M.F.A. alum Brody Parrish Craig’s poetry collection, Boyish, published by the University of Chicago Press, will be released this April. We recently visited with Brody about the process of putting together this award-winning collection, their development of the new literary magazine Twang, Geffrey Davis’s Literary Publishing course (a favorite of Brody’s), another author’s recent collection of poetry that Brody recommends, and the reason they find poetry so valuable.
First, major congratulations on being awarded the Omnidawn 2019 Poetry Chapbook Prize, judged by Tongo Eisen-Martin, for your chapbook Boyish, which will be published by the University of Chicago Press and released in April 2021! Could you tell us a little about the process of writing and collecting the poems you decided to include in Boyish? Also, if you had to choose one poem in the collection to read aloud, which one would it be and why?
Thank you! I’m so happy this book is coming into the world and I couldn’t have asked for a better home. Some of these poems actually started during my years in the M.F.A. program, and have been sat on/deeply revised since that time. After completing my thesis, I knew that there was a book in here somewhere, but wasn’t really sure where to start—I took some time sitting on the pieces before trying to figure that out. That’s a lot of my writing/collecting process: time. Letting the space between do work. I knew that I wanted my first collection—or rather my first collection needed—to be about my relationships to queerness and southernness. Once I saw the direction it was headed, the revision/grouping process was all about paring down, picking the right poems, and ordering. I spent a lot of time printing every piece out and rearranging them with tape on my apartment wall. And doing it again. I couldn’t be more happy with the result!
If I had to read one poem, I’d choose “Overpass.” This poem has a refrain that reclaims a slur (“fag/gut/gutter/mouth”) and the cadence lends well to reading at the top of your lungs, really letting that emotion out the throat and into the audience. The refrain also lets the cis-het reader in to what it feels like to have these words follow you, the cyclic nature of oppressive language.
In 2018, you also received one of the prestigious Artists 360 awards to develop Twang, described on the Artists 360 website as a literary anthology “that celebrates and elevates transgender and gender non-conforming writers living through Mid-America.” I realize that COVID has probably delayed the publication process a bit, but could you update us on the status of Twang and, if possible, let us know some of the writers whose work you hope to feature in the first issue?
When I started Twang, I really had no idea what I was getting into. I’ve never edited a book before, and I’m primarily a solo act—from book design to web development to editing. COVID definitely took us back a notch, but I’m currently working with a fellow poet toward completing the proof of the anthology. What I’m most excited about is the talent in this book—there’s such a range of beautiful art that really encapsulates different experiences of being TGNC in this region and in surprising ways to boot. As part of Twang, I also conducted creative writing workshops centering TGNC poetry across the region, so we have this beautiful mix of writers—some of which have a lengthy publication record, others whose first publication will be in the anthology. We have 30 amazing contributors, including visual artists and writers. Some contributors include Ching-In Chen, Canese Jarboe, M Tran, and Kiki Nicole, to name a few.
[Since the time of this interview, the first issue of Twang has been published, and you can now read it online.]
You graduated from the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing a few years ago. Could you talk a little about a favorite course you took as a graduate student and/or a particularly memorable moment?
The course that immediately comes to mind is Literary Publishing with Geffrey Davis! When I knew I was ready to start submitting work, this class made all the difference. I wouldn’t have known where to begin with sending my chapbook into the world without this class. We even went over some elements of book production and what to expect if your manuscript was selected by a press. It’s really helped me as I’ve navigated through the next steps with Omnidawn this past year, and the class played a huge role in giving me both the knowledge and the courage to submit my work.
Outside of the publishing course, one of the reasons I came to the University of Arkansas was that I knew I wanted to study translation alongside my main focus in poetry. Translation workshops really changed the way that I look at an individual word in a poem—which in turn reshaped my revision process with my own poetry.
Could you recommend a book of poetry (or fiction) by another author, written within the last year or two, and elaborate on why you consider it a valuable read?
I’m currently reading Obit by Victoria Chang and have been super compelled by her use of the obituary for various narratives/things/ideas—while she deals directly with grief over losses of people, she also plays with memory, objects, and many other “griefs” in innovative ways. I’m really interested in how she uses the genre confines of an obituary, something often so dry and objective, and pushes against these constraints while working within them to create a series of poetry about loss—what is gained and lost in the form—how this ties into the language itself . . . I highly recommend it!
Sorry to throw you a curveball, but I love to talk with folks about how valuable the humanities are outside of the classroom and in non-academic, even non-artistic, work environments. In your opinion, how can poetry and professionalization connect in surprising—and surprisingly rewarding—ways? Put another way, how can poetry enhance our professional perspective, no matter what job we have?
For me, poetry has always been my entrance into new worlds, conversations, and ideas. I am able to gain new perspectives and carry on conversations with books that I may not have in my day-to-day life. Poetry opens our perceptions, creates empathy, and engages creativity—no matter what field, creativity is integral to our success—we’re always looking for new ways to approach subjects or problems as they arise. Poetry breaks barriers and unlimits what seems finite—I believe that poetry gives us a lens to unlearn and reimagine the possibilities of today’s world.