writer who identifies as female, I strongly encourage you to APPLY. Their application process alone will help you look at and articulate your work in new ways. Give yourself plenty of time. Your application and your work deserve it!
As you can see from the photo at left, my cozy cabin was surrounded by snow during my residency, but their woodsy site on Whidbey Island is gorgeous any time of year.
Speaking of Marvels Interview
The website Speaking of Marvels, run by author and professor William Woolfitt, features an interview about my recent chapbook, Pendulum (Seven Kitchens, 2018), as well as the writing life, chapbooks, and how to stay creative and inspired despite the daily onslaught. The interview also mentions two favorite chapbooks:
Passings by Holly Hughes
21 Boxes by Linda Malnack
William Woolfitt is the author of Beauty Strip, Charles of the Desert, and The Boy with the Fire in His Mouth.
Passings by Holly Hughes
21 Boxes by Linda Malnack
William Woolfitt is the author of Beauty Strip, Charles of the Desert, and The Boy with the Fire in His Mouth.
"We Walk" Featured on Spokane Public Radio
Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna read the poem "We Walk" from Revolutions We'd Hoped We'd Outgrown (Finishing Line, 2017) on Spokane Public Radio on November 7, 2018. You can listen to the poem and her distinctive, beautiful voice here:
http://www.spokanepublicradio.org/post/claudia-castro-luna-reads-we-walk-jill-mccabe-johnson
http://www.spokanepublicradio.org/post/claudia-castro-luna-reads-we-walk-jill-mccabe-johnson
Pendulum Poetry Chapbook Released from Seven Kitchens Press
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Selected as a finalist in the Rane Arroyo Chapbook Contest, Pendulum, is a short collection of poems that emulate a pendulum and how, with optimism in these difficult times, even the most far-reaching, extremist personal, social, and political trends seem to find their way back to center. The cover is designed by publisher Ron Mohring features a fabric swath from his "crazy stash of vintage and antique fabrics," this one from an old feedsack.
Some of the poems in Pendulum have been published in Barzakh Magazine, Inflectionist Review, Page & Spine, Terrain.org, and The Tishman Review. A huge thank you to the editors of those fine journals and to Ron Mohring at Seven Kitchens Press for selecting this manuscript! |
Revolutions We'd Hoped We'd Outgrown Shortlisted for the Clara Johnson Award for Women's Literature
My second poetry collection, Revolutions We'd Hoped We'd Outgrown, was among five finalists for the Clara Johnson Award for Women's Literature from Jane's Stories Press Foundation. The finalists and winner are:
ZP Dala, The Architecture of Loss
Camille T. Dungy, Guidebook to Relative Strangers
Connie May Fowler, A Million Fragile Bones
Jill McCabe Johnson, Revolutions We'd Hoped We'd Outgrown
And the winner, Terese Mailhot's memoir Heart Berries.
The award is named for Clara Elizabeth Johnson, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 92. She was a beacon and advocate for women, including everything from being one of very few female chemists in what had been an exclusively male field, to advocating for women's rights in the workplace and on the local, state, and national levels. What a role model!
ZP Dala, The Architecture of Loss
Camille T. Dungy, Guidebook to Relative Strangers
Connie May Fowler, A Million Fragile Bones
Jill McCabe Johnson, Revolutions We'd Hoped We'd Outgrown
And the winner, Terese Mailhot's memoir Heart Berries.
The award is named for Clara Elizabeth Johnson, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 92. She was a beacon and advocate for women, including everything from being one of very few female chemists in what had been an exclusively male field, to advocating for women's rights in the workplace and on the local, state, and national levels. What a role model!
