As a graduate student at Portland State University, I worked as an editor for Ooligan Press. Ooligan is the nation’s premier student-run general trade press. Much to my glee, we acquired a poetry anthology called Deer Drink the Moon: Poems of Oregon. I had the opportunity to work closely with Liz Nakazawa, the anthology’s editor. I’ve since met many of the poets in this collection. It’s been a wonderful journey and I’m very happy to have been a part of the creation of this anthology.
The anthology is unique in that the poems are arranged by eco-region. In the preface, Liz discusses how she “wanted to bring these poems together as a way to honor our state’s genius loci, or ‘spirit of place,’ with its unique blend of geographies and climates.”
This is the book's description from Ooligan’s Web site:
“In this collection, thirty-three of Oregon’s most esteemed poets write about the state they call home. Arranged by eco-region and accompanied by maps, these ageless poems let readers travel the state with the poets, pausing at places of inspiration. Connection with nature and the importance of family are just two of the themes readers will find along they way.”
Liz and I met recently to chat about poetry, the anthology, and the upcoming reading. Liz said as she selected poems, she was guided by May Sarton’s quote about selflessness:
“In my heart of hearts I do believe that art and sanctity can go together—because at the inmost center of art is selflessness.” –Selected Letters, 1955-1995.
One of the contributors suggested that Liz collect poems that didn’t have a lot of “I.” The result is a collection that isn’t about the individual, but about the human experience.
CT: How has the book been doing? How would you describe the process?
LN: It was a hugely collective effort and continues to be, with wonderful Ooligan students like you. Ooligan students are still working on the marketing of the book. Because of their hard work and because Ooligan has hooked up with Graphic Arts, It’s been getting around the state widely in independent bookstores. I’ve been doing a little bit of marketing to libraries. Between the bookstores and the libraries, especially independent bookstores, it seems to be doing well.
CT: I was thinking about the upcoming reading: it doesn’t matter if this book came out five years ago or ten year ago, it always seems fresh. If you get some of the authors together for a reading, it’s always going to be something different and it’s always alive.
LN: I think that all poetry has that eternal flavor to it, unless there’s a poem that mentions, say, a specific political event or historical event. Poetry is so timeless.
CT: Have you written any poetry?
LN: I have started to write a little bit of poetry, and I have absolutely no window into it. If it’s badly written, or if it’s well written, I have no idea. With freelance articles, you have an editor that either says yes or no. But with the poems that I’m just starting to write, I have no idea and I haven’t tried to send any out.
CT: What is your process? Do you write by hand and then type it up?
LN: I always have to do any kind of writing by longhand. When I was writing freelance articles, whenever I started my first paragraph I always had to start longhand and then I would switch over to the computer. So with the poems I’m writing the whole poem longhand and then revising longhand and I keep revising and revising until I feel it’s halfway ready for the computer.
CT: What inspires you? How do you start to write?
LN: I guess I usually do a little bit of stealing. Like the other day I was looking in the newspaper and they had an article about an astronomer’s convention. And I thought, that’s kind of weird, a bunch of astronomers all getting together. And they had some words in there that were very astronomy-type words, and I would take one word and throw in my own words and throw in my own fanciful what might have happened at the convention, and what was outside the window.
CT: How does freelance article writing compare to poetry writing or with the editing of the anthology? Did you use your journalist side for any of it?
LN: Poetry writing and freelance article writing are very very different. Poetry is way over on the intuitive, right-brain, almost spiritual. Freelance writing is a little bit more nuts and bolts: you go and interview somebody, you have some quotes from them, you build around that. It’s more like carpentry. I didn’t feel like the process of putting together the poems for the book was all that creative, but I was using a real strong intuitive side. When the poems came in and I was choosing which ones I wanted in there, it felt very non-rational, non-linear, it felt very intuitive, and almost like somebody else was doing it. It almost felt like I was taken over by some other consciousness.
CT: It was your gut feeling.
LN: I did think a lot about neighboring poems and how a poem would feel with its neighbor before or after it, and of course, needing different poems for different eco-regions. I was always sure, though, when I got a poem from a poet which one I wanted and which one I didn’t. Most of the time submissions were ones that I did want because poets would lead me to other poets, excellent poets, so they tended to be high quality writers, and I asked for nature poems so it usually worked out. Occasionally I would get a political poem, and this isn’t a political anthology. I didn’t have to go through the process of rejecting very many poems.
CT: Why does poetry matter? Why is important to have books like this or any published poetry?
LN: Poetry talks about the things that people usually don’t talk about. It helps me become more aware of my world and the inner life of the poets I’m reading and it gives me a glimpse into their consciousness that I might not ordinarily have if I was just going to sit down and have an ordinary conversation.
CT: Why do you think people are resistant to poetry? I think it’s because adults were forced to read poetry that they couldn’t relate to, poems written by old dead white guys.
LN: I think that’s it, and not only that, they had to stand up in front of the class and recite, instead of given, like they do now, a poem starter. One line to give to the kids for them to start their own poem. If you started with kids at a young age starting to write their own poems, then later introduce other people’s poems, then I think they’d grow up loving poetry.
CT: The poems in Deer Drink the Moon are so accessible. I think the book appeals to a lot of people that don’t normally consider themselves poetry readers. Has that been your experience?
LN: I have found that, and one was my sister. She hadn’t read poetry until the book, and then when she heard a CD of me reading on KBOO from the book, then it became even more alive for her. That’s why I think the readings are so important.
CT: I think poetry is intended to be heard. When I was in college, one of my professors said that you know great poetry when you are reading with your eyes and your throat is getting tired because you are forming the words in your throat. You want to speak it.
I read at the William Stafford birthday event. The great thing about readings is that they are all so different, depending on the audience and the readers and the venues.
LN: This was the first year I read my own poem at the William Stafford reading and it was so scary. But it worked out really well and a couple people came up and asked for copies. It helped my confidence about my own poems.
CT: There’s such a connection between Oregon poets and there’s a real spirit of collaboration.
LN: Yes, it’s like all the poets want to help other poets, and instead of any air of competition, there’s just a sign of giving. They’re all giving and it’s wonderful.
You can order Deer Drink the Moon: Poems of Oregon from the following online outlets:
Powell's
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company
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