"Whole-ass one thing"
an interview with writer, professor & editor, Alysse Kathleen McCanna
Today, I’m excited to share an interview and prompt from Alysse Kathleen McCanna, which explores her writing and mindfulness practices. I’d love your suggestions of other writers, artists, teachers, and wise humans I might feature here. You can just reply to this newsletter with ideas. ✨
Alysse Kathleen McCanna and I were in grad school together at the Bennington Writing Seminars a little over a decade ago. Since the first time I heard her share her work in the student readings, her writing has made me feel the “better envy” that Jeffrey Harrison refers to in this poem. I’ve followed her work since then and shared it with students of all ages as a model of attention to voice, sound, and surprise. I highly recommend that you order a copy of her first full-length collection of poems, FishWife, which just came out this spring from Black Lawrence Press.
Felicia Zamora says it so well: “These poems are gritty and hopeful, body-full and desert-strewn, lustful and spell casting—an unmapping of the self and a luring of the voice into visibility—to be visible to the self, most of all.”
I think you’ll love what Alysse shares below about her writing and mindfulness practices—she gives me permission here in multiple ways that I’ve been needing. I’m also in love with her approach to revision and the prompt she shares…
What is your writing practice ? Do you have any writing rituals?
For a long time, my writing ritual was graduate school, which meant I had strict deadlines to meet and was also embedded in communities of folks committed to artistic creation and conversation. I’m lucky to now work at a college that honors those things, but self-imposed deadlines are tough for me! I have a hard time prioritizing writing when so many other things demand my time and attention–isn’t that just life?
I took a wonderful Tin House craft intensive with Leila Chatti called Poetry is Fun! (here’s a listing of their online programs) It was pure joy and so much playfulness. I’m trying to carry that sense of play and wonder into my current writing practice so it feels less like meeting a deadline or goal, and more like delight. I’m setting aside time every day, even if it’s just a few minutes, to approach the page (or my Notes app, let’s be honest) with curiosity and goofiness. At the same time, I’m in the throes of brainstorming a sustainable and long-term writing ritual related to my next project. Crafting something that engages both mind and body, that centers me in the present but also permits me to wander in the past, and considers elegiac structure and conventions, is my intention–I’m in the midst of this creation.
While I’m often a minimalist on the page, I’m a maximalist at home. I’m surrounded by texts and images and objects that I love, which sometimes serve as distraction but more often as inspiration for writing–though I’ve got to keep my door closed and a window open!
What kind of writing are you working on?
Getting the first book published feels like such a marathon and a milestone, and I’m being gentler with myself now that this book is in the world. I have a plan for a second book which requires a heavier lift in terms of research and design. I’m taking a deep breath, trying to stay connected to family, friends, my students, and the quotidian, while doing a lot of brainwork in terms of planning. Without getting into the weeds, I’m writing to honor my two cousins who died young, not by focusing on their literal lives but by mythologizing their journeys–both on earth and in the underworld. I’m not quite sure what this looks like yet, which ties into your earlier question: in the past, I’ve made vast progress on projects when in writing residencies or fellowships, which strip away daily obligations and carve out indulgent amounts of time to write. I’m hoping one of these in the near future will help me gain traction on this next idea.
The bulk of the writing I do is teaching-related, and it’s easy to discount that labor–I try to remember that that writing is equally as meaningful and creative as anything else. I’ve had a hard time keeping a consistent journal (anyone else have 20 journals with just a few pages filled in?), but now I’m journaling in earnest in response to assignments and readings from my therapist. Yay, therapy! It’s renewed my sense of self-discovery and healing in the act of writing.
What helps you when you get stuck with your writing?
Creating some kind of structure or constraint often helps me get unstuck–trying to write into form, for example, or taking an existing poem and moving it towards form, always seems to flip some switches for me. Choosing a few words at random and requiring their inclusion in a poem, written very quickly–before my mean inner critic begins to speak. Falling down Wikipedia and dictionary rabbitholes, or throwing myself into research. I also like to review all the scraps of language and ideas I’ve jotted down in various places and choose a few with which to start something new. And, of course, reading.
I find so much inspiration in the classroom–careful attention to the writing of the scholars in my classes helps me to stay grounded and open-minded. Their creative work and research continually astounds me, and their inventive uses of language renew my own poetic aspirations.
What are your mindfulness practices?
I am a work in progress in terms of mindfulness! I’m trying to improve and incorporate more practices into my daily life; at the moment, what’s working is walking my dog, Whiskey. The connection between us, the physical sensation of walking, the wind, birds, waving grass, clouds, mountains, other dogs–it is joyful and gets me out of my head and into my body. As he gets older, I spend more time walking or hiking on my own, which is its own kind of meditation. Even just sitting in the backyard while Whiskey and my old cat Poe roam around and sniff things encourages me to slow down and not get too fixated on time. In the mornings, I love to go out on the deck with a cup of coffee and listen to the birds while Whiskey & Poe wander–perhaps it’s that I’m almost 40, or that I finally live in a home with a peaceful backyard, but the simplicity of that quiets my mind and carves a happier path for the rest of the day. I’m also lucky that my husband and I are wired differently–he is very grounded and chill, and when he notices me flitting about too much, he helps me to slow down.
In the classroom, I start each session with a few minutes of mindfulness–whether we’re watching a live jellyfish cam and taking deep breaths, following a guided meditation, or giggling at pandas falling down, it’s a way to shrug off the day and become more present in our shared space. Doing this in the beginning of class reminds me that I can take deep breaths and step back to recenter myself throughout our long class sessions, making me more patient with myself (and my students!).
