The Poet Avery M Guess lives in Louisville Kentucky and is a recipient of the 2015 NEA Fellowship for Poetry. Avery M Guess also works full-time as the Grant Program Manager for the Kentucky Foundation for women. Guess's most work is her first full-length collection of poetry, called "The Truth Is" which was published in 2019 by Black Lawrence Press. 

​Interview With Avery M Guess

#1. When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was in elementary school. I remember a poem I wrote in 3rd grade received a 2nd or 3rd place ribbon at the Dade County Youth Fair (in South Florida, where I grew up) which I thought was so cool. I was writing melancholy poems even then. (I don’t remember the exact line breaks, but I’ve never forgotten the poem: “One day / I will find / behind ebony colored shadows / a being / soft and cuddly / needing love / like me.”) That feeling of being alone in the world is one I imagine many of us felt as kids. I wrote a lot of poems and stories and plays throughout jr. high school and high school. I founded and was editor for a school literary magazine and was also the editor of the school newspaper. I also journaled extensively in high school.

#2. What is your writing process like?

Ha. My writing process is all over the place. I’m not someone who writes every day, and I’m definitely not someone who gets up at 5:30 in the morning to write for a couple of hours before the day begins. That sort of discipline has always eluded me. I was diagnosed with ADHD recently, and I have a feeling that contributes to my writing more when I’m in the mood to write. I find it near impossible to write when I am not feeling it. Having a deadline helps, though. In  graduate school creative writing classes we usually had to turn in a poem, story, play act, or creative nonfiction essay weekly. Having that structure was helpful in producing work. There wasn’t really time to get too stressed out by the blank page or accusatory blinking cursor. I remember once sitting down and knocking out a 15-page story the same day it was due. Definitely not quality work or something I would recommend doing, but it is what happened. I think writing this way forces you to become a better editor of your work. You’ve produced a poem or story that is objectively in need of a lot of revision and then you have to figure out how you are going to make it work. I participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) back in 2002, I think, and having that pre-defined deadline of writing at least 50,000 words of a novel during November also helped. I managed to get a full draft written in 25 days. The draft is terrible, of course, and I never had the energy to work on revising it, though I do think about getting back to the idea the draft was centered around occasionally. I think it is really important for aspiring writers to understand that there is no one way to write or be a writer. For most of years in my 20s and early 30s I thought that I couldn’t be a writer if I didn’t write every day because that is the advice told over and over again to young writers. I think that it is really harmful advice. It’s also really classist and ableist. Not everyone can set aside time every day for writing. Not everyone has the ability to write every day. Like any advice, it will fit some people really well, but I’d be surprised if the majority of writers truly write every day (excluding perhaps journalling). I used write in my journal fairly regularly, but even then, I’d take a break for a few weeks or months and get back to it. The page is always there waiting for you. That is the kind of advice I wish I’d heard more when I was younger. (Wow, didn’t expect to go on this much. I guess I have a lot of feelings about this!)

#3. How has your background shaped “The Truth Is”?

You know the old saying, “Write what you know?” Well, this book is a combo platter of me writing what I know and also what I don’t know, as is, it seems, all of my writing. I experienced a lot of trauma growing up in the form of abuse from my parents and other people. I don’t remember most of my childhood. I have a few clear memories, but most of what I *remember* comes from more of a deep *knowing* or being told about it later, rather than any distinct memories. Not surprisingly, the way I remember trauma is similar - there are things I know that happened, but I don’t actually remember what it was like at the moment. I can’t necessarily visualize everything. (Side note: Actually, like some people, I can’t actually imagine anything visually. So, if someone says, picture an apple, I don’t actually see an apple, I have a feeling or knowing of *appleness*. I know the colors of apples, the crunch when you bite into one, etc., but I can’t see the apple in my mind’s eye. Likewise, I can’t picture a loved one’s face. This inability to see something in your mind is called aphantasia.) Anyway. Writing these poems became an exercise in trying to get across my *knowing* in a way that was rich with imagery so that my readers could better understand what I was trying to get across. I think that is why many of the poems focus on scene building and transformation.

#4. Who was your inspiration for your style of writing?

