WVU Creative Writing

Mini Interview Series: Charles Coe, poet:

Next up in our Mini Interview Series, it's Charles Coe, author of MEMENTO MORI and other poetry collections!
LP: Which poem from MEMENTO MORI do you find your thoughts revisiting most often, and why?
CC: That's a tough question. I'll say there are two. One is "When Grief Comes Calling," a meditation on how we can rediscover "comfort and joy" in the wake of tragedy. I wrote it several years ago and find it's taken on an entirely different meaning given the pandemic and some of the other horrible things that have happened in America in recent years.

The other poem closes the book, "Every New Thing." It touches on the idea that we can "open our cages" and move into, and create, a new reality. Interesting...this question makes me realize those two poems are actually companion pieces. Guess we can always learn something new about our work.

LP: How have you kept yourself motivated to write and/or read during the pandemic?
CC: I was a voracious reader before the pandemic but now I sometimes find it hard to concentrate. I still enjoy reading--everything from "serious" literary fiction and biographies, to "entertainment" reading like westerns and mysteries. But I rarely just sit in a chair with a book for two or three hours at a stretch anymore. Although a few weeks ago I got completely absorbed by Walter Mosley's latest novel, "Down By the River and Unto the Sea"...could hardly put it down.

As far as writing, I usually have a number of projects going at once. But some seem less compelling to me now and I've set them aside, at least for the time being. More and more my writing is a response to the current realities. Not that it's all about the pandemic, but some topics I might have touched on a year or so ago don't really capture my attention right now.

LP: What are you working on now, and what can readers look forward to from you in the future?
CC: In addition to writing poetry for a next volume, I'm working on a family prose memoir centered on my late sister. I've finished the outline and have my hip boots on to wade through the first draft. Given all the uncertainty we're dealing with nowadays I'm feeling a heightened sense of urgency to share those stories while I still can...

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