Ask the Author: Caroline Crew

Caroline Crew has four poems in the June issue. She talks to us about where the weather touches her, seasoned hips, and assailing to the trees among other things.

1. Why is “Saussure, Sorry” screaming at me? I am hungover enough as is.

I was also. I took my first pure theory class last fall, and needless to say didn’t fall in love with the discipline. I hated being so far away from  the texts. So instead on Tuesdays and Thursdays I would quietly nurse my hangover with a very large iced coffee and write snarky things about theorists. Cowardly really because Saussure can’t snark back.

2. How do you season a hip?

I think that is something your mother should’ve told you.

3. Why assail to the trees?

There are a lot of trees hanging around poems at the moment. It’s like a renaissance or something. So assail to the tress because there are lot of great poems in them. In practical terms, you should assail to the trees in order to gain an unexpected vantage point on your enemy. Although all of my military strategy knowledge comes from watching Deadliest Warrior, it is still good advice. Not just for wars, either. Try to keep going up so you can see more things.

4. Why must communication occur on Tuesdays?

To build dramatic tension. And because every person that is better adjusted than I am has told me communication is important.

But seriously, I think writers assume they are excellent at sharing their feelings and what have you because they type them up and pump them into magazines and books. Really writing is the ultimate act of passive-aggression. It is especially passive-aggressive to apologize for this behaviour in yet another poem.

5. Where did these poems come from?

Oh, you! What a question. Do you want me to be honest? ‘Saussure, Sorry’ came from a literary theory class. ‘Guerrilla’ came from a word game I played, also during this class, where I had the phrase ‘elaborate me, please’ that eventually become ‘assail’ and ‘trees’.

The other poems actually happened to me out in the real world. This winter was terrible, and the UK was covered in something alien called ‘snow’. No one knew what to do, and this meant my flights home were almost cancelled. ‘This Is Also The Apology’ is an apology. It is largely an apology for all the other poems I have written about the subject. Notably the ones that are appearing in PANK 6.

6. Show me where the weather touched you, Ms. Crew.

As long as this stays just between us. It was between my toes, and I think I enjoyed it.