I have a lot of influences in my writing. I have always been a voracious reader, and I read widely. I do think that piece of advice given to aspiring writers is solid. However, I also think that all forms of reading count and are valid - comic books/graphic novels - reading; audio books - reading; books with sparkling vampires - reading. All of it counts and all of it teaches you something about writing - whether it is something you are interested in emulating or avoiding in your own work. For me, there are some poets in particular that I read while writing these poems that helped me in terms of thinking about ways to talk about trauma. Poets like Nickole Brown, Rachel McKibbens, and Cathy Linh Che write very powerful, and very different, work on trauma. Their books became touchstones for me. Formally, I learned a lot from one of my professors at Southern Illinois University (where I received my MFA), Judy Jordan. She got me focused on going beyond the story I was trying to tell to also pay attention to creating vivid imagery and a closer focus on sound. She would start classes each semester with a discussion of Greg Orr’s essay, “Four Temperaments and the Forms of Poetry,” which he calls story, structure, music, and imagination. In the essay, Orr explains that there are “limiting” forces that include story and structure and “limitless” ones that include music and imagination. The idea is that most writers excel in a couple of these sectors, but the more you can begin to incorporate into your writing, the more powerful it becomes. In my case, I was strong on story - I knew what I wanted to write about and had a compelling narrative - and in structure - I liked to play with form and see different ways a story could be told. Where I needed work was on music - making word choices that gave the writing aural power and on imagination - trying to move beyond the focus on what happened and telling it exactly into a more metaphorical space. This essay is an incredible read. I highly recommend trying to find a copy to read if you are interested in writing. While it is ostensibly for writers of poetry, I believe all writers can benefit from reading it. One poet who I read that was particularly helpful in growing my ear musically and my imagination was Lee Ann Roripaugh. Her poems sing on the page and the linguistic play and imagination she engages in is delightful, even as she is writing about topics that are based in trauma. I ended up applying to and attending the PhD program at University of South Dakota to work with her. In terms of revision, having a trusted friend who can read your poems with kindness and care as well as a critical eye is invaluable. If you find such a person, it is a gift. My friend, the poet M. Brett Gaffney, is that person for me. I’m convinced that she has a machine that creates similes in her apartment. Look up her poems, especially if you enjoy the horror genre. Her poems are just incredible.

#5. Who is your intended audience in “The Truth Is”?

My intended audience would be folks like me who have experienced trauma and are dealing with mental illness. I think that seeing yourself reflected in art is so important and helpful and affirming. Representation matters. I can’t stress that enough. All that said, I would hope that my writing resonates with all people who read it, even if their experiences are not similar.

#6. What is your message for those reading your book who can relate and those who have not been familiar with what you have to discuss?

I think that for people who relate I’d say to take your time reading and take breaks as needed if the work is triggering. For people who don’t have similar experiences, I’d say to keep an open mind and read with empathy. We can learn so much from reading about people who have different experiences. I think that is the key to being an empathetic person. And we need more empathy in this world.

#7. What impact did you hope to have in society upon “The Truth Is” being released?

I’d love for people to come away with the understanding that it is possible to live with trauma and mental illness. I hope that reading my poetry assures people their experiences are valid and real. That they are kinder to themselves. And that, in turn, they are kinder with other people. Trauma and mental illness are not going away. It is so important that they are both talked about and not shrouded in secrecy. The more people are able to talk about what they experience, the better chance discussing the truth of ourselves will become normalized and people will feel less alone and be more willing to reach out for the help they need. I hope that my poetry has added to that ability, however slightly.

#8. In what ways have the people you thanked, helped when writing “The Truth Is”?

Oh, wow. In so many ways. Growing up, I always thought writing was a solitary venture. And it can be, to an extent. It is, after all, just you and the blank page. But it is also all the people you read and all the people you are in writing community with and all the people who give helpful (and even unhelpful) criticism and the people you admire who you get to meet at readings and conferences and, perhaps most of all, the people who encourage you throughout the years. All of this goes into your writing And all of it is important.

#9. Who did you want your book to be read by most of all?

My teen self. To how her there is a way through the darkness.

#10. What is the significance of the title “The Truth Is”?

This title was actually suggested by my publisher. The title I submitted the manuscript under was “The Blue Notebook” and I envisioned a blue spiral notebook with writing and stickers all over. But when Diane Goettel of Black Lawrence Press suggested “The Truth Is,” it made a lot of sense to me. There are a lot of truths spoken in the poems, but just like in the poem titled “The Truth Is,” there is also confusion and a wild imagination at play that ends up being one of the things that protects the girl/speaker from all that is happening around her.

#11. If only one page could be left in “The Truth Is” what page would you want more than the others?

Oof, if it had to be a poem, then maybe “The Body Keeps the Score.” If it could be any page, I’d probably choose the dedication. Meeting my birthmother and brother has had a profound effect on my life and their love has helped me to begin to heal many of my childhood wounds.

#12. Which poem was the hardest to include?

Without a doubt, “The Patient Admits.” That ended up being the title of my chapbook that was published by dancing girl press a couple of years before “The Truth Is” was released. That poem still scares me. I feel like I am at my most vulnerable in that poem. It was hard to write. It is hard to have out in the world. I was terrified of what the response would be when people read it.

#13. What inspired the cover for “The Truth Is”?

I wanted something that would fit with the South Florida setting of the book. Sea urchins seemed a perfect choice. When they are living they are covered in spiky spines that both look and feel fierce (and may even be venomous). They are what help to protect the more vulnerable parts of their bodies. I love the juxtaposition in play here. The fierce and the tender. The protection and the vulnerability. I also spent a lot of time in the ocean as a child and teen. It also holds the same kind of tension - the embrace of sea water that so mimics the time spent in the womb against the forces within that can destroy so easily. For the most part, the ocean is my safe place. I would love to come back in another life as a sea creature. Perhaps an otter or a whale. Maybe even a sea urchin.

#14. What role do the order of the poems have in “The Truth Is”?

Ordering a manuscript of poems is so challenging. I was trying to create a larger narrative force that would carry the reader through the smaller moments and stories held within the poems. A building of tension and release throughout. I don’t know if I succeeded. It’s entirely possible that were I to try and order it today, there would be a different outcome.