“Key West, 2024” and “Mural: Seattle” by Courtney Hitson appeared in Issue 45 and can be found here.
We’d love to hear more about this pair of poems.
Often times, my poems originate in a single image. I encountered all of the images detailed in the Seattle poem. And “Key West, 2024” ? Recent scuba-trips on the island have been overwhelmingly sad, but also a source of original imagery. The “snow-covered bramble” and “stalagmite” metaphors arose from my encounters with bleached coral.
What was the most difficult part of writing this set?
The accuracy of “Key West, 2024” and how much I resonate with the piece’s sentiment.
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
The Light Pirate by Lily-Brooks Dalton.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
I’d love to have a chat with any of the following ladies: Leslie Jamison, Maggie Nelson, Nickole Brown, Amy Tan, or Elizabeth Bishop’s ghost. I hear she’s a bit of a jokester.
What are you working on now? What’s next?
What am I working on now? Many things. Always. All at the same time. Specifically, I’m writing docu-/ethnographic poetry, hybrid prose, image-only pieces (“Murals” like “Mural: Seattle”), pieces from the vantage point of tech, pieces in the voice of future historians, and a series of found poems (via texts messages only) entitled “Portraits.”
Our thanks to Courtney for taking the time to answer a few questions and share these poems. Read “Key West, 2024” and “Mural: Seattle” here.
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Courtney Hitson holds an MFA in poetry from Columbia College Chicago and currently teaches English at the College of the Florida Keys. Her poems have appeared in various literary journals including DMQ Review, McNeese Review, Wisconsin Review, and others. She teaches English at the College of the Florida Keys. Outside of writing she enjoys unicycling, philosophy, and drawing.