Fawn Ward is a copywriter, editor and author based in the US Pacific Northwest who strives to create emotional work with a strong sense of place that roots readers in experience and memory. Fawn’s poetry and prose has thus far been featured in the Reed College Creative Review.
You can read 'Places We've Been' in the January 2024 issue.
Would you like to tell us a little bit more about your poem? For instance, how or why you wrote it, or perhaps provide some extra context?
Places We’ve Been explores some of the landscape of my childhood. I wanted to paint the real effects of danger, risk, and trauma alongside a narrative of self-reliance (and strength). This duality recurs through my work.
How do you revise your work?
I consider myself an aggressive editor and often make huge changes as I go to keep the creative pathways open. I’m a digital-first writer usually and find that being able to sculpt the structure in a moment (and put it back the way it was) is key. Thanks, CTRL+Z.
How or where or with what does a poem begin?
Usually it’s a fragment that lodges itself in my mind—sometimes a phrase, but more often a persisting image or mood that I try to translate to the page. I’ve had to learn how to let the beginning be a mess. Good advice for almost anything else in life, actually.
Are there other art forms that inspire or inform your poetry?
Both music and dance inspire rhythm and energy for me. I play classical piano, and the motion of my fingers on the piano’s keys and the computer keyboard share a kind of intention.
How do you make space for poetry in your daily routine?
I write in the early morning before my day job begins, in the dark most of the year. It’s sometimes a bleary experience, but I have to devote this time to the craft before the rest of the day’s demands take over. I go to bed looking forward to my writing time in the morning.
Have you ever received advice (or has there been something you’ve learned on your own) about writing or revising poems that has made you a better poet? What was it?
Write in a way that scares you. Not fearlessly, because the fear is part of the process. Take the fear and make something more of it.
In terms of poetic style or craft, is there a big question you are trying to find an answer for?
I’m not looking for answers, I’m seeking the questions.