Southeast Review Nominates Essay for Pushcart
Huge thanks to the Editors of The Southeast Review for nominating my essay, "You Should Never have Dated Him in the First Place and Other Helpful Stalking Advice," for the Pushcart. This is my fifth Pushcart nomination (two poetry, two nonfiction, one fiction), and I'm honored the editors of The Southeast Review believed in the piece enough to publish it, let alone nominate it for the Pushcart. That issue, 35.1, is sold out, but the essay--as you might expect by the title--chronicles some of the attitudes and reactions of people to a years-long stalking scenario, including how members of our legal system, mental health resources, and other support services were poorly trained and ill-equipped to respond to stalking situations. As an aside, with stalking at near epidemic proportions in our country, I was surprised to discover how many editors shied away from publishing anything on this topic. A conservative 6.6 million people are stalked in the U.S. each year, but there is such a stigma around stalking -- and by stigma, I mean there is so much victim-blaming -- that many people either don't believe those stories, or, worse yet, think it's the stalking target's fault for getting into that situation in the first place. I mention this, not out of bitterness (frustration, yes), but to commend the editors at The Southeast Review for recognizing the importance of this epidemic, well before the #MeToo hashtag became such an important movement. They are socially aware visionaries who recognized and published an in-depth essay about a problem before it became au currant, and for that--for giving voice to the powerless, overlooked, and vilified--I am deeply grateful.
Review of Revolutions We'd Hoped We'd Outgrown On "But I Also Have a Day Job..."
A big thanks to Ian Rogers for his kind review of Revolutions We'd Hoped We'd Outgrown.
Here's a brief excerpt:
"The opening section was written during her walking trek through France in the days leading up to the 2015 Paris attacks and captures both the country’s historic character and the ideological ugliness behind ISIS..."
You can read the full review here.
Here's a brief excerpt:
"The opening section was written during her walking trek through France in the days leading up to the 2015 Paris attacks and captures both the country’s historic character and the ideological ugliness behind ISIS..."
You can read the full review here.
Pacific Northwest Writers Blog Tour
The brilliant nonfiction author Ana Maria Spagna participated in the Pacific Northwest Writers Blog Tour earlier this month, and invited me to go next. Thanks, Ana Maria! Below are my responses asked of each writer on the tour. Seattle poet Tina Schumann is next. See her responses here.
1) What am I working on?
One thing I’ve learned about myself is that if I talk about my writing too much, it satisfies my need to express whatever it is that I feel compelled to communicate, and I end up not writing it. As a result, I don’t talk much about current writing projects. However, I will say that I am tweaking my memoir manuscript, title TBD, as well as the manuscript for a second poetry collection, whose title is As though the Ground were a Long Way Down. The former is about a man I loved who developed mental health issues, and the latter contains poems that contemplate loss, including loss of life, and our tendency to pretend that mortality is not imminent. A cheery sort of book. I am also working to get the anthology Being: What Makes a Man out the door, pending permissions from one publisher. This is the second of three books I'm editing for the University of Nebraska Gender Programs. The third is tentatively entitled Belonging, and encompasses voices across the full spectrum of gender identity. Keep en eye out in 2015 for the call for submissions.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
This is a tough question to answer. First of all, I write in several genres. Second, I don’t necessarily have the objectivity to see the ways in which the work is different. What seems most different to me, might not be what stands out for a reader. Finally, I suspect that whatever I answer, another writer might say, “I do that, too.” All that said, I can say that I push myself to be as honest as I can, by which I mean vulnerable. Some people have observed that my writing doesn’t flinch away from what’s painful. Some have said it’s political. And yet, I often worry whether I’m delving into an issue enough, or glossing when I’m afraid of getting mired into the political. My desire is to write of the human condition, which sounds a bit grand, but I just mean that I want to reflect and maybe give insight to some of our common experiences. Is that different from other writers’ works? Maybe not. Some people say there are no new ideas and no new stories, only different perspectives. I certainly do like to push at the language a bit. After the model of Galway Kinnell, for example, if there isn’t a word for what I want to say, I will make one up. Like Lidia Yuknavitch, I enjoy disrupting order and expectations while still dancing along a narrative thread. Like Annie Proulx, the sound of characters’ voices often drives the writing. Like Rachel Carson, the wonder and beauty of the sea and shore can captivate me for hours, regardless of narrative thread. Like Rebecca Solnit, I value the experience of getting lost. The more I try to answer this question, the more I fear that there is nothing unique or special about my work. I mean, I know we all follow in the footsteps of our predecessors and those we admire, but do we perforce, by way of our unique perspective, actually create anything vastly different? Maybe not. Maybe we’re all just a bunch of copycat losers. Oh, this is depressing.
3) Why do I write what I do?
