Angelica Whitehorne

Oyster River Pages: How is your art or writing informed by current social and/or political issues?

Angelica Whitehorne: My poems are informed by injustice always, by the unfairness of a carnivorous world, by the lust and disgust of capitalism. I write about the scabs of womanhood, of poverty, of powerlessness. Sometimes I write fuck you’s and sometimes I just cry onto the page and ask why—

but poetry makes change, calling out the BS of society in stanzas and line breaks makes people feel and makes people come to a common understanding: Oh you feel stepped on, swept over, I do too.”

People think poetry is frivolous, but poetry is some of the most powerful documentation we have. I am committed to highlighting my reality, my time here, my sick world and this goes hand in hand with recording social issues.

ORP: If you could add a prelude, an epilogue, or an addendum to your piece, what would it say?

AW: *I still ride and I still bleed (and I still heal too).

ORP: What do you hope readers or viewers of your piece take from it?

AW: I hope readers get on a bike after reading this poem. And if they are thinking no way!, then that they go and do something that makes them feel above it all or like dusty adventures are possible again. I hope they close their eyes and lift their arms and embrace courage and stick it to the man (made gravel!!!!)

ORP: Are there any artists, writers, or works of art (including music, film, literature, etc.) that you believe are fundamentally misunderstood? In a sentence, how would you rectify the misunderstanding?

AW: Lana Del Rey. The world will drag any woman who does not fit in with their ideals of what a woman should be. If we move from housewives to a hyper empowered woman stereotype as our ideal and stomp on those who embrace femininity, we’ve turned tables but have made no progress. Also Lana is one of the best songwriters of our generation.

ORP: Years from now, when historians look back on the art and writing of the early 21st century, how do you think they will articulate the zeitgeist?

AW: Despair & intellect & a crass understanding & a shifting consciousness.

ORP: What do you think is the most essential advice that most writers and artists ignore?

AW: Shake the nasally editor’s voice, the ghostly whispers of your unwritten collections, and the capitalist agenda from your head and just write what you think. The only thing that matters is writing authentically.

Angelica is a recent college graduate who writes for the Development department of a refugee organization in New York. At home she writes her poetry and stories with her 10 plants as backdrop and her future on her tongue. She has forthcoming work in the Magnolia Review, Crack the Spine, Breadcrumbs Magazine, and Amethyst Review. Instagram: @a.w.ords Website: https://angelicawhitehorne.myportfolio.com/ Hear her read her poetry here.