Dr. Kathryn Kirkpatrick recently published two different manuscripts. One is a collection of poems called Creature. The other is a study of Paula Meehan, an Irish poet who inspired some of Kathryn’s work, called Enraptured Space. Though the works were published just recently they have both been long haul projects. Kathryn has been working on Enraptured Space for the past twenty years, and Creature contains poems that range from a year to ten years old.
Writing poetry always teaches you something that you didn’t know you knew, according to Kathryn. And to create and write a certain kind of poem, you have to become a certain kind of person, a person who wants to know more about how other animals experience the world, for example.
Creature is structured in three different sections. In the first section called “Creatures,” there are several different kinds of ordinary creatures, like cows and calves. It also introduces the narrator interacting with her elderly mother. This leads into the second section called “Created,” this section includes poetry about mother-daughter relationships as well as many of the ways family and the larger culture “create” us. The third section is titled “Canines,” where a dog in one form or another appears in each poem. Enraptured Space is structured based on the way that Kathryn was encountering Meehan’s work. It was originally a book review that was expanded into a comprehensive review, then a paper, and now a book. Instead of writing bridges to connect these closely related chapters of the book, Kathryn did micro interviews with Meehan. There are also some memoir sections and poems from Kathryn within the book.
Because both publications are compilations of work that spanned over years, Kathryn said her writing schedule varied throughout those years. There were periods of time when her schedule was clear and others when it was packed. In order to help her finish Enraptured Space, she had a writing partner who helped hold her accountable. She said one of her moments of struggle was simply finishing the book Enraptured Space. Kathryn enjoys writing in smaller forms like poems and essays, so writing in a longer form was a different process for her. .
Kathryn is proud to have focussed on the work of female writers throughout her career. . In our interview, she mentioned that there are many beautifully written poems and works written by and for male authors, and there will always be people to attend to that. However, we don’t always know if the same will happen for women poets. With Creature, she is proud to keep developing her interest in animal studies.
Writing poetry always teaches you something that you didn’t know you knew, according to Kathryn. And to create and write a certain kind of poem, you have to become a certain kind of person, a person who wants to know more about how other animals experience the world, for example. With Creature, Kathryn said she learned that she could write another kind of poem about other animals, one that she aspired to. She feels lucky in Enraptured Space to have worked with a living author. She also learned this is the kind of longer work she can sustain and is grateful for her friendship with Meehan. Kathryn has a reading scheduled at the library and other bookstore readings scheduled for the future.
Written by Jacey Widner
Headshot of Kathryn Kirkpatrick
Headshot of Kathryn Kirkpatrick