I have always felt an inner compulsion to communicate my thoughts and ideas. Not necessarily talking about them, but preferably writing about them. Sometimes, I worry that writing is the ultimate arrogance. It implies not only that we think our thoughts and ideas are worth sharing with the world, but that they’re so good they should be recorded on paper (or digitally), possibly archived since each book, whether paper or digital, becomes an artifact of sorts. So it’s possible that my writing is nothing more than an exercise in vanity. Or maybe it’s a way of processing my thoughts with the pressure of an assumed audience. Or maybe it’s inherent. Maybe we all have a need to communicate and that is part of what makes our species successful, how we can survive as an interrelated, inter-reliant pack. On the other hand, maybe writing is not about vanity, but instead about loneliness. Maybe people write as a way of connecting with others, to share and validate one another’s experiences. This seems more likely to me, though I don't like to admit my need for connection. Translation: I like to pretend I'm not just as lonely as everyone else, sometimes even moreso.
4) How does my writing process work?
I have no idea. I read. I observe. I listen. I ponder. I write.
Something like that.
Sometimes it begins with a rhythm, and the rhythm dictates the work. Sometimes it starts with a phrase. For example, my friend Leslie referred to a young man as a boy. She said something about, “that boy,” with her southern accent, and in my mind a character was born. I heard a young woman telling her sister, “You hurt that boy,” and a short story was born out of that.
Sometimes the writing begins with a visual image. I’m haunted by how certain patterns repeat in nature, and those motifs seem to wend their way into my writing. It’s hard to explain. Imagine a conch as a poetic form, or a story structure, or used for an analogy, like now. I have chicken and the egg kinds of arguments with myself to try to determine why certain birds, leaves, and mice have such similar shapes, and which came first, which mimics the other. Next thing I know, those observations and dilemmas work their way into a poem. I play at complexity, but my mind is more simple than I care to admit. Small questions overwhelm it, infecting everything I do, especially my writing. The more I expose myself to new observations, and really pay close attention—sometimes sketching a thing to force myself to note the details—the more interesting the writing becomes. At least to me.
In my insecure moments, I fear I am nothing more than a parrot, squawking back at the world whatever I experience and stumble over cognitively. But, maybe that’s true of all writers, and what’s compelling is when one of us stumbles over something and brings a slightly different insight that helps the rest of humanity stumble better. Heaven knows, I stumble after the lead of all the writers I admire. It would be lovely to think someone might stumble more carefully after reading my work, too. And vain. And a little less lonely.
1) What am I working on?
One thing I’ve learned about myself is that if I talk about my writing too much, it satisfies my need to express whatever it is that I feel compelled to communicate, and I end up not writing it. As a result, I don’t talk much about current writing projects. However, I will say that I am tweaking my memoir manuscript, title TBD, as well as the manuscript for a second poetry collection, whose title is As though the Ground were a Long Way Down. The former is about a man I loved who developed mental health issues, and the latter contains poems that contemplate loss, including loss of life, and our tendency to pretend that mortality is not imminent. A cheery sort of book. I am also working to get the anthology Being: What Makes a Man out the door, pending permissions from one publisher. This is the second of three books I'm editing for the University of Nebraska Gender Programs. The third is tentatively entitled Belonging, and encompasses voices across the full spectrum of gender identity. Keep en eye out in 2015 for the call for submissions.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
This is a tough question to answer. First of all, I write in several genres. Second, I don’t necessarily have the objectivity to see the ways in which the work is different. What seems most different to me, might not be what stands out for a reader. Finally, I suspect that whatever I answer, another writer might say, “I do that, too.” All that said, I can say that I push myself to be as honest as I can, by which I mean vulnerable. Some people have observed that my writing doesn’t flinch away from what’s painful. Some have said it’s political. And yet, I often worry whether I’m delving into an issue enough, or glossing when I’m afraid of getting mired into the political. My desire is to write of the human condition, which sounds a bit grand, but I just mean that I want to reflect and maybe give insight to some of our common experiences. Is that different from other writers’ works? Maybe not. Some people say there are no new ideas and no new stories, only different perspectives. I certainly do like to push at the language a bit. After the model of Galway Kinnell, for example, if there isn’t a word for what I want to say, I will make one up. Like Lidia Yuknavitch, I enjoy disrupting order and expectations while still dancing along a narrative thread. Like Annie Proulx, the sound of characters’ voices often drives the writing. Like Rachel Carson, the wonder and beauty of the sea and shore can captivate me for hours, regardless of narrative thread. Like Rebecca Solnit, I value the experience of getting lost. The more I try to answer this question, the more I fear that there is nothing unique or special about my work. I mean, I know we all follow in the footsteps of our predecessors and those we admire, but do we perforce, by way of our unique perspective, actually create anything vastly different? Maybe not. Maybe we’re all just a bunch of copycat losers. Oh, this is depressing.
