Interview with Issue 17’s Contest Winner Kaz Sussman

Hope everyone is staying warm and dry. Shoot, we even had some snow and ice down here in Alabama. You’d think it’d be plenty of time to work on Issue 18 but… well, it’s a process. Keep checking back. In the meantime, read this interview with Kaz Sussman, winner of Issue 17’s poetry contest.

 

 

Describe your writing in 25 words or less.

Much of my work is akin to emotional spelunking, feeling my way through the unknown dark, gathering up the aggregate of experience for future contemplation

Congratulations on winning Issue 17’s contest. How did it feel when you found out? Is this your first win?

This was a sweet surprise – my first “win”.

Tell me about your poem “In Retrospect” 

Being a parent is hard work that often goes askew, despite one’s best intentions.

Who or what inspires you to write?

I’m an old guy, so I am tending towards reflection and irony, hoping for grace.

What are you working on now?
I’ve been working on shrinking up my work, killing off my tongue-twisting darlings, trying to get closer to the nub of what it is I’m attempting to say.

Is there a website/blog where we can keep up with your work?
www.kazsussman.com

Any advice for your fellow writers?

Go live . . . quick, now . . . work with your hands, travel. Engage in new experience so that you do not have to rely on poetic prompts, greek urns or someone else’s plums for content.