Nathalie Kuroiwa-Lewis

Oyster River Pages: What role does the artist/writer play in society?

Nathalie Kuroiwa-Lewis: I believe that the writer's role is to express the mystery of life and give voice to the human condition. In poetry in particular, I agree with Craig Morgan Teicher's view that poets use ambivalence to express the unsayable.

ORP: How does writing or making art change you?

NKL: There is the power in being able to use experiences, feelings, and desires to create alternative realities-I see this as transformative and healing. Gregory Orr and John Fox write about this, and I tend to agree with them.

ORP: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

NKL: Difficult to say! There is so much great advice out there. One of the most powerful counsels I've encountered is from writers like Ted Solotaroff, Anne Lamott, and Stephen King who encourage writers to continually write and persevere in their craft. I also read as widely and as much as I can.

ORP: Name three artists or writers you'd like to be compared to. Why these?

NKL: Lucia Perillo, Tony Hoagland, Sandy Yannone, though it would take a few lifetimes to attain their gifts. I love Perillo for her tragic-comic sensibility, Hoagland for his imagery, and Yannone, for her passion.

ORP: Do you approach writing time as work or play?

NKL: Both. It's fun and exhilarating, but's it's also a gritty, labor-intensive effort.

ORP: What’s next for you artistically?

NKL: I like writing songs and working across genres. I'm continuing to write poetry in addition to other forms of writing. I really enjoy the lyrics of singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Emily Portman, Regina Spektor and others and would like to insert more of a musical/theatrical here and now presence to my writing.

ORP: How does this work connect to your personal experiences/identity?

NKL:  I think that my poems are informed in some way from my experiences having lived in Quebec as a child during the summers, and then later in life living in the Czech Republic and Japan in my twenties. My work is also deeply rooted in my love for the environment and in my interests in Greek myth and own research on the rhetoric of war. My work tends to be eclectic-I don't like to be pinned down and want total freedom in pursuing my writing.

Nathalie Kuroiwa-Lewis is an Associate Professor of English and Writing Minor Director and Writing Center Director at Saint Martin’s University, a private, liberal arts university located in the Pacific Northwest.  She is also a board member of the Olympia Poetry Network.  She has published poetry in OccuPoetry, Social Policy, Penny Ante Feud, THAT Literary Review, Dark Matter, In Layman’s Terms and the Aji journal.  Nathalie lives in Olympia, Washington and in her free time, enjoys taking long walks, riding her bike and travelling with her family. She can be found at the following sites: https://www.olympiapoetrynetwork.org/board-of-directors.html https://www.stmartin.edu/directory/nathalie-kuroiwa-lewis-phd Hear her read her poetry here.