Written by Anna Stowe, Hope College Creative Writing Major and Student Managing Editor for the English Department
For many writers, the name Heather Sellers is a familiar one—we’ve all used her textbook, The Practice of Creative Writing, in an Intro to Creative Writing class. This, however, is often the only contact we have with her work. In contrast with this limiting perspective, Heather Sellers is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Field Notes from the Flood Zone, the text from which she will read on Monday night. Sellers has also written many articles, a collection of short stories, and a memoir called You Don’t Look Like Anyone I Know, which considers her family relationships and prosopagnosia, a condition that causes face blindness. Sellers also taught at Hope College from 1995 to 2013, working with creative writing students. Following her time at Hope, Sellers moved back to her home state of Florida where she works with the creative writing programs at the University of South Florida.
As a prelude to the Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series event on September 30th, I reached out to Heather Sellers and asked if she would be willing to participate in an email interview. What follows is a transcript of that conversation.
ON THE WRITING PROCESS:
You briefly mention the start of your writing journey in You Don’t Look Like Anyone I Know. Could you share some of what that looked like? When did you realize being a (published) writer was a real possibility?
I always made books and wrote stories and poems, growing up. If we can bring that kid sense along with us – that making art is a kind of play that we can always do, and not lose that–that’s what I’m hoping to teach and model.
Can you describe your writing space (if you have a particular setup that inspires you to write)?
My writing space is a large room with built-in bookshelves that overlooks my garden and my swimming pool. It is so peaceful.
How would you describe your writing process? (First drafts, research, revision, etc.)
I usually start with a drawing of the situation, as a way to upload and extend the sensory detail. I write by hand and I do a lot of drafts on the computer, printing out, reading aloud, revising. I do ten or so drafts before I send the work to my writing partners. Then the real work begins.
What were the differences (and/or difficulties) between writing memoir, poetry, and a writing textbook?
Writing a textbook is a way to talk to students directly. It’s a very intensive way of teaching, and rewarding. Writing memoir requires so much work on the level of structure. You have to have the skills to plot out the story, stay true, and create a compelling tension line for the reader to follow. Poetry is more work with the ear and eye in concert.
How do you handle moments when inspiration seems hard to find?
Inspiration isn’t part of the equation for me. I work every day–I try to never miss a day. It’s more like practicing an instrument or playing a sport. I have to show up, and practice, every day, trying to improve my skills. Focusing on the image or the scene, or building out a sequence requires concentration. That’s the crucial part rather than inspiration–concentration. When it’s hard to concentrate there are usually external factors maybe out of my control. When it’s an internal situation, it is important for me to meditate, or pray, or find a way to center and ground my attention.
ON POETRY
In Field Notes From The Flood Zone, the centrality of water and of location is clear. That said, how would you describe the idea or emotion that reflects the heart of the book as a whole? Would you classify it as a love letter, an elegy, or something entirely different?
What a beautiful question! I absolutely think of the book as a love letter to Florida, this place I am from, that is part of me, and an elegy for what we’ve lost.
What inspired you to write this book of poems? Did they come together all at once or did the writing span years before a connective line was formed?
During the pandemic, I was keeping a daily diary, lists of things that I saw and heard. Much of the book came from those journals.
Along what narrative time frame do these poems take place? (A year, six months, etc.?) Does a time-oriented narrative matter in context with how you wrote the book itself?
You are such a good reader. I did organize the book in terms of a year, loosely, the four seasons. We have profound seasonal changes, but you have to pay attention, close attention, so that’s a poet’s dream, right? I did not write the pieces in that order–they come from several years’ worth of my field notebooks.
ON MEMOIR
You Don’t Look Like Anyone I Know delves into your complicated relationship with your parents and discusses prosopagnosia (face blindness). What was it like to write about these complex, emotional subjects? Did it feel like a form of therapy or were there times when you needed to take a step back from the work?
I think (and everyone has their own opinion) it’s important for the writer to have processed the emotions before going to the page. I’m wanting to write for the reader, and not to use the writing as therapy. Therapy is therapy. Writing is for others to be able to come to something that is hopefully whole and complete, and meaningful….
By nature, memoir is highly personal and involves very real relationships. How did you handle the complexity of these relationships–accurately representing people, places, memories, and ideas while also staying consistent with what you knew to be true?
I have a good memory and I kept journals.
How would you respond to the (narrow-minded) critique which states that young people do not have enough lived experience to write a memoir?
A memoir requires the ability to look closely at one’s own experience in a specific situation. Younger people are able to do things in memoir that older people can’t–they have special access to emotions and time. Older people may have access to a different type of reflective wisdom. They are just different skill sets. In both cases, it takes a lot of work to take one’s own experience and make it meaningful for another person to read.
WRAP-UP/FUN QUESTIONS
What is the most inspiring feedback you have received from a reader (if applicable)?
They gave my book to their mom.
What is the best advice you have received as a writer? What advice would you share with aspiring writers?
Practice every day.