3) Why do I write what I do?
I have always felt an inner compulsion to communicate my thoughts and ideas. Not necessarily talking about them, but preferably writing about them. Sometimes, I worry that writing is the ultimate arrogance. It implies not only that we think our thoughts and ideas are worth sharing with the world, but that they’re so good they should be recorded on paper (or digitally), possibly archived since each book, whether paper or digital, becomes an artifact of sorts. So it’s possible that my writing is nothing more than an exercise in vanity. Or maybe it’s a way of processing my thoughts with the pressure of an assumed audience. Or maybe it’s inherent. Maybe we all have a need to communicate and that is part of what makes our species successful, how we can survive as an interrelated, inter-reliant pack. On the other hand, maybe writing is not about vanity, but instead about loneliness. Maybe people write as a way of connecting with others, to share and validate one another’s experiences. This seems more likely to me, though I don't like to admit my need for connection. Translation: I like to pretend I'm not just as lonely as everyone else, sometimes even moreso.
4) How does my writing process work?
I have no idea. I read. I observe. I listen. I ponder. I write.
Something like that.
Sometimes it begins with a rhythm, and the rhythm dictates the work. Sometimes it starts with a phrase. For example, my friend Leslie referred to a young man as a boy. She said something about, “that boy,” with her southern accent, and in my mind a character was born. I heard a young woman telling her sister, “You hurt that boy,” and a short story was born out of that.
Sometimes the writing begins with a visual image. I’m haunted by how certain patterns repeat in nature, and those motifs seem to wend their way into my writing. It’s hard to explain. Imagine a conch as a poetic form, or a story structure, or used for an analogy, like now. I have chicken and the egg kinds of arguments with myself to try to determine why certain birds, leaves, and mice have such similar shapes, and which came first, which mimics the other. Next thing I know, those observations and dilemmas work their way into a poem. I play at complexity, but my mind is more simple than I care to admit. Small questions overwhelm it, infecting everything I do, especially my writing. The more I expose myself to new observations, and really pay close attention—sometimes sketching a thing to force myself to note the details—the more interesting the writing becomes. At least to me.
In my insecure moments, I fear I am nothing more than a parrot, squawking back at the world whatever I experience and stumble over cognitively. But, maybe that’s true of all writers, and what’s compelling is when one of us stumbles over something and brings a slightly different insight that helps the rest of humanity stumble better. Heaven knows, I stumble after the lead of all the writers I admire. It would be lovely to think someone might stumble more carefully after reading my work, too. And vain. And a little less lonely.
Prairie Schooner Book Review
August 30, 2013
Writer Jack Hill Reviews Diary of the One Swelling Sea
A brief excerpt:
Glut, secrete, hanker, thwop, snort, scamper, and slither are a few splashes of the brisk verbs Jill McCabe Johnson pairs with organisms and creatures, both minuscule (diatoms) and massive (humpback whales), in her new book, Diary of the One Swelling Sea.
http://prairieschooner.unl.edu/?q=blog/briefly-noted-%E2%80%93-august-2013
Writer Jack Hill Reviews Diary of the One Swelling Sea
A brief excerpt:
Glut, secrete, hanker, thwop, snort, scamper, and slither are a few splashes of the brisk verbs Jill McCabe Johnson pairs with organisms and creatures, both minuscule (diatoms) and massive (humpback whales), in her new book, Diary of the One Swelling Sea.
http://prairieschooner.unl.edu/?q=blog/briefly-noted-%E2%80%93-august-2013
Being Poetry
March 20, 2013
Poet Erin Coughlin Hollowell Reviews Diary of the One Swelling Sea
A brief excerpt:
Jill McCabe Johnson must feel that wonder (of the sea's "delicate, shimmering creatures") as well, for in her collection of poems Diary of the One Swelling Sea, she hears the voice of the ocean in all its different moods and guises. The poems in the collection are brief for the most part, most under ten lines, but their cumulative effect is like the waves, building deeper and deeper. The sinuous lines on the page and the development of a lexicon all the sea’s own create a world that shifts and churns.
