Lois Harrod

Oyster River Pages: What’s the most recent work that surprised you?

Lois Harrod: I have been reading Margaret Atwood's  poems, and I have been particularly delighted with The Door, 2007, which is more accessible than her earlier work--and yet the poems retain Atwoodian ambivalence about the world.

ORP: If you could tell your younger creative self anything, what would it be?

LH: Certainly, find a mentor. 

ORP: What are you doing to shape and inspire the next generation of artists?

LH: I'm almost 76 now, but I last taught Creative Writing in 2017 AND I still do high school workshops. I keep in touch with my former students, suggesting venues, etc.  I think it is an obligation one generation of artists has to the next.

ORP: What’s your favorite under-appreciated work of art?

LH: Well, most art is under-appreciated.

ORP: What role does research play in your work? How much do you research do you do before or during the creation of your work?

LH: I like poems that know things, so I am always looking up material for poems, trying to discover if there are ways to undergird the poem with science and history.

ORP: What advice would you give someone who has never been published?

LH: If you are any good, you will eventually get published. Just keep sending out. Also join a critique group or workshop.

Lois Marie Harrod’s 16th and most recent collection, Nightmares of the Minor Poet, appeared in June 2016 from Five Oaks. She is continually published in literary journals and online ezines from American Poetry Review to Zone 3. Visit her online work at www.loismarieharrod.org. Find her poetry here.