Our poetry team is thrilled this week to publish 'Morning Ritual', a new poem by Canadian writer Alison McBain.
Alison McBain’s novels are the recipients of over 13 awards, including the Foreword INDIES and the Readers’ Choice Book Awards. Her shorter writing has been published in Grain Magazine, Canadian Literature, and Litro, among other magazines. She’s currently pursuing a project called “Author Versus AI,” where she’s writing a book a week over the course of a year, using NO AI at all (52 books total). When not writing, Ms. McBain is associate editor for the magazine ScribesMICRO and draws all over the walls of her house with the enthusiastic help of her kids. She lives in Alberta, Canada.
Editor-in-Chief Julian Kanagy had the chance to speak with McBain about her poem and her work in general, and this is their conversation in full.
Julian Kanagy: I'd love to begin by asking you about what family means to you, and how that intersects with your writing.
Alison McBain: Family is all-important to me—I couldn’t do what I do without them. On top of that, they’re a constant inspiration to me. You’ll see their influence sprinkled throughout my work, both in my poetry and prose.
But especially with poetry, which is so much about the human experience and the emotions we share, that’s where my family has had the greatest impact. It might sound terribly obvious, but family has brought me some of my greatest joys, but also some of my largest heartbreaks. If you love someone, they also can hurt you the most, even unintentionally, such as when someone you love gets sick or dies. Some of my recent poems, such as this one, tackle such subjects of intentional or unintentional heartbreak.
JK: Is 'Morning Ritual' part of a larger project, or a stand-alone piece? If you'd like, could you tell us about your current "Author vs. AI" project and how you're going about it?
AM: I find as a writer that I go through periods where I’m caught up in certain subjects because of personal experiences. Picasso had a blue period—perhaps I’m “painting” along a similar theme with my words. So, while this is a standalone piece, it’s part of a larger body of work that deals with grief and loss.
But not all of my recent writing delves into painful subjects—as you mentioned, my current project is called Author Versus AI. I’m writing a book a week for a whole year—52 books total—to prove that a human can do it without using AI at all. It’s my own personal battle against the subject that’s on every creative’s mind. I hope to show that authors can write almost as fast, but much, much better, than any AI program that’s out there. I’ll be tackling every genre and subgenre that I’ve been able to come up with, but I’m always open to ideas. Anyone who’d like to reach out to me with a suggestion is welcome.
JK: What is the role of emotion in inspiring your poetry (and prose)? Our editors found 'Morning Ritual' to be very moving, and I wonder how it felt for you throughout the process of writing it?
AM: If I have a hard time reading through a poem without getting emotional myself, then I know I’ve done what I’ve set out to do. This poem comes from a deeply personal place, and while I’ve edited it, most of it came out fully formed as it appears in The Wild Umbrella. When I was sitting down to write, I’d been thinking along the lines of grief and loss and love, and the idea coalesced into the play on the word “mourning” with “morning.” Mornings are meant to be a fresh start to the day, a new beginning, a moment of optimism… grief and loss are the opposite of those emotions. Just as love is positive, an uplifting moment, a declaration of happy-ever-after… but sometimes those forevers end. These contrasts are the ideas that I knew I wanted to express when writing this poem, and I think that I captured exactly how I was feeling at the time.
JK: I'd love to end with a question about creativity. Could you describe your relationship with the concept of creativity? What does it mean to you and how has that changed over time, either internally or in reaction to new media and forms of expression?
AM: I’m a writer, but that’s not all I do. I draw a webcomic, paint occasionally, do handcrafts like knitting, and like to “Iron Chef” whatever’s in my kitchen at the time (sometimes to great applause by my kids and sometimes to their horror). My motto has always been: “Do something creative every day.” And it doesn’t have to be something that gets great acclaim. It can be in the quiet spaces of my own home when my daughter tells me that my latest culinary creation is delicious. That’s just as satisfying to me.
And so, I love trying new things. I love the idea that, as creators, we can constantly find new mediums and new ways of expression. I’ll try anything… at least once. Sometimes I’ll do it again. And I’m constantly inspired by what other artists, writers, creators make. I love that interplay of inspiration that happens when a whole bunch of artsy people get together and talk.
That’s an amazing experience, and something I would recommend to everyone. If you’re creative, search out others. They don’t always have to be in your medium—it’s great if they aren’t, in fact. You’ll learn from each other and each of you will come out the better for it.
Alison McBain
Alison McBain’s novels are the recipients of over 13 awards, including the Foreword INDIES and the Readers’ Choice Book Awards. Her shorter writing has been published in Grain Magazine, Canadian Literature, and Litro, among other magazines. She’s currently pursuing a project called “Author Versus AI,” where she’s writing a book a week over the course of a year, using NO AI at all (52 books total). When not writing, Ms. McBain is associate editor for the magazine ScribesMICRO and draws all over the walls of her house with the enthusiastic help of her kids. She lives in Alberta, Canada.
Julian Kanagy
Julian Kanagy is a Chicago-based poet and editor. His poetry samples a Midwestern upbringing peppered with loss and abandonment, thrives both in the confines of formal structure and the simplicity of its absence, and expands into an ongoing search for the beauty in everyday life when it seems to be hiding. He started Heirlock Magazine to amplify underrepresented voices and The Wild Umbrella to celebrate writing for writing's sake; both as an editor and in his own work, Julian follows the advice of a mentor: “find the poems that nobody else could have written.”
Comments