Theodora Ziolkowski is the author of the new poetry collection Ghostlit. She also has written the novella On the Rocks. She is an assistant professor of English at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Q: Over how long a period did you write the poems in your new collection?
A: I wrote the very first (and very different) draft of Ghostlit over the summer of 2019 and signed my contract with my press in the fall of 2023. That 2019 draft contained many poems and/or versions of poems that didn’t make it into the book you hold in your hands.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: I was once talking to a family member about the poems and meant to say “gaslight,” but instead said “ghostlit,” a slip of tongue that ended up being tremendously helpful as I continued to work on the book. The idea of ghosts—as an image and also a state of being—was very generative for me.
Q: The poet Kevin Prufer said, “Ziolkowski is a master of tight narrative, of gothic energy, of intense psychological insight.” What do you think of that description?
A: I am tremendously fortunate to have been given such praise by a poet I admire so deeply. Ghostlit is a narrative collection; as such, it has a kind of novelistic shape and energy (I am a fiction writer in addition to a poet). I am also a huge fan of the Gothic, which has been such an influence on my work across genres.
Q: How did you choose the order in which the poems would appear in the collection?
A: I do what many poets I know do, which is print out all the poems and arrange them on the floor. I shuffle their order around that way, down on the carpet with them, evaluating the poems first for their narrative (what do their reveal?) and then their tone and shape, trying to find ways to vary the latter in their pagination. I also look at the final and first lines of poems as I listen to how one poem moves to the next.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am so glad it’s summer, because that’s when I allow myself the luxury of working on multiple projects. Right now, I’m working on some essays and short stories and poems.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I love talking about writing, craft, process, etcetera. If readers have questions about Ghostlit, please don’t hesitate to reach out through my website: theodoraziolkowski.com
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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