Madison Rahner

Oyster River Pages: Who are the writers who have made you who you are? 
Madison Rahner: The poets who have most influenced me are Louise Gluck and Anne Sexton. I also draw inspiration from the work of Joyce Carol Oates and Eudora Welty.

ORP: What’s your least favorite word?
MR: I hate the word "beloved," like, that third syllable has no business being there and I never pronounce it right.

ORP: What’s your favorite thing that you’ve created? (line, image, story, etc.) 
MR: I'm on the fourth draft of a manuscript for a children's novel, and at the moment that's what I'm most proud of.

ORP: What do you want to read/see more of in the world? 
MR: Compassion.

ORP: What is the space that has shaped you the most? 
MR: I used to go to a Lutheran church camp in Western Pennsylvania for one week every summer with my family. Though I'm no longer religious, experiences I had there have molded me. Some aspect of my years there works its way into every thing I write.

Madison Rahner is from South Carolina. She's an English major studying at Coastal Carolina University. Twitter: @RahnerNotRainer Instagram:@MadisonRahner. Find her poetry here.