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The Writing Lives Story Project
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www.ninandrews.com
There’s thisLangston Hughes poem called “Evil” that goes something like: What I’m doing might not bother you. But I’m going to keep on doing it until it drives you crazy too.
I think that’s why I wanted to write chapbooks. I liked the idea of creating a small and contained book that might entertain a reader without driving him or her crazy, as poetry (sadly) can sometimes do.
I particularly wanted to be a part of the Wick Series because I had seen what wonderful books they publish.
At the time when I was writing my chapbook, Any Kind of Excuse, I was beginning to change my writing style. I wanted to start telling my story, not in a linear fashion, but as a kind of mosaic. I had the image in my mind of a stained glass window. Each piece of glass, or each poem, would be one part through which the light would shine. But up until that point I hadn’t been writing autobiographically at all. And I wasn’t sure I could succeed with this project. A chapbook seemed like a nice way to start. Winning the Wick chapbook contest gave me the confidence to pursue this idea, and I am still working on it, one poem at a time. My book, Southern Comfort, due out in September, 2009, and is an expanded version of Any Kind of Excuse.
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