I’m excited to share today’s conversation with Adrie Rose, a poet living by an orchard in Western Massachusetts. She's the editor of Nine Syllables Press at Smith College, and her chapbook Rupture came out in January 2024, while her micro chapbook I Will Write a Love Poem came out in 2023.
I had the privilege of discussing with Adrie how her personal experiences—ranging from starting a bakery to exploring folk herbalism and surviving a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy—inspire her evocative writing.
I personally gained so much insight into how she translates her lived experiences into powerful, personal poetry. Her ability to weave together elements from her life, both extraordinary and everyday, into her writing is truly inspiring.
Take, for example, this poem called “In July, Weeds Take Over the Garden” from Adrie’s chapbook Rupture:
I know you'll enjoy this conversation with Adrie; hopefully you’ll learn a little bit more, as I did, about what it means to live in the world, and how to bring that experience to the poetic page. You can listen on Spotify and Apple.
Recommended Reading
- ’s Substack, Poetry and Other Ways To Piss Off Capitalism, is a must-follow.
Make sure to read my micro-interview with photographer/mother Julie Renee Jones. It’s always a pleasure—and worthwhile, I find—to hear how other mother/artists are making it work (whatever that means….)
This interview with actor Carrie Coon — who stars in Another Happy Day, a film I helped produce, which is available for pre-order now (!) — gets to the heart of the matter: “We don’t have to be a capitalist machine.”
How do I write when I have 67 emails in my inbox? by
for Be Where You Are. When she writes, “The line is gone,” well, that’s pretty much my mantra. The other day my husband and I took the kids out for sushi and he pointed at a dish to my left and said, “can you pass, ya know, the spicy stuff, what’s it called?” “Wasabi?” I said, grinning because for the first time in forever I wasn’t the one forgetting a word (or our kids’ names).I would have bled out in the parking lot, by
for The Grudge Report. Amber Nicole Thurman's death is on Trump's hands. Please read.ALL FOURS FOR MIRANDA JULY, by
for The Art Monster. Because everything is All Fours lately and this playlist is spot on.The 9.9 Percent Is The New American Aristocracy, by Matthew Stewart for The Atlantic. It’s an oldie (from 2018) but still so true. I was made aware of this article when it came recommended by a fellow public school mom at soccer practice recently. We were talking about resource hoarding and meritocracy. Ya know, your everyday soccer mom chat…
Campaigners tie baby slings to statues in call for better UK paternity leave, by Amelia Gentleman for The Guardian. “Men campaigning for enhanced paternity leave have attached lifesize model babies in slings to bronze statues” across London. This is genius and I wish more of this dad-driven policy activism happened in the USA…
The mother-artist is a great ghost, an interview with poet Violeta Gracia-Mendoza by
for Write More, Be Less Careful. The title really resonated with me, and reminded me of the idea that the quiet part of the song is still the song, how the invisible is a part of the visible too, and how the moments of “not working” on writing are still hugely informative. (Note to self: stop trying to make “non productive” time “productive”… stop labeling…)Working Parent: Harder or Easier Now? by
for Rule Breaker. A great read, and a great Substack to follow. Her logline: “I write about redefining success for overwhelmed working parents. I offer practical wisdom to break society's Rules and create a life that truly fits you.”Lonely and depressed at 50, I launched my own midlife reboot, by Tara Ellison for the L.A. Times. Sounds like a plan to me!
The Truth About “Man-Flu,” by Dana Smith for the New York Times. The title got me.
Invisible Women: A high-stakes conflict of interest, by
for Invisible Women. The article highlights the critical need to address gender bias in emergency planning and disaster response, as women's specific needs are often overlooked in these high-stakes situations.
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