“Midnight at A Truck Stop in Terre Haute, Indiana;” “Superman;” and “Fountain Pen” Roxanne Doty appeared in Issue 47 and can be found here.
We’d love to hear more about this set of poetry.
These three poems are all part of my new poetry collection, What Surrounds You, to be published by Kelsay Books in 2026. The collection is sort of a memoir in poems. I say, “sort of” because, while many of the poems are inspired by experiences and people in my own life, others focus on what I hope the title “what surrounds you” conveys. The three poems accepted by Sequestrum are from my own childhood experiences with a little poetic imagination thrown in.
What was the most difficult aspect of this set?
The most difficult part about these three poems was to root them in my own experiences and memories and at the same time have them gesture toward something broader that will resonate with readers whose lives and experiences have been very different.
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
James by Percival Everett (Doubleday, New York, 2024)
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
Teju Cole. Teju Cole is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, a photographer and art historian. He is amazing, critically-oriented observer and commentator on social and cultural history and contemporary issues. He is truly a renaissance person and never misses a beat.
What are you working on now? What’s next?
I have been writing mostly poetry and occasionally short fiction. I have a new poetry collection that has been accepted by Kelsay Books and will be published in 2026. I have published several short stories and am currently looking for a home for my collection of short fiction.
Our thanks to Roxanne for taking the time to answer a few questions and share these poems. Read “Midnight at A Truck Stop in Terre Haute, Indiana;” “Superman;” and “Fountain Pen” here.
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Roxanne Doty is a writer of poetry, fiction and nonfiction. She grew up in Huntington, New York, Kansas City, Missouri and Nashville, Tennessee. She is the author of the novel, Out Stealing Water (Regal House Publishing, 2022) and the poetry chapbook, Hours of the Desert (Kelsay Books, 2024). Her poetry collection, What Surrounds You, will be published by Kelsay Books in 2026. Her poems have appeared in various journals including, Gyroscope Review, Amethyst Review ,Cloudbank, Ocotillo Review, The Baltimore Review, Third Wednesday, New Verse News, The Orchard Poetry Review, Lascaux Review and San Pedro River Review. She currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona.