This article, published in Contemporary Literary Criticism (2014), is a biographical overview of the contemporary American poet, Sharon Olds, as well as a thematic overview of her poetry collections. I am named as the Volume Advisor, and I wrote the overview.
As a whole, the interview (2018) gives readers an intimate look at the range of sublime experiences in Derricotte’s work and a historical recollection of other female poets who have shaped and supported her vision of poetry when she was still a young artist. Derricotte also discusses the current metaphor that is driving her new work and highlights how writers can find surrogate families among their readers when their biological families fail them.
Managing Editor, Aileen Keenan, of the African American Review, writes: “It’s really a brilliant interview, one of the best we’ve published. I think our readers will enjoy it quite a bit.”
Poet Toi Derricotte writes: “You did a wonderful job connecting important, important concepts. You helped me put connections in place between my work, my mind and heart, and my spirit. You’ve helped to fit me together. Thank you. So glad we worked together.”
I became a Certified Instructor of the Journal to the Self© workbook in spring 2022. The credential was awarded by the Therapeutic Writing Institute, the professional training division of the Center for Journal Therapy in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.
The Paper Girl, my first poetry collection, features 25 poems, which were eventually narrowed down to eight for the exhibit, “Off the Sidewalk.” At Africa House, each poem was displayed on a panel alongside the painting it inspired.
The article by Casey Gillis writes:
While both brother and sister regularly reference their upbringing in their work, the Africa House collaboration was something new.
“It is different from the creative process that I’ve developed over time,” Daniel says.
“With this project, each artist is thinking of the other artist. … There [was] a merging, an adding and subtracting process. Often I asked myself, ‘How much do I want to tell here, or show here?’ Or I would think to myself, ‘The poems say it all; the paintings are ghosts, afterglows, somewhat contradictory to the poet’s account of the story.’ I shared many of the same experiences with my sister, but maybe remembered them a little differently, [or] maybe she felt or saw something I didn’t feel.”
For Jessica, the poems were already completed, so it became a matter of sharing the work with Daniel to get his perspective.
“It’s been so rewarding to see my poems come to life. I feel like he’s really capturing the emotional tone of the poems, the pain inside a child from indoctrination, the fear that they aren’t fitting [into] this very conventional institution. But he also just captures, I think, the hope that the child has, the beauty of her natural surroundings. And then, you know, there’s a lot of quirkiness in a large family, so I think he captures that humor.”
“We are so grateful that you contacted us, and we are also so glad that you were open to leading a program on your own at the Kluge Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. We both agree that it was absolutely magical! It was a pleasure to watch you create a welcoming and mindful environment that brought forth so much creativity and reflection. We loved seeing how it activated our collection in a new and very exciting way. We both feel that you are a role model for us as educators and teachers.
We have projected so much welcoming energy to the universe to bring someone to carry on caring for the seed you have planted with this program. Whoever they are – they won’t fill your shoes! But we have a good idea of what is possible, thanks to you. We firmly accept you into our club of bad-ass goddess teaching women, and once you’re in, you’re in for life.
[W]hat your program showed us was how meaningful our space can be as a site for creative ideas to gather in general. So, thanks for showing us the way. Of course, we won’t have your lovely, thoughtful guidance that was so gently revealing, but we’ll have something else!”
~Fenella Belle, Museum Educator and Lauren Maupin, Manager of Education and Programs at Kluge Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum