We recently connected with Colleen Michaels and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Colleen, thanks for sitting with us today to chat about topics that are relevant to so many. One of those topics is communication skills, because we live in an age where our ability to communicate effectively can be like a superpower. Can you share how you developed your ability to communicate well?
I’m a teacher and poet, so I’ve had a lot of on-the-job training when it comes to communicating and speaking in front of a crowd. However, I think the idea of having a good conversation around a kitchen table was baked into me at a very early age. I was the first person in my family to go to college, but I’m from a long line of excellent storytellers and natural performers. Also, I’m married to a musician with an excellent ear. Listening, really listening and not just holding time until it’s your tun to speak, is the key to communication I think.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Colleen Michaels is a poet and educator living on Massachusetts’ North Shore. She directs the Writing Studio at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts, where she hosts the Improbable Places Poetry Tour, bringing poetry to unlikely places like tattoo parlors, laundromats, and swimming pools. Yes, in the swimming pool. Her poems have been published, anthologized, and commissioned as installations for The Massachusetts Poetry Festival, The Peabody Essex Museum, and The Trustees of Reservations. She serves on the board of trustees for the Beverly Public Library. She is the author of Prize Wheel (Small Bites Press, 2023) and the coauthor, along with Kevin Carey, of the chapbook, Olympus Heights (Lily Poetry Review, 2023).
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Lean into your unique passions and skills (my family could not quite understand why I wanted to go to college to study medieval poetry, but I knew it was the right choice for me.) Embrace being a student (I still need to read, research and study. There’s a pleasure in putting in the work required to do something well.)
Find a community where you can contribute and feel valued. (I’m so fortunate to work at Montserrat College of Art and to have a poetry group, The Thursday Poets Collective.)
Keep trucking! I didn’t publish my book until I was in my 50s!
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
I try to keep a few creative pursuits in rotation so that when I find it difficult to produce work or if a poem is feeling forced or overworked, I can pick up something else. I have been sewing and designing clothes since the 80’s (insert pretty in pink reference here🤣), so often sewing is my inverse of writing. I even have a small “collection” of garments and poems inspired by each other.
Contact Info:
- Website: Colleenmichaels.com
- Facebook: Improbable Places Poetry Tour
- Other: A bug is being fixed on my website this week, so let me confirm that it’s working properly before going public. It has links to my work, so that’s the best place to access my publications, YouTube, etc
Image Credits
Rebekah Sommer
