Victoria Lynne McCoy’s debut collection, Wet Reckless, is available for pre-order! We interviewed her so you can get to know her a little better!
An Interview with Victoria Lynne McCoy
How long did it take you to write Wet Reckless? What was your process for pulling it together?
To risk a bit of vulnerability here, it’s been a very long road. The earliest poems in the book date back to my first year of grad school, 2008/2009, and I first submitted the earliest iteration of the manuscript in 2013. I submitted many, many times over the last 13+ years, until it was accepted earlier this year by Riot in Your Throat.
One of my childhood best friends was killed by a drunk driver in college, followed by multiple car related incidents that had a huge impact on me, including my own bad accident less than two years later. These became the main thread through the manuscript—the grief and guilt that I came of age into, that haunted me, the poems I couldn’t stop writing. I would say the manuscript went through 2 or 3 fairly substantive revisions overall, with some more minor (often obsessive) tinkering in between. Since—and including—that first submission, the manuscript was named a finalist 4 times and a semifinalist 5 times. Which was so encouraging, and for which I am so grateful to those readers and editors. I am no stranger to rejection being a part of the writing process, but I admit that after so many times of getting so close, it started to break my heart, and I took a year or two off from submitting to regain perspective and to rebuild my faith in myself as a poet.
One of the hardest parts was trying to keep the core of the manuscript over such a long period of time, as a poet’s voice and poetic obsessions and inclinations change over time, so in the end, it was about honoring both the poet I was when this book first formed alongside the poet I am now and making sure it still felt cohesive and true to itself.
It’s important that I’m honest about my journey because it’s so easy to only see the success part of stories in public, so for any other poets out there struggling to keep faith in their work: see this as a sign to not give up on the book you believe in. And one day, your manuscript just may land in front of the right editor who believes in your work as much as you do.
What’s a favorite poem from the collection? Why?
I don’t think this will ever be a static answer for me, as it’s definitely changed over the years as I’ve gravitated toward one poem or another for different reasons. At this point, I’d have to say (especially based on the poems I seem to default to at readings lately) that my current go-to poems are “Until” and “Dumb Luck.” I feel like those each contain so much of the main essence of the book for me. “Dumb Luck,” which is the first poem in the book, feels to me like an introduction, or summary almost, through which to enter. “Until” has also long been a favorite, and what I almost think of as my “thesis statement,” if you will, and in its own way a sort of ars poetica while also being a resistance to one.
As for other favorites along the book’s journey, at one point it was “Self-Portrait in Unfinished Letters,” as that was the first poem I wrote after finishing my MFA, when I didn’t have any other workshop voices in my head, and decided to try something new and different for me. I think that’s what connects each of the poems I’ve loved most—when I most surprised myself. For a long time, “First Catch” was also a favorite, as it was my most prized revision story: I was having a hard time finding the right way to enter the poem, so I took a step back and started interrogating it and myself (literally), and the question that changed its trajectory was: What am I not saying, or avoiding saying in this poem? And that led to the question in the first line, wondering what it would mean about me if I found I could easily commit cruelty, which was a question that terrified me.
What’s your writing routine look like?
I’m someone who’s always struggled with routine in general, so my writing routine and process has changed a lot over the years, and is not terribly consistent, I hate to admit. My favorite place to write is at my dining room table, in a little nook off my living room surrounded by bookshelves. I’ve had a couple poets as roommates in the past, and we had so much fun sitting at the kitchen or dining room table reading and writing together, so it’s always sort of stuck with me as space that feels creative and inspiring.
When my sleep and physical health are going well, I like to start the morning with a walk and writing before work a few times a week. I’ll walk around the neighborhood listening to a poetry podcast (usually either Poetry Unbound or The Slowdown), and often I will feel inspired and start jotting down a draft in my Notes app while trying not to trip or run into any brazen coyotes (I’ve had to change course a few times!). Then when I get back to my writing space, I light a candle, pour a cup of cold brew, and either start pulling from what I noted in my phone or do a quick free write or prompt (I’m big on writing first drafts by hand). Or if I come to the table in the evening, I light a candle and pour a glass of wine instead. I find that I tend to lean more towards new drafts in the morning and revision in the evening. My cat, Truffles, also loves to sit between me and my laptop, usually across one arm, making it a bit harder to type—the true writer’s block!
I also do work a corporate 8-5 job that can sometimes be stressful or have overtime to hit deadlines, so there are definitely stretches of time where writing takes more of a backseat. I just try to be as intentional as I can and give myself grace.
Who are your favorite poets?
There are so many beautiful writers out there! I’ll try to keep it to a top five. One of my all-time favorites is Jack Gilbert (I even have a line from “The Forgotten Dialect of the Heart” tattooed on my wrist). And then the poets whose books I’ve surrounded myself with over the years and have been most influential for me are: Traci Brimhall, Keetje Kuipers, Leila Chatti, Allison Benis White, and Tiana Clark. I want to keep going with this list so badly! I love so many more!
What are you reading right now?
I’m usually reading multiple books in different genres at a time. This year, I’m in a group that’s reading Les Misérables together—there’s exactly 365 chapters, so we’re reading a chapter a day to tackle it by the end of 2026. And the wonderful poet who’s leading it, Alexandra Umlas, is also a teacher, so she provides great insight and reflection on Substack each day—it’s been such a delightful experience. I just started reading Brian Gyamfi’s What God in the Kingdom of Bastards, which I’ve been so excited to dive into. I am also in the middle of a road trip to visit my dear friend and poet, Kelly Grace Thomas, and I’ve packed the next couple books on my reading list just in case: Generic Husband by Rebecca Hazelton and Hide by Carolina Ebeid. For the long drive, I’ve been listening to the audiobook for Empire of AI by Karen Hao.
What’s your favorite non-writing activity?
One of my favorite ways to spend time while not writing (or reading!) is honestly just sitting on a sunny patio with a nice glass of wine surrounded by good friends, yapping and laughing and listening to music. So much of life is spent rushing to work, or rushing to finish work or to finish the errands or the chores, or keeping up with the side gig or the next deadline or managing health in myriad ways—basically a jumble of shoulds and productivity pressure. So the simple, slow afternoons or evenings where I can just exist around and enjoy the people I love fill me up so much and carry me through all the rest of it.
