Interview with Poet Laura LeHew

-Where are you from? Where do you live now?

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. I lived in Lexington Park, MD for 6 months—long enough to marry and separate from my first husband. I moved to Oakland, California two months before the big quake and I put a bid on a house in Eugene 2 months after I got my MFA in 2003.


-When did you first start writing poetry and why?

I didn’t start writing poetry until I was 40. I had been camping in Oregon with my friend Andy and we were driving back through the Avenue of the Giants. It was a beautiful day—weaving through the shadows and sunshine. A puppy leapt out of the old growth forest onto the road and I hit it. There was no camp ground, no stopped cars. He had no tag on him. That impact made me re-examine my priorities and I went back to the Bay area and started writing.


-Could you describe your process?

My poetry comes to me mostly complete. I sit down at the computer and write it, doing a wee bit of editing along the way. I then take it to critique group, make some edits and if I am unsure I’ll take the poem back to the group and make some further edits. I find it very hard to write or even put a book together for my press until I have the picture of it in my head. Many times in the shower or late at night before bed the poem will demand to be written. If I don’t write it then I will lose it. I do most of my writing on a computer though I do carry a journal but it is mostly for jotting thoughts or words down. It comes in handy—one of my most published poems, “Beauty,” was written at an Emeralds game as the light was fading.


-How have you evolved as a poet?

I am pushing the edge of poetry to see where it might go for me. What makes a poem? Narrative is easy. Life is not narrative. I find the layers of what is unsaid to be interesting excavation. Following the duende to wherever the poem takes me.


-When and how did you start Uttered Chaos? What were your motivations?

I started Uttered Chaos as a reading series with Colette Jonopulos—one of the editors of Tiger’s Eye Journal, another Eugene based small press. We had trouble finding the right venue to host our series so we disbanded. In 2009 I revisioned Uttered Chaos as a small press.


-I’ve heard in the last two years you have published 180 poems. How many submissions do you have to submit in order to have that kind of success and how do you know which literary journals to send your poems to?

The average submission to acceptance ratio is 30:1. From 1/1/09 through 1/31/10 I sent submissions to approximately 296 journals or anthologies, of which 180 were accepted for publication, several journals took multiple poems. Research and networking. You have to read the journal to which you are submitting to know if they will accept your work. Duotrope.com is a huge research tool for all writers, as is winningwriters.com. Also I have found large writing conferences such as the AWP invaluable. Many times the editors of journals are on panels or at book tables and are often amenable to questions. Small regional conferences such as OSPA www.oregonpoets.org hold are really great too because they are smaller and you can meet and share local resources with other poets, as well as the workshop leaders.


-How do you measure the success of a poem? Do you think all poems have value or do some have more than others?

Poems are like family. I love them all but in different ways. I am happy when they find jobs in journals or when they win a prize but I also value the unsung poem in my to be published folder. I know, someday, they will stand as they are written or go through further editing and publication. There is always hope.


-How does being a participant of weekly writing groups affect your work?

First I can only work to a deadline. Second I cannot waste time. So that means I must write at least 52 poems a year. Additionally, I am in a second group that meets twice month so that is another 24 poems a year that I can get written. As an artist I realize that everything I write is brilliant. The feedback that I receive on my poems is invaluable to me. I know what others think works about the poem, what others think doesn’t work about the poem. I can then make changes based on this feedback.


-Please name three poets that are underrated, and if you desire, three poets that are overrated and explain why.

Underrated: Kit Kennedy, Gwendolyn Brooks, Wisława Szymborska.
Overrated: Mary Oliver, Billy Collins, and Ted Kooser.

Read a body of work by each of these 6 poets and the answer will be self-evident. Read it like an artist. What is on the surface, what is underneath?


-I understand that you are a science fiction fan and that you attend science fiction conventions. How does that inform your work?

Actually when I was young my mother read to me from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, no watered down Disney in my house. Later I discovered that my mother hid science fiction on the bookshelf, which I was inclined to sneak into my bedroom and read after my parents had gone to bed. She also took me to the drive-in to watch all night creature features, letting my younger sisters sleep but I had to stay awake with her because she was scared. My first chapbook, Beauty, is a retelling of fairy tales. Cinderella is a vampire, etc.


-I also hear you have 8 cats. Do they inspire or influence your poetry?

As of this week I only have 7. I sometimes write narrative poems about my cats. Sometimes my cats tell me when it’s time for a break and though it is frustrating they are always correct. I come back and write better.


-Oregon Arts Alliance has recently welcomed writers and poets under their artist umbrella. You are a member and on the board. Why did you decide to become involved with OAA?

I think that art and writing and music are all artistic endeavors. I think it’s important to fuse them together, as the same thing—painting—sculpting—singing words. What better way to see this happen than to join with the OAA.


-What are your plans for the future, either personally or as an artist?

My projects include a book of poetry about my sister’s alcohol induced dementia “Thirst,” a noir murder mystery “It’s Always Night, It Always Rains,” poems of witness “This is a Reminder,” and hybrid poems “The Parameter of Regret.” Robert Tomlinson and I put together a gallery show dedicated to—the connection between the conception of an artwork and the response of poetry called Original Weather. Uttered Chaos will publish 4 books in 2011. Details are on my website www.utteredchaos.org.


-Anything else?

My favorite color is lime green. I don’t really like chocolate. Coffee is my second love. I often get inspiration for writing by watching TV. A word, a phrase, will send me off researching. I used to read a book a night now I barely read a book a week.


Below is one of Laura's poems:


The Other Laura

lives on the East Coast over
extends her credit never easier
she bakes cookies fresh from the fridge—no mixing
no mess for her perfect cookie cutter
family two children a girl and a boy
who never cut class and, of course,
she is married happily
to a man. She has 2 dogs—golden
retrievers she calls them Jack and Jillian
feeds them bits and bits of leftovers.

The other Laura is bone thin her
friends think she has an eating disorder
but don’t want to upset her. Debtors call
leaving cryptic messages that she erases
she never has anything to wear would rather
be shopping. Each night at precisely 10 PM
she tucks her boy and then her girl in though they
are too old and say boldly “awe mom” slips serenely
into plaid flannel sheets pops on the news kisses
her perfect man chastely on his perfect lips.

The other Laura has no crazy sisters, aunts
family all rather Norman Rockwellish drinks
a glass of Pinot Noir doesn’t worry if today
is the day she becomes a drunk someday this
other Laura hopes to travel the world or at least leave
the backyard, PTA, suburbia and when her head hits
her memory foam pillow she dreams of eating
1 dozen cream filled maple bars cropping
her hair short dying it blue one—long—hot
night tied up with Canadian born actor Nathan Fillion

wakes to Quaker instant oatmeal
dried cranberries.