Alexandra Ledford Q & A with Eastern Iowa Review
Q: Who are some of your biggest influences?
A: I'm enthralled with Spanish language surrealism, especially Cesar Vallejo, and I like to think of myself as a (hopeful) modern-day English language surrealist. I also favor drawing from poets who found their own metrics, like Elizabeth Bishop, Etheridge Knight, and Allen Ginsberg. I go back to Ginsberg every few years and it stuns me how the long lines are prosy on the surface but carry such an impressive cadence.
Q: What inspired the piece, "Scream" (prose poem, fall 2017: SmartApocalypse)?
A: A number of factors. I wanted a prose poem with a droning, repetitive sort of rhythm (which came with revision). I had been reading Peter Markus, who, though technically a genre-bending flash fiction writer, perhaps, has so much poetry going on, and so much surrealism or magical realism within his writing. Additionally, I had a nightmare, midsummer, about a strange, invasive species--bald Rhesus monkey-type critters--taking over the neighbors' house and learning language (in reality, said neighbors have small children who DO sometimes make proto-language noises). Nightmares are good for images, if nothing else.
Q: How do you get inspiration in a more general sense?
A: Reading a lot, and not just poetry. Visual art, film, and music are also lovely inspiration; ekphrastics can be wonderful to write. Sometimes, a friend or family member, or a person on TV or in the grocery store will say a phrase I'll overhear and not be able to get out of my head, I'll just keep saying it over and over until I write it down. Maybe something will happen to me, but that is far less often. I find when I try to commemorate some life event with a poem, it never sounds like I planned.
Q: What is the worst part about being a writer?
A: Wanting to talk more with non-writers, like family members, about what's going on in my life or my head, and not being able to. I started writing anyway because I've always been a terrible vocal communicator. And submitting. Everyone hates submitting, but we all must do it!
Q: What advice have you got for others?
A: Most days I don't feel like I'm in a position to give advice, but I will say this: Read everything, and read it aloud, even prose, and note where punctuation goes or tone shifts. One of the most satisfying things is reading aloud to note how words function in conjunction with one another. Obviously, if it's lineated, why did the poet break the line there? Why? Then, you do it! Figure out the best way for you to do it. I feel like that's so much fun.
And a few bonus questions:
Q: What was your personal style like when you were a small child?
A: I wore Chuck Taylors, leggings, large sweaters, and even larger glasses almost every day.
Q: What's the worst movie you've ever seen?
A: I love movies, and I love giving movies a chance, from start to finish. The worst movie I have ever finished is Odd Thomas. The movie has a silly premise and a terrible "twist ending", but could have been salvaged if it wasn't for crummy CGI and erratic, constant jump-cut editing. Like to give me a headache.
Q: What is the animal you feel best represents who you are?
A: Penguin. Those doddering fools can neither fly nor walk (well), but they are adorable. And when they are in their element (in their case, water), they are graceful and majestic.
Q: What is the worst physical injury you've ever sustained?
A: I was one of those 90's children who got very badly burned by fast food coffee. My mother fumbled some on to my leg when I was seven, and the second degree burns didn't heal until I was twelve. I also somehow swallowed a watch battery at seven. It was a very big year for me.
Q: What is the meaning of life?
A: As Michael Palin says, "try and be nice to people, avoid eating fats, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."
Q: Who are some of your biggest influences?
A: I'm enthralled with Spanish language surrealism, especially Cesar Vallejo, and I like to think of myself as a (hopeful) modern-day English language surrealist. I also favor drawing from poets who found their own metrics, like Elizabeth Bishop, Etheridge Knight, and Allen Ginsberg. I go back to Ginsberg every few years and it stuns me how the long lines are prosy on the surface but carry such an impressive cadence.
Q: What inspired the piece, "Scream" (prose poem, fall 2017: SmartApocalypse)?
A: A number of factors. I wanted a prose poem with a droning, repetitive sort of rhythm (which came with revision). I had been reading Peter Markus, who, though technically a genre-bending flash fiction writer, perhaps, has so much poetry going on, and so much surrealism or magical realism within his writing. Additionally, I had a nightmare, midsummer, about a strange, invasive species--bald Rhesus monkey-type critters--taking over the neighbors' house and learning language (in reality, said neighbors have small children who DO sometimes make proto-language noises). Nightmares are good for images, if nothing else.
Q: How do you get inspiration in a more general sense?
A: Reading a lot, and not just poetry. Visual art, film, and music are also lovely inspiration; ekphrastics can be wonderful to write. Sometimes, a friend or family member, or a person on TV or in the grocery store will say a phrase I'll overhear and not be able to get out of my head, I'll just keep saying it over and over until I write it down. Maybe something will happen to me, but that is far less often. I find when I try to commemorate some life event with a poem, it never sounds like I planned.
Q: What is the worst part about being a writer?
A: Wanting to talk more with non-writers, like family members, about what's going on in my life or my head, and not being able to. I started writing anyway because I've always been a terrible vocal communicator. And submitting. Everyone hates submitting, but we all must do it!
Q: What advice have you got for others?
A: Most days I don't feel like I'm in a position to give advice, but I will say this: Read everything, and read it aloud, even prose, and note where punctuation goes or tone shifts. One of the most satisfying things is reading aloud to note how words function in conjunction with one another. Obviously, if it's lineated, why did the poet break the line there? Why? Then, you do it! Figure out the best way for you to do it. I feel like that's so much fun.
And a few bonus questions:
Q: What was your personal style like when you were a small child?
A: I wore Chuck Taylors, leggings, large sweaters, and even larger glasses almost every day.
Q: What's the worst movie you've ever seen?
A: I love movies, and I love giving movies a chance, from start to finish. The worst movie I have ever finished is Odd Thomas. The movie has a silly premise and a terrible "twist ending", but could have been salvaged if it wasn't for crummy CGI and erratic, constant jump-cut editing. Like to give me a headache.
Q: What is the animal you feel best represents who you are?
A: Penguin. Those doddering fools can neither fly nor walk (well), but they are adorable. And when they are in their element (in their case, water), they are graceful and majestic.
Q: What is the worst physical injury you've ever sustained?
A: I was one of those 90's children who got very badly burned by fast food coffee. My mother fumbled some on to my leg when I was seven, and the second degree burns didn't heal until I was twelve. I also somehow swallowed a watch battery at seven. It was a very big year for me.
Q: What is the meaning of life?
A: As Michael Palin says, "try and be nice to people, avoid eating fats, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."
Alexandra Ledford got her MFA from the University of New Hampshire. She lives, writes, teaches, and helps manage a fledgling journal, Outlooks Springs, remotely from her native North Carolina. Her work has appeared in Adanna, Euphony, So to Speak, Bop Dead City, and elsewhere. Issue 5
