While at USC I began work on a chapbook entitled “Bending Buttons” which is written in imitation of and in response to Gertrude Stein’s “Tender Buttons,” a collection of short poems. When I began imitating Stein’s style I felt like a copycat or a thief and was terrified to bring my manuscript in for my workshop peers to read. However, the same day that I brought in my first draft, Professor Cecilia Woloch read aloud a poem by Lynn Emanuel entitled “inside of gertrude stein”. In the poem, Emanuel imitates Stein’s style while also creating something entirely her own. I cannot explain how relieved I was to hear Emanuel’s words read aloud that day, what a comfort it was to know that I wasn’t alone in picking up Stein’s secret poetic frequency. From that workshop forward I have been fascinated with putting my work into conversation with various other literary heroes.
In about a month I’ll be attending the University of Pittsburgh where I will begin work on my Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Poetry. I am delighted to say that I will be studying under the one-and-only Lynn Emanuel this fall at Pitt. The thing that has always excited me about the arts is that the lives of others can powerfully intersect my own, as in the case of Gertrude Stein and Lynn Emanuel. When engaging in any creative process, we are all casting our lines out into murky waters with the simple hope that someone will find them there and get hooked. It is that idea, the connection of people across time, which sits not only at the heart of my passion, but also at the heart of this award. I feel exceedingly privileged to join the legacy of Jimmy Gauntt and the scholars who have previously been honored in his name.
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