The poems “Feeding the Fire,” “What to Do with Leftovers,” “Bouquet,” and “Tipple Town” by Edison Jennings appeared in Issue 14 and can be read here.
Tell us a bit about your poems
They’re short, wound tight, maybe too tight.
What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?
Reading and revising my poetry dispassionately in the draft stage. In a sense taking me out of the process.
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
Disaster was my God by Bruce Duffy, a mashup of novel and biography about Arthur Rimbaud.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
Ellen Bryant Voigt, because she is superb poet, reader, and teacher. And anything she has to say is worth listening too. And she’s just so companionable and funny and generous. Plus, she hasn’t a note of affectation. I was fortunate enough to have her as an advisor.
What are you working on now? What’s next?
Two part answer: 1, the next poem & 2, completing enough poems for either a full length collection or a second chapbook.
Our thanks to Edison for taking the time to answer a few questions and share his work. Read Edison’s poems “Feeding the Fire,” “What to Do with Leftovers,” “Bouquet,” and “Tipple Town” here: https://www.sequestrum.org/poetry-from-edison-jennings.
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Edison Jennings is a part-time teacher living in the southwestern Appalachian region of Virginia. His poetry has appeared in Poetry Daily, Rattle, River Styx, Slate, Southwest Review, Zone 3 and other journals and anthologies. His chapbook, Reckoning, is available at Jacar Press (http://www.jacarpress.com/reckoning/).