Meet Kirsten Casey

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kirsten Casey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kirsten, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

The job of being a poet means that you have to constantly and consistently notice things, the beautiful and the horrifying. My optimism comes from teaching children and adults about the wonder and delight of arranging words, of the power of personal expression, and how fun the process actually is. The world is full of discouragement, but the imagination is full of fantastic originality. As a child, I loved to draw and I wrote books for my friends, and this outlet allowed me to embrace the world with my own quirky perspective. I firmly believe that anyone is capable of writing a good poem that will reveal the way they interpret what is around them. That challenge keeps me optimistic, as I enter every workshop I am excited to see the many new ways to write about emotions, places, people, memories. Words keep me hopeful for the world.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I have been a California Poet in the Schools for 20 years, and was the Poet Laureate of Nevada County from 2021-2025. Being a poet is an unusual vocation, people aren’t sure what to say when I tell them what I do. I was a writing major in college and I received my MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State in 1992. I have worked with all ages of children since I taught 7th-8th grade in 1989, and I still love it. The best part of my job is walking into a room and having no idea how the audience will respond to the poems I read them, and also how the students will react to the way that I teach (which is very different from regular academic instruction…zombie haiku, for instance.) There is a fantastic connection, because we are all waiting to see the ways we will relate to each other and the world. When I write a poem, sometimes I am me, sometimes I am a bird, or an inanimate object, or a dead famous person, but I always want my reader to understand me. Poetry allows this recognition, and that’s why people make little sounds at poetry readings. These are tiny groans of “I have felt that way, too.” I run a monthly local Poetry Happy Hour that consists of a theme, a talk, a discussion, and time for prompts. It’s free, open to all ages, and is remarkably fun (for me, in particular.) Some attendees write poems, others just listen, and some even paint or draw. It opens us up creatively to each other and the world. My second collection of poems, Grieving for Birds, is currently trying to find a proper nest. My first book, Ex Vivo: Out of the Living Body is inspired by odd stories, remarkable words, and the mysteries of the human body. My website, kirstencasey.com, is where you can find all of my latest work and events.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Patience, a sense of humor, and curiosity have saved me throughout my life as a writer, and my life, in general. In this world of instantaneous gratification, oversharing on social media, and blatant anonymous cruelty, it is important to remember that the work matters, even if it doesn’t have global recognition. The time it takes to grow as a literary artist only improves the quality of the work. Nothing else replaces experience. Why do I write? It is not for the money, and it is not for the recognition, it is because I need to, and I want to, and it is a unique way to connect to others. I wouldn’t be a poet if I wasn’t curious. I have researched lace, and the names of doctors who have broken bones named after them, and many species of birds. Sometimes that work turns into a poem, and sometimes I just learn a lot of weird facts. I am always grateful for the accessibility to information that makes my poems accurate, and I don’t take for granted that I don’t have to slog through old encyclopedias, like I did as a kid. And it’s important to not take myself too seriously. I can laugh at the world, and myself, and still write serious poems. But life is too short not to write funny poems, as well. Nothing is as exciting for me as reading a poem and having the audience laugh. If you are early in your writing journey, write as much as you can and read as much as you can. Don’t be afraid to rewrite, or abandon. Join a writing group. Don’t be too harsh on yourself when you get rejected from a contest or journal. Keep trying, and then write some more.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

My second collection of poetry, Grieving for Birds,
has been ready to publish for over five years. After submitting over and over, I have been a runner up in one contest, and otherwise, I have been rejected. It’s at the point where I have so many new poems that I need to rework the manuscript entirely. This is not a great feeling. I am trying to regroup poems and figure out how much of it I need to leave behind. Do I start over? This is something every writer faces. Even though I may not include the previous work, I have to remind myself it still exists. It still means something to me. My poems aren’t going away, they are just being relocated. I know I should be submitting my work more than I am now. I know I am in my late 50s and I don’t have forever. Still, I believe the work will find a place where it belongs. Trying to remain positive, and focusing on giving more time to the submission process is the only way through it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kirstencasey.com
• Instagram: markirstencasey
• Facebook: Kirsten Casey

Image Credits

The Union newspaper