An Interview with Poet Curtis L. Crisler

"(F)ind your voice, your voice on the page, and hone and develop it, no matter what."

Curtis L. Crisler is an award-winning poet/author, born and raised in Gary, Indiana. He received a BA in English, with a minor in Theatre, from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW, now PFW), and he received his MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He’s an activist for literacy, and a creator of things. Learn more about Curtis at www.poetcrisler.com 

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How long have you been writing?
Basically, since the fourth grade. That’s where I wrote a poem for Black History Month about Jackie Robinson that my mother helped me with. Although, it wasn’t until the 90’s that I took writing seriously and wanted to publish. So, I’d say officially, the last 30 years or so. 

What has been your biggest inspiration as a writer?
There have been so many, but I think the biggest inspiration as a writer would be Cave Canem, Inc.—who has retreats for African American poets every summer. It was there I became a Cave Canem Fellow and got to meet many of the contemporary poets I was reading and so many more that would become Pulitzer Prize Winners, U.S. Poet Laureates, state and city poet laureates, winners of major awards, professors/teachers, entrepreneurs, musicians, playwrights, directors, coaches, and creative advocates to name some of the things they’ve accomplished.

Who are your favorite authors?
There are many, and for so many different reasons. Some classics. Some contemporaries. They vary in range. Yet, some good ones I’ve read recently are Angela Jackson-Brown, John Guzlowski, Nnedi Okorafor, Ada Limón, Sheree Renée Thomas, Jericho Brown, Kekla Magoon, Frederick Smock, Tyehimba Jess, Nandi Comer, Diane Suess, Tracy K. Smith, Jonathan S. Baker, Roxane Gay, Tony Brewer, Benjamin Percy, and Ray Bradbury, to name a few.     

What is the best experience you've had in your writing career so far?
Northwood Middle School! There, they made me a rock star! They received my work in the fall, and in the spring I came for the day and they celebrated me. They turned my YA book Tough Boy Sonatas (out of print) into a fantastical cavalcade of artistic expression. The upper grades got the book. For the lower grades, I provided other poems. They used my work to create their own work. They created poems, stories, songs, videos, artwork and produced and directed all the behind-the-scenes stuff to make it happen. They had their work all over the walls in the hallways. It was amazing. I met the classes individually, then, they had me go to the gym, where the entire school was. It took my breath away when they said, “Welcome, Curtis L. Crisler!” The gym erupted! Their energy went through my body like electricity. Then, they performed their songs and poems and showed videos simulating their examination and understanding of my work. I read with them too. I think some of the videos are still on YouTube. Fantabulous!

Although, now, I’m doing some really great things with varieties of artists as the Indiana Poet Laureate. It’s really exhilarating to collaborate with others who are looking to communicate through artistic endeavors. 

Have you experienced writer's block? If so, how did you get through it? 
No, I don’t believe in writer’s block. I used to think I did, but then I had a deep conversation with one of my professors, Rodney Jones, in grad school and we addressed how we were always writing, and how sometimes that writing isn’t anything but crap, until it’s not. You write your way through the crap to get to something worthwhile. We never just sat at a blank screen or before a blank white page waiting on inspiration or a muse. We had bunches of starts, ideas, possibles, and crappy things. We were actually writing, even if the writing was crappy. We knew that “the work” was to keep producing until that something “good” came along. Most times, I’m doing “the work” of moving beyond “inspiration” and “crap” and getting to the something that’s working, then playing with what’s working to make it into a poem, a story, a play, an essay, or a book.
  
What's your writing process like? 
I have a friend (a poet) return to our alma mater (the school I am now employed) to present his work. When asked about his writing process, he basically said that he writes when he’s obsessed about something. I understood that, and I felt the same way, for the most part. There’s no outlining for me. I’m always writing or incubating on getting to the page, when I have other duties before me (teaching, touring, reading, and the like). Most times I’m writing early in the morning—3rd shift. Yet, I can write at any time of the day. I tend to write in my chair by the window, the most. For atmosphere, I go to YouTube and put on music sometimes. This changes if I’m not home. Then, I just write wherever I’m located. A layover in an airport is a great writing arena.   

What's the longest time it's taken you to write a book and what's the shortest?
The longest time it’s taken, and is still in flux, is thirty years or so. Yet, in those thirty or so years, I’ve written thirteen books, and have six other manuscripts I’m working on, three finished. I might just save those so when I die, I’ll have stuff still being produced for a while. 

