Kate Cumiskey discovered she was a poet whilst in high school. In fact, it was her high school boyfriend who suggested she start writing things down because she saw the world in such poetical ways.

She attended a class by Robert Creeley and that was when her writing life really took off. But it wasn't until about seven years ago she started writing fiction and has just had her first manuscript accepted by finishing line press. 

"gruelling work"

This is how she describes writing poetry for her. The frame of the poem comes to her quickly, but it can take up to seven years to refine the piece.

She says she learns about her work from the comments of others, and they have noticed her themes include Florida, the space programme, man's relationship to nature. 

We talk about why some people are very fearful of poetry and are reluctant to try it. She feels that this is because many think they have to examine and understand poetry, rather than simply experience it. 

We talk about "found" poems and what a straightforward way they are into writing poetry.

A piece of advice she has for new poets is to describe and write about the external, rather than the internal. And she gives a great tip and writing prompt on how to do this.

Kate herself doesn't write rhyming poetry in its traditional form, but she has a lot of internal rhyme in her poem. We talk about how she has struggled to know the best way to end a line. To overcome this problem, Kate uses sculpture to navigate the endings.

Sculpture enables her to see the poem as a physical object and so seeing its form becomes much easier and she sees where the line ends and the next one begins.

Cumiskey has worked with several small presses and she kindly shares her experiences, as well as how to find a small press to work with. 

She also offers some caution, encouraging you to understand your author rights, that the poems are your intellectual property and to be careful what you sign.

Kate recommends Submittable as a wonderful place to find publishers for short stories and poems. She even has a top tip for Submittable which you can find out by listening to the episode! 

We finish our conversation with Kate sharing what she's writing at the moment and how Natalia Ginzburg's Little Book Of Virtues has inspired her to write a new essay. 

Connect with Kate:

Authors Talk: Kate Cumiskey – s [r] blog (asu.edu)

Other Links

Surfing at New Smyrna Beach - https://amzn.to/3pFaOU1

The Women Who Gave Up Their Vowels by Kate Cumiskey—Finishing Line Press

Allison Joseph - ALLISON JOSEPH, POET - Home (allisonjosephpoetry.com)

Poets and writers website - Poets & Writers | Contests, MFA Programs, Agents & Grants for Writers (pw.org)

Submittable - The Social Impact Platform | Submittable

Natalia Ginzburg - https://amzn.to/2Tr3xN9

Robert Creeley Robert Creeley | Poetry Foundation

William Carlos Williams - William Carlos Williams | Poetry Foundation

Found poetry - Found poetry - Wikipedia

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