Ashley Elizabeth

I am lucky in the sense that I interact with some lovely people and have built relationships via Twitter. I mean X. I mean whatever it’s calling itself these days. In the spring, I had the opportunity to chat with Carson Sandell about their creativity and their processes. I hope to do more interviews, add more book reviews, and all around blog more. I have a lot of things coming up, so I hope that you all enjoy this ride with me.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy our conversation.

When you sit down with a poem, what are you looking to do with it? How do you show up on the page?

When I sit down with a poem I try to do something different than I have done before. I tend to get bored creatively so I am always searching for new forms, new images, new concepts to experiment with. I realized over the years not every poem requires all of me. Some poems only need a few aspects of myself. However, there are pieces here and there that do need my entire self on the page in order to create the poem I want. 

Describe your writing process. 

My writing process is random. There are days when my process is jump started by a glass of wine and other times a poem forms in my head while going about my day. I enjoy the sporadic nature of my process because it keeps me on my toes. At any moment a poem could arrive and I try my best to retain it. When I set aside time to write, it is rare if a poem comes out unless I already have an idea in mind. However, if I let a poem grow organically rather than forcing it I find the work is more fruitful. 

What do you wish came into your inbox more for the journals/presses you edit for?

At Split Lip Magazine and Poetry is Currency, we receive a good variety of work. In the past year I fell in love with form poetry, something about poets who can shape language and images within restriction is incredible to witness and sit with. I would love to see more ghazals because they’re my favorite poetry form and we don’t receive a lot of them! I am thankful for everyone who submits because it is an honor and so beautiful to read everyone’s work. 

Which writers’ brains would you love to pick?

There aren’t enough fingers in the world to count how many writers I want to sit down and discuss poetry with. If I was to pick a few I would choose Chen Chen, Audre Lorde, J. Jennifer Espinoza, Patricia Smith, Dorianne Laux, and Solmaz Sharif. These are writers that inspire me , who make me want to write, and reshape my understanding of poetry.

What piece of advice do you always come back to, either when writing or editing? (or both?)

The piece of advice I circle back to is to “listen different” from my friend and Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County, Tshaka Campbell. I tend to be a poet of sound since I started out as a spoken word poet. Sound is my guiding element through poetry. Listening to syllables and toying with the texture of language is important to me.

Another piece of advice which stuck with me over the years is from my poetry mentor Donnelle McGee. He said “if you spend your career following someone else’s journey then you will lose yourself, you won’t be you.” I spent years trying to put out a collection, but right now I am not ready. I am choosing to be patient, but I am happy with this because I know this path is where I will discover more about myself, my writing, and figure out when I am ready to start my collection.

What’s next for you?

I graduated from UC Riverside in the spring which I am so excited about! This fall, I started my MFA in fall at San Diego State University. Besides school, I want to spend my time reading, relaxing, and surrounded by friends and family as much as possible. 

You can find Carson Sandell at https://www.carsonsandell.com/