We love learning more about our contributors, and an interview seemed like a fun way to hear more about the writers and artists we publish, so we gave them a choice of questions to answer. We hope you also enjoy hearing more about the artists and their works. Read on and check out issue 21 for work from Kait Quinn.

Or you can let them read to you!


What was the inspiration for the piece published in the issue?
This poem was inspired by a scene in David Lynch's movie Fire Walk With Me (a prequel to the Twin Peaks series). A woman named Lil meets a detective at a small airport to give him information needed to investigate a murder via her clothing, accessories, and gestures. I wrote the piece while taking a Fire Walk With Me-based workshop with Chrissy Williams. I can't remember the exact prompt, but I think part of it was to focus in on the details. Instead of writing about the detective's perspective and what the coded clothing/gestures mean to him, I imagined myself as Laura Palmer and that Lil's message was for me. I decode the message throughout the poem based on what Lil does/wears in that scene.


Who or what inspires your work generally?
My work is usually inspired by other writers/poets, prompts, music, nature, and past experiences and relationships. I've also been more inspired by movies and TV shows lately and am working on a full Twin Peaks-inspired manuscript.


What is your creative process? Do you plan works out or let them happen as they come?
I rarely, if ever, plan out what I'm going to write. I used to only write when something came to me, and I still have those moments where I have to drop everything and grab a pen, phone, or computer to get a poem down. Mostly, I gather a few prompts, put on some music, and spend 10-15 minutes freewriting. I might do some quick edits after that. Otherwise, I let it sit for a day or two before editing the freewrite into a poem. I may set it aside again and come back to it weeks later.


We think of "after happy hour" as the time you can really let loose and be yourself. What is your after happy hour?
My happy hour is my evening self-care routine. I hole up in the bathroom and play/sing to Taylor Swift while I shower and go through my skincare routine. I love singing (any songs, but especially Taylor's), but I'm pretty shy and reserved, and for some reason, the bathroom is the one place where I feel like I can just sing my little heart out.


Why did you feel like After Happy Hour would be a good home for this piece?
A keyword in AHH's poetry guidelines is "challenge." "Lil Has a Surprise" for you was definitely a challenging poem to write. I'm a serial confessional poet and didn't really start writing from others' perspectives until I started writing poems for my Twin   Peaks-themed manuscript. A writer friend of mine (Seneca Basoalto, who also edited the manuscript) noticed this an challenged me to write from the perspective of an object. Doing that has really helped me to create more detailed, unique imagery. In this poem in particular, I worked really hard to make my imagery fresh, which seems to be a common theme in AHH - you don't run into cliches here!This poem is also a little weird/absurd, which AHH appreciates, and I just had a feeling it would fit in seamlessly.