What do you do when a mindfulness practice doesn’t seem to be working?
This is so individual–I’ve tried to follow guided mindfulness and meditation videos on YouTube but my ADHD-brain and body really have trouble sitting still for that long. Rather than feel guilty about it, I’ve realized that mindfulness in activity–walking, or listening to an audiobook while doing things around the house–can bring me a sense of peace even when I’m moving around or attempting productivity. Shifting away from the traditional idea of sitting still, cross-legged on a pillow, has helped me to personalize mindfulness to benefit my particular weirdo self. An openness to trying new things and feeling the freedom to abandon practices that aren’t working is still something I’m working on.
Do you see your writing and mindfulness practices as connected? In what ways?
When I’m anxious or shouldering the weight of too many obligations, I perceive a scarcity of time, which makes sitting down to write–or doing anything, frankly–difficult. Setting aside time to practice mindfulness makes me think more objectively about tasks, and ultimately (somewhat ironically, I suppose) gives me a sense of having more time. That makes it much more possible to sit down, without anxiety, to write. And while writing isn’t therapy, I think it can be its own kind of mindfulness–reading, too. Dipping into another world requires time and investment. On lucky days, I rise early, feed and water our pets, grab a cup of coffee and head back to bed with a book. It feels indulgent yet productive.
What is your mantra or motto for life? What piece of wisdom do you have on a post-it note?
I am a post-it aficionado! And a collector of little notes. I have them stuck all over cork boards in my offices and in sticky little piles in my drawers. A phrase I’m stuck with: everything is changing. Knowing that all things–whether great or terrible–are impermanent helps me to navigate those ups and downs. Knowing the wheel is constantly turning makes the darkest places less daunting, and the brightest places more precious.
Wow, is that too cheesy? I also love Ron Swanson’s saying, “Never half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.” Whenever I’m trying to do too much, or considering saying yes to yet another thing, this wisdom pops into my head.
Are there any books/authors/teachers/podcasts that have been transformative for you that you would recommend to readers?
CAConrad is my go-to for everything: poetic inspiration, a deeper connection to the world, inventive language, irreverence, sensuality, laughter, and a holistic view of humans, nonhumans, and nature. Their poems are earth-shattering, and their (soma)tic poetry rituals will transform the way you write, read, and think. Seriously. They have remarkable recent collections, but A Beautiful Marsupial Afternoon and Book of Frank remain my favorites.
Writers whose work consistently excites and inspires me, and who I especially love to bring into the classroom, are Mosab Abu Toha, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Leila Chatti, Ross Gay, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Andrea Gibson, and Diane Seuss, among so many others, of course. Right now I’m enjoying Noor Hindi and Fady Joudah’s latest collections, and the anthology In the Tempered Dark: Contemporary Poets Transcending Elegy.
There have been so many beautiful teachers in my life, but I have to mention my high school English teacher, Ann DeBruin. She was encouraging and warm and wrote little notes of praise that I kept and still read. She died very young and I miss her.
A prompt from Alysse
The art of revision, for me, is harder than the act of creation. My favorite radical revision technique is reversing the order of a poem, where the last line of the poem becomes the first line of the poem, the second-to-last line becomes the second line, etc. Then you must revise and smooth and tinker to make the new version sensical (or not!), but the strongest elements of the poem remain. This has yielded a better poem for me just once, but the mere attempt makes for interesting newish material.
Check out how Alysse used this technique with her poem, “Ode to Taking Out the Dog” HERE. (I cannot wait to try this).
Another inventive exercise I love is visual translation–finding a poem written in a language you do not know and translating it visually on the page, rather than literally. For example, in Tomas Tranströmer poem “Andrum juli” (“Breathing Space, July”) there’s a line in Swedish: “Den som står nere vid bryggorna kisar mot vattnen.” While the literal translation of this line is: “The one who’s standing down by the docks squints at the water,” a visual translation of this line could be: “Then some stars, near-winking, brightened and kissed: a knotted pattern.” I don’t remember where I first encountered this idea–it might even be an OULIPO technique–but it’s fun and experimental to play with language in this way. Practices that encourage our brains to twist to make things fit help us invent outside of the typical and comfortable. Writers are always inspired by and borrowing from other writers, and conversing with another poet’s work in this way is exciting.
For more from Alysse and her new book, FishWife 🐟
A brief profile at Black Lawrence Press that includes a little about the writing of the book, plus a few poems
An awesome interview on Youtube with Rena J. Mosteirin of Left Bank Books
For more of Alysse’s work, check out her website & Linktree & follow her on Instagram
I also highly recommend Alysse’s chapbook, Pentimento, which you can order here from Goldline Press!
Alysse Kathleen McCanna is the author of FishWife (Black Lawrence Press). Her poetry has appeared in North American Review, The Rumpus, Poet Lore, TriQuarterly, and other journals. Alysse’s chapbook Pentimento won the 2017 Gold Line Press Poetry Chapbook Competition. She holds a PhD in English from Oklahoma State University, an MFA from Bennington College, and serves as Associate Editor of Pilgrimage Magazine. Alysse is an Associate Professor of English at Colorado Mountain College in the Vail Valley.
Be Where You Are is a newsletter about how to use writing and mindfulness to be where you are. If you have ideas to share for future newsletters, you can reply to this email or email me at emilymohnslate@gmail.com. You can support this newsletter by liking, commenting & sharing it with other people. You can also find me on Instagram or Facebook or find more info at my website. Thank you for reading!