The following interview took place between Tess Taylor and Tom Laichas on 23 August 2021. It has been edited for length and clarity.
TL: You took courses in urban studies as an undergrad, did a masters in journalism, an MFA, and have an abiding interest in geography and geology. Yet you don’t work in a city planning Department, aren’t anchoring All Things Considered, and aren’t monitoring JPL’s seismographic equipment. Given the alternatives you might have pursued, why poetry?
TT:There is something about that life with books—with reading and being in the conversation about books—that kept calling me. There are times when I have looked for a more proper day job, but I just kept feeling I’d like to write for a few more months. That feeling has continued for twenty years! I’ve been lucky to be able to cobble together a life of teaching and writing nonfiction so I have some freedom to get some poems written.