​The shortest time took me a week or two. I tore my Achilles tendon playing basketball in the faculty vs. students event for homecoming. After the operation, I laid on the couch with my left leg on the back of the couch, while my mother rocked in my rocking chair, watching over me and falling to sleep. It was Christmas time. With all the above happening, I believe I was in the right head space to receive what became Black Achilles, by Accents Publishing. ​

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What is your favorite genre to write and why?
It would be poetry. She is my baby, my forte. Everything starts from poetry—fiction, drama, CNF, essay, etc. It’s the one most connected to my soul and breath. As Lucille Clifton once said, “I’m open to poetry, so poetry comes to me.” I feel the same way. All the other genres feed off of that for me.

Are you self-published or traditionally published? Do you prefer one over the other?
When I started I did self-publish a book that really showed I wasn’t ready to publish. I did learn from that experience. A book takes time. That doesn’t mean you can’t self-publish. Self-publishing is up to the individual. Also, self-publishing, these days, has changed and can give the author more opportunities than it once did, outside of traditional publishing. There are successful authors that have used self-publishing and made it that way, or they have made it into traditional publishing, depending on the numbers of books they’ve sold. 

I have published in a variety of ways. Many of my books have won contests, have been chosen by editors, or were done under contracts. These are probably ways that most people without an agent may try to publish. These are hard to do, as so many submitters are going for the one prize. Whereas, an agent can get you into places you’d not get in doing the above-mentioned. This is not even considering e-books and the like. But, as you can see, there are a variety of ways to publish. It all comes down to what the author wants or is looking for. ​

How do you handle rejection?
Rejection comes with the territory. Like an actor, you must audition to get the role. As a writer, you must submit to get published. There are a number of ways to get published, but one can’t let that get in their way of publishing, not if they want to get their work out there. Yet, it isn’t fun to get rejected, but it builds character and shows you how to put your best work out there. There have been times when I didn’t win the contest for a book, but the editors liked my book and then published it. That would not have happened had I not submitted. So, it can become tolerable. At this point. It doesn’t bother me as much. It makes me want to work even harder, actually. 

Tell us about your most recent book. What did you enjoy most about writing it? What challenges did you face?
Doing Drive-bys on How to Love in the Midwest is about taking notice of my environment and how death, change, and getting older can imprint one’s surroundings in that indelible part of the mind that one can’t escape. We must use our voice and be who we are on the page. The titular poem is one I didn’t really want to share as it’s a personal one that happens with a friend. I didn’t want to objectify her, but writers objectify all of the people/objects/things they write about. She is so precious to me. Also, I had to share her with the world. I want others to be inspired by her, hopefully, helping them with their writing. Her liking the poem made it easier to put it out there. 

Also, it was difficult writing poems (tornado/prose, epistolary/letter, and other free forms) to people who died in the vast past as well as recently. There is a burden it puts on me. Yet, there’s a release from it too. Death does not stop them from talking. There are still conversations to have with our dead. Once I realized that, I was open to receiving and having those conversations with or surrounding Emmett Till, Breonna Taylor, Zora Neale Hurston, and those who had to (and are still dealing with) the earthquake on May 12, 2008, in Eastern Sichuan, China, along with the floods in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. ​

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What's the most inspiring feedback you've received from a reader?
Once, there was a young boy, who vehemently told me about how much he hated poetry, with all his heart, but he said he liked my book, Tough Boy Sonatas. That letter is still in my desk.
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What's next for you? 
A lot of things are in flux and progressing simultaneously. I’m teaching at Purdue University Fort Wayne. I’m still the Indiana Poet Laureate. We will be doing an anthology around my collaborating with Hoosiers. I am slowly creating new work and getting some published. I have three manuscripts (fiction, poetry, and craft) that are looking for homes, and I have three manuscripts that are being born as we speak (all poetry).​

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What is the best advice you could give to a fellow writer?
Langston Hughes said, “Bury yourself, poet, in your own words. Otherwise, you are dead.” So, find your voice, your voice on the page, and hone and develop it, no matter what. Also, some people say they want to write, but they push writing back beyond the other things they are doing. Writing is a pain in the ass. You can’t push it to the side and expect gold to appear when you do it. It is work. Hard work, like anything else. Having your voice on something that you create should mean something to you. Each and every time you do it. ​

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