“Ghost(ed) Woman,” “In a Hollow Tree,” and “When she pouts in the bathtub” by Emilie Lindemann appeared in Issue 32 and can be read here.
We’d love to hear more about “In a Hollow Tree.”
Two years ago, I went on a short hike with my sister, and she pointed out a hollow tree. I was immediately drawn to the space and the sense of shelter and comfort it suggested for me. The image of the hollow tree was especially appealing to me when I was feeling isolated and uncertain in the earlier stages of the pandemic. Nature imagery also appears in the other two poems as a source of connection for the persona.
What was the most difficult part of writing that poem?
I think the most challenging part of “In a Hollow Tree” was deciding whether it needed to be a visual poem sequence or whether the line breaks and spacing would convey the speaker’s experience. I initially wrote “In a Hollow Tree” as a visual poem that used photos of a tree at a local park with the text collaged directly onto the photos. (That part of the process ended up being a helpful way to play with and revise the lines.)
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
The coming-of-age novel The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister is one that I really enjoyed reading this past year. The island setting is fascinating, and there’s a great sense of mystery as the protagonist tries to understand more about her past. The focus on scent and memory is of course intriguing as well.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
I would absolutely love to sit down and chat with Kaya Doi, the author and illustrator of the Chirri & Chirra children’s book series. Each book is so imaginative and whimsical. I would be eager to hear about the inspiration for the food and nature imagery and the title characters’ dreamlike adventures.
What are you working on now? What’s next?
I have a series of poems that explore some of the same themes as this trio of poems. We’ll see if I’m brave enough to continue submitting them for publication and exploring how they might grow into a book-length collection.
Our thanks to Emilie for taking the time to answer a few questions and share these poems. Read “Ghost(ed) Woman,” “In a Hollow Tree,” and “When she pouts in the bathtub” here: https://www.sequestrum.org/the-poetry-of-emilie-lindemann.
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Emilie Lindemann is the author of mother-mailbox (Misty Publications, 2016), as well as several chapbooks, including capsule wardrobe for the end of the world (dancing girl press, 2019). She holds a Ph.D. in English-Creative Writing from UW-Milwaukee and lives on a farm in Wisconsin with her husband and son.