Alyse Knorr in Conversation with Leslie Bumstead, Aaron Winslow, and Tom Doyle
Alyse Knorr will read from her work on 1-26-18 at The Black Squirrel in Washington, DC 8:00PM. Join the event on Facebook.
Alyse Knorr, Author of Copper Mother
CL: Where was this photo taken?
Alyse: In my apartment in Anchorage, AK, a few years ago.
CL: How does it represent your creative life?
Alyse: I usually write on my laptop on the couch, and my cat Promise usually joins me to help out. Creativity to me is about making “butt in chair” time when I can actually sit down and do the work. Creativity only happens when I make the space for it. (Cats are very good at forcing butt in chair time by literally pinning you down).
CL: Respond to the following popular quote on creativity?
Alyse:
I find myself thinking explicitly about “creativity” as a topic more
often in my teaching life than my writing life. I consider myself a
writer or a poet, not a “creative writer,” yet I teach something called
“Creative Writing.” In the debate over whether creativity can be
taught, I fall very firmly in the side of “Yes.” To teach creative
writing is to help students tap into the creative potential that’s
already there. It’s also to show them exactly what Parker is getting at
here: that you need the wildness and spontaneity, but also the
discipline and technique. Creativity is not just about having an
awesome “idea,” it’s also about execution—a single sentence can be
creative. I want my students to see that the labor of putting beautiful
sentences together can be just as creative and fun as the wild flights
of imaginative fancy.
Leslie: Alyse, I so relate to this. And it reminds me that I often tell my students (and myself) that all writing is creative writing because you can write a beautiful sentence in any context. (Though I do think the general distinction is useful/important.) Students so often skip the “labor of putting beautiful sentences together” because they are focused on the awesome idea and haven’t realized the importance of foregrounding the language itself, and also because it is hard work.
Alyse Knorr is an assistant professor of English at Regis University and editor of Switchback Books. She is the author of the poetry collections Mega-City Redux, Copper Mother, and Annotated Glass, as well as a history of the video game Super Mario Bros. 3. Visit her at www.alyseknorr.com
Alyse Knorr, Author of Copper Mother
CL: Where was this photo taken?
Alyse: In my apartment in Anchorage, AK, a few years ago.
CL: How does it represent your creative life?
Alyse: I usually write on my laptop on the couch, and my cat Promise usually joins me to help out. Creativity to me is about making “butt in chair” time when I can actually sit down and do the work. Creativity only happens when I make the space for it. (Cats are very good at forcing butt in chair time by literally pinning you down).
CL: Respond to the following popular quote on creativity?
“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” —Dorothy Parker
Leslie: Alyse, I so relate to this. And it reminds me that I often tell my students (and myself) that all writing is creative writing because you can write a beautiful sentence in any context. (Though I do think the general distinction is useful/important.) Students so often skip the “labor of putting beautiful sentences together” because they are focused on the awesome idea and haven’t realized the importance of foregrounding the language itself, and also because it is hard work.
Alyse Knorr is an assistant professor of English at Regis University and editor of Switchback Books. She is the author of the poetry collections Mega-City Redux, Copper Mother, and Annotated Glass, as well as a history of the video game Super Mario Bros. 3. Visit her at www.alyseknorr.com
Books by Alyse Knorr at Bridge Street Books
2814 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC
Phone: (202) 965-5200
2814 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC
Phone: (202) 965-5200
Where do you create your work? Share your story in the comments below, ask Alyse a question. Thank you—The Creative Life
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