http://www.beingpoetry.net/wonder-wednesdays-the-diary-of-the-one-swelling-sea/
Poet Erin Coughlin Hollowell Reviews Diary of the One Swelling Sea
A brief excerpt:
Jill McCabe Johnson must feel that wonder (of the sea's "delicate, shimmering creatures") as well, for in her collection of poems Diary of the One Swelling Sea, she hears the voice of the ocean in all its different moods and guises. The poems in the collection are brief for the most part, most under ten lines, but their cumulative effect is like the waves, building deeper and deeper. The sinuous lines on the page and the development of a lexicon all the sea’s own create a world that shifts and churns.
http://www.beingpoetry.net/wonder-wednesdays-the-diary-of-the-one-swelling-sea/
Writer Lin McNulty Reviews Diary of the One Swelling Sea
A brief excerpt:
One morning, still immersed in the hypnopompic vestiges of a dream ... Jill McCabe Johnson remembered the words “diary of the one swelling sea,” and she began to write...
The result of her dream world set to paper is a lush peek into the life of the briny deep, channeled from a viewpoint we rarely consider. In a rhythmic ebb and flow, we experience what it looks like, what it feels like, to view life from the bottom up.
Read the full review here: http://orcasissues.com/read-what-the-sea-has-to-say
One morning, still immersed in the hypnopompic vestiges of a dream ... Jill McCabe Johnson remembered the words “diary of the one swelling sea,” and she began to write...
The result of her dream world set to paper is a lush peek into the life of the briny deep, channeled from a viewpoint we rarely consider. In a rhythmic ebb and flow, we experience what it looks like, what it feels like, to view life from the bottom up.
Read the full review here: http://orcasissues.com/read-what-the-sea-has-to-say
Syndicated Columnist Barbara Lloyd McMichaels Reviews Diary of the One Swelling Sea
A brief excerpt:
Diary of the One Swelling Sea presents an interesting conceit - in succinct daily entries, the poet channels the global ocean, spilling its thoughts on everything from penguins to tides to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
There are plenty of poems about the "lovelies" - a collective term for the creatures that swim through its briny waters, from shallow to deep. And there are a few pieces, too, about the "monkeys" - a collective term for humans who, in their "monkey cups," slice through the surface waters, too often leaving despoilment in their wake.
Each entry is a broth of scientific precision and finely honed wordplay.
Read the full review here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2013/01/28/2849781/expore-these-poems-that-stretch.html
Diary of the One Swelling Sea presents an interesting conceit - in succinct daily entries, the poet channels the global ocean, spilling its thoughts on everything from penguins to tides to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
There are plenty of poems about the "lovelies" - a collective term for the creatures that swim through its briny waters, from shallow to deep. And there are a few pieces, too, about the "monkeys" - a collective term for humans who, in their "monkey cups," slice through the surface waters, too often leaving despoilment in their wake.
Each entry is a broth of scientific precision and finely honed wordplay.
Read the full review here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2013/01/28/2849781/expore-these-poems-that-stretch.html
January 23, 2013
The Next Big Thing -- Interview Series
Each week, writers are tagged to participate in the Next Big Thing interview series.
Seattle poet Marjorie Manwaring, author of Search for a Velvet-Lined Cape, was a participant last week (you can read her interview at http://marjoriemanwaring.tumbler.com), and invited me to participate this week by answering the following questions about my book Diary of the One Swelling Sea.
What is the working title of the book?
The title is Diary of the One Swelling Sea
Where did the idea come from for the book?
The idea came while I was going to school in Nebraska, feeling homesick for my husband and our daily walks along the beaches near our home in the San Juan Islands. I had been reading about global climate change and rising ocean levels. One morning, the only remnant of my last dream was the phrase “diary of the one swelling sea.” Though the particulars of the dream had already faded, the words echoed in my mind. Without getting out of bed, I grabbed my laptop and started typing nonstop. Four hours and a handful of poems later, the collection had begun.
What genre does your book fall under?
Poetry
What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
The speaker in the poems is the Sea. His friends are Sun, Wind, Mountain, Milky Way, and his night mistress, the moon, who he calls Mirror.
The Sea – Javier Bardem
Sun – Krishna Bhanji (aka Ben Kingsley)
Wind – Carrie-Anne Moss
Mountain – Mark Strong
Mirror – Emily Mortimer Milky Way – Ed Harris
What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
In lyric journal entries, the Sea contemplates his sea creature lovelies, "monkey cups," and his night mistress Mirror, while trying to understand why he grows increasingly larger.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
For two years writing these poems was my carrot and indulgence. As I worked on meeting various other obligations, I would look forward to the end of the day when I could spend time working on the poems. If I had a spare minute, I would read anything and everything about the world's oceans, marine life, geology, tides, sea birds, astronomy, rising sea levels, polar ice caps, etc., then translate those into the sea's daily journal entries.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Our beautiful, little understood oceans, and the constant risks posed to them by climate change.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
A free puppy with every copy? Okay, maybe not a free puppy, but readers will be able to immerse themselves into the strange and beautiful world of the sea, and will probably learn some cool things, too. For example, did you know that cephalapods such as octopi, cuttlefish, and squid have copper-based blood? Unlike humans, whose iron-based blood turns red when exposed to oxygen, the copper in cephalapod blood makes theirs blue.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
MoonPath Press (http://moonpathpress.com/publications.htm), an imprint of Concrete Wolf is the publisher. The Editor is Lana Hechtman Ayers, a talented poet and lovely person whose depth matches the seas. She did not pay me too say that, and everyone who knows her can attest that it's true.
My tagged writers for next Wednesday are:
Allen Braden
Susan Wingate
The Next Big Thing -- Interview Series
Each week, writers are tagged to participate in the Next Big Thing interview series.
Seattle poet Marjorie Manwaring, author of Search for a Velvet-Lined Cape, was a participant last week (you can read her interview at http://marjoriemanwaring.tumbler.com), and invited me to participate this week by answering the following questions about my book Diary of the One Swelling Sea.
What is the working title of the book?
The title is Diary of the One Swelling Sea
Where did the idea come from for the book?
The idea came while I was going to school in Nebraska, feeling homesick for my husband and our daily walks along the beaches near our home in the San Juan Islands. I had been reading about global climate change and rising ocean levels. One morning, the only remnant of my last dream was the phrase “diary of the one swelling sea.” Though the particulars of the dream had already faded, the words echoed in my mind. Without getting out of bed, I grabbed my laptop and started typing nonstop. Four hours and a handful of poems later, the collection had begun.
What genre does your book fall under?
Poetry
What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
The speaker in the poems is the Sea. His friends are Sun, Wind, Mountain, Milky Way, and his night mistress, the moon, who he calls Mirror.
The Sea – Javier Bardem
Sun – Krishna Bhanji (aka Ben Kingsley)
Wind – Carrie-Anne Moss
Mountain – Mark Strong
Mirror – Emily Mortimer Milky Way – Ed Harris
What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
In lyric journal entries, the Sea contemplates his sea creature lovelies, "monkey cups," and his night mistress Mirror, while trying to understand why he grows increasingly larger.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
For two years writing these poems was my carrot and indulgence. As I worked on meeting various other obligations, I would look forward to the end of the day when I could spend time working on the poems. If I had a spare minute, I would read anything and everything about the world's oceans, marine life, geology, tides, sea birds, astronomy, rising sea levels, polar ice caps, etc., then translate those into the sea's daily journal entries.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Our beautiful, little understood oceans, and the constant risks posed to them by climate change.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
A free puppy with every copy? Okay, maybe not a free puppy, but readers will be able to immerse themselves into the strange and beautiful world of the sea, and will probably learn some cool things, too. For example, did you know that cephalapods such as octopi, cuttlefish, and squid have copper-based blood? Unlike humans, whose iron-based blood turns red when exposed to oxygen, the copper in cephalapod blood makes theirs blue.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
MoonPath Press (http://moonpathpress.com/publications.htm), an imprint of Concrete Wolf is the publisher. The Editor is Lana Hechtman Ayers, a talented poet and lovely person whose depth matches the seas. She did not pay me too say that, and everyone who knows her can attest that it's true.
My tagged writers for next Wednesday are:
Allen Braden
Susan Wingate