An Interview With Poet
maya jewell zeller
Do you have any new publications or recognition?
In the past few months, I’ve had new work out in Hobart, “spell for electron microscopes/
for silicate minerals & landfills,” a story out in Sundog Lit, “Office Man and the
Conference,” and an essay in The Pinch, “The Accidental Nihilist: A Matching Game.” My
last collection, a collaboration with Seattle visual artist Carrie DeBacker, came out from
Entre Rios Books just over a year ago — it’s called Alchemy for Cells & Other Beasts.
Are you working on anything that would encourage community participation?
I’m channeling my organizational energies into opportunities for students and new
readers/writers. I read at Humanities Washington’s Bedtime Stories fundraiser in Spokane,
which was rewarding because Humanities Washington brings literary opportunities to
underserved and rural areas.
At Central Washington University, where I teach poetry, I try to get more face-to-face
contact between practicing and novice writers. Many of my students are first generation
college attendees, who want to teach and use poetry in their classrooms. I will take
students to Madrid in the spring to study code-switching in contemporary poetry. I want
to bring students to arts residencies in the Pacific Northwest, so I’m currently trying to find
external funds.
I help direct the Lion Rock Visiting Writers Series at CWU. This fall, I pitched in
with Spokane events — including Kate Lebo’s poetry fundraiser for Lisa Brown. For
local Spokanites hungry for poetry, I encourage folks to check out Spark Central,
Auntie’s Bookstore, Boots Bakery, and Neato Burrito. There are many wonderful things
happening — like Mark Anderson’s Poetry Crawls with Spokane Arts, which support local
businesses.
Maya Jewell Zeller will
participate in (Association
of Writers and Writing
Programs) AWP Portland
2019:
Thursday March 28:
Offsite event at the Ace
Hotel. Featuring Black
Ocean, Poetry Northwest,
and Entre Rios Books.
Friday, March 29, 11 am
to 12 pm: Author signing
at the CWU Professional
and Creative Writing MA
table.
Saturday March 30th, at
Cider Riot!, 807 NE Couch
Street: Offsite reading with
Construction Magazine,
Four Way Review, INCH,
and New South
What other interests do you have and does this inform your work?
I’m interested in building community, but to be honest, I’m an introvert, and I get tired, so I go to the woods and rivers to
recharge. I love kayaking, paddleboarding, walking upstream barefoot, and being near water in general. I also love trail running,
hiking, walking … and spending time with my children, who are wise and humorous humans. Their compassion for the planet
and for society, and their ability to see it with irony, too, inform my worldview and my writing life. They’re the subject,
sometimes, but usually they’re a motivating factor: if they exist in the world, it is worthy of other things, too. My art matters
because they see me making it, and that it has value, and they want to make art, too, and experience the art of others.
Where might someone see you in action?
I teach at Central Washington University. I edit poetry for Scablands Books (the brain child of the brilliant Sharma Shields).
Next fall, come to LiTFUSE in Tieton (Spokane’s own Emily Gwinn helps direct this!), and you can take a class with me AND
one with Natalie Diaz. Or if you really want to talk, join me for a run along the river. That’s where I most feel myself. We can
recite our favorite poems to one another. Confession: I have a soft spot for James Wright.
For more information about Maya Jewell Zeller and her work, go to mayajewellzeller.com.
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE