Jim Zola

Oyster River Pages:  Who are the artists and writers who have made you who you are?
Jim Zola: My mom and dad made me who I am. The artist and writers I admire are Josef Koudelka, Larry Levis, Bob Dylan. Sam Shepard, Frank Capra, etc.

ORP: What are the lenses that shape your worldview?
JZ: My glasses. without them the world is a blur.

ORP: What’s the most important thing you’ve read/seen lately?
JZ: My children.

ORP: What’s your least favorite word? 
JZ: "No."

ORP: What’s your favorite thing that you’ve created?
JZ: My children.  

ORP: What do you want to read/see more of in the world? 
JZ: Poetry and other art.

ORP: How do you pay it forward? 
JZ: I pay it in all directions.

ORP: What is the space that has shaped you the most?
JZ: The ocean.

ORP: You’ve just written your autobiography. What’s the title? 
JZ: Admirable Failures.

Jim Zola has worked in a warehouse, as a security guard, in a bookstore, as a teacher for deaf children, as a toy designer for Fisher Price, and currently as a children's librarian. Published in many journals through the years, his publications include a chapbook—The One Hundred Bones of Weather (Blue Pitcher Press)—and a full length poetry collection—What Glorious Possibilities (Aldrich Press). He currently lives in Greensboro, NC. See his work "Jekyll #4" in Issue 1.