Kimberly Casey’s second collection, Other Side of Broken is now available for per-order! We also published her debut collection, Where the Water Begins, and are delighted to be publishing her new collection. We interviewed her so you can learn a little about her! (Read the original interview here!)
How long did it take you to write Other Side of Broken? What was your process for pulling it together?
Other Side of Broken took quite a bit of time for me to pull together into its final form. I actually have poems in this manuscript that are heavy revisions of pieces I wrote nearly a decade ago, when I was getting diagnosed with Endometriosis and not feeling very at home in my body. Those poems had content that I felt was vital to the narrative, but they were nowhere near where I was currently at in my writing. These pieces took a ton of work to revive and edit to suit my current voice and fall into place among the more recent poems. This manuscript when through a lot of versions, and the process of compiling it alone took a few years. It was a lot of back and forth and finding the right throughline and what pieces fit the themes through new lenses and didn’t create redundancy for the reader. A huge shoutout to my early readers, Melissa McKinstry and Zac Furlough who helped me take this from a pile of poems that spanned a decade, into the fully flushed out manuscript it is today. It took a lot of shaping, a lot of time, and a lot of chiseling away, but I am glad I stuck with it—these poems are so important to me and I’m grateful to be able to send them out into the world.
What’s a favorite poem from the collection? Why?
It is always so hard to pick! I love them all in their own way, but as I cruise through the table of contents I land immediately on “The dog speaks” which was born out of an exercise with some of my MFA friends where we create a word bank and write a poem using all the words contributed. It’s a simple exercise but it always delivers and at least provides a great launching point, but this one tumbled out just as it is, fully formed. Every time I read it, I still feel it in my body, hellbent hopeful, dreaming of better.
What’s your writing routine look like?
Chaotic at best these days, unfortunately, but it is still there. I have to remind myself even if I am not writing every day, I am still a writer. I have always been a person who waits for the inspiration to strike. My MFA program taught me how to harness that into a better habit, but I must say I am not always the best at keeping it. Life happens, as we all know, and things slip. But I am very lucky to have an amazing community of poets and writers called Out Loud Huntsville that meets up for monthly open mics – even though I don’t always share at the events, I try to write one new thing for each month. Right now, these events are my north star, a reminder to keep going, keep writing. The more in-depth routine will come back again soon, but it is so nice to have this monthly pilar.
Who are your favorite poets?
I’ve got to note that Out Loud Huntsville just published its 10th anthology of local poets and writers and we have some incredible poets right here in Huntsville with immense talent whom I admire greatly. Outside of the local scene, I had been reading Ada Limón, Ellen Bass, Dorianne Laux, and Malena Mörling a ton when I was getting this manuscript together, they are some of my favorites of all time.
What are you reading right now?
I just went on a serious binge of nearly every TJ Klune book I could get my hands on. These fantasy novels have been giving me hope and life in what has been an abhorrent, volatile political climate. Klune writes about magic, hope, love, and community in a time where those things can sometimes feel in short supply, and his books have been a bright spot for me. I also just finished “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” which is such an honest reckoning with the state of the world. In the poetry scene, I just read the chapbook “Wonder, Terror, Fable, Yearning” by singer/songwriter Anna Tivel, which was beautiful and musical and tender. I love to rotate between fiction, nonfiction, and poetry to keep it fresh and engaging.
What’s your favorite non-writing activity?
If it’s outdoors, I’m doing it. Rock climbing has been a staple of my life for the last few years, and I also coach our local development climbing team. I’m an avid runner and just completed my first ultra marathon last year – a 50K trail race in Georgia. I love bass fishing, camping, or just spending time on the water. I have two incredible dogs who I love to hike and adventure with. I’m a certified busy body, and always have something fun going on. I also slow down and enjoy puzzles or collaging or board games with friends. Oh, did I mention line dancing? Escape rooms? Going to see live music? So, I guess my favorite non-writing activity is squeezing all the juice out of life that I possibly can!
Kimberly’s book, Other Side of Broken, is now available for pre-order!