What’s your genre?
Poetry (but I dabble in CNF, memoir, and sci-fi)
Are you published?
Traditional publisher
What inspired you to become a writer?
Perhaps it was being gifted diaries at a young age—or perhaps those gifts were based on observance of an inner drive I felt to document—but I’ve been writing as long as I can remember, and felt a serious devotion to somehow reducing the emotional entropy of this world by putting it into words. In other words, as a young girl writing in my diary, I was trying to figure out the world around me and how I felt about it, and to give it some sort of logical and witnessed form that was also poetic. I always loved reading and libraries, and writing was a way to get closer to those sacred places.
What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writer?
This is the hardest question for me because I find inspiration everywhere, and for me there’s no author who immediately comes to mind as more personally impactful than others. Overall, I often think about how religious texts captured the hearts and devotion of so many through effective storytelling. Humans crave stories as a form of organizing our knowledge, connecting in community, reinforcing values, and ascribing meaning to our experiences. So—the authors of religious texts and songs, even though I am not traditionally religious, inspire me as a writer by demonstrating that there has long been a visceral need for stories. When I’m feeling uninspired as a writer, it gives me courage to remember this.
Name three of your favorite books and their authors.
This is too hard! These are emotional and not academic choices based on childhood/young adulthood:
Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984)
The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden by Mary Chase (1968)
The Crown Snatchers (English translation of Die Kronenklauer) by F. K. Waechter and Bernd Eilert (1972)
What’s one thing readers should know about you?
The sound of my writing is tied to my training as a choral singer. I’ve been singing continuously in ensembles since 1989 so I’m always thinking about how something sounds, liaises to its neighbors, and connects to the bigger whole (columns/”chords”). Perhaps this will explain the weird physical arrangements in some of my poems.
What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?
Craft your life to support the best way you write. I’ve learned that when inspiration visits, I need to have prepared for its arrival. This can look like always carrying a notebook or, more often, drafting a poem in an email app on my phone. I regret every time I brushed off inspiration for a seemly more urgent mundane task of living.
Author Bio
Claire Kruesel (KREE-zuhl) lives and writes from Story County, Iowa, focusing primarily on the intersections of science, art, objects, and grief. She received an MFA in Creative Writing and Environment from Iowa State University. Her poetry has been published in Rattle, the anthologies Fracture and Prairie Gold, and elsewhere. Her day job involves mentoring biochemistry undergraduates on science communication. Claire also teaches Pilates and yoga, travels to France and Italy whenever she can, and sings with Ames Chamber Artists. Click here to visit Claire.
In partnership with the Ames Public Library, our Swift Youth Writers Workshops offer kids an escape into creative writing and the opportunity to connect with other youth writers.
These sessions are based upon the Amherst Writers & Artists Method, a methodology rooted in the belief that everyone is a writer. All feedback given is focused on the unique voice and strengths of the writer to encourage and model authenticity, peer support, and self-confidence.
Dr. Ron McCurdy, is a Professor of Music in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where he served as chair of the jazz department for 6 years. Dr. McCurdy is a consultant to the Grammy Foundation educational programs including serving as director of the National Grammy Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Guest artists he has worked with include Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Leslie Uggams, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, Ramsey Lewis, Mercer Ellington, Dr. Billy Taylor, Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton, and Dianne Reeves.
Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey is an author, performer, and producer. He hails from Columbia, Missouri, and holds a B.A. in English (Creative Writing) from the University of Iowa. His debut book, Look, Black Boy, became Amazon’s #1 new release in African American poetry, and was awarded first prize in the North Street Book Prize. His second book, Heart Notes was published in 2019 and featured on Iowa Public Radio. He released two spoken word albums, a studio version of Look, Black Boy, and a performance album titled, Heart Notes Live! He co-founded the literary magazine Black Art; Real Stories, was published in Iowa’s Best Emerging Poets – 2019, the Little Village Magazine, and wrote a monthly column for The Real Mainstream. For three years in a row he was named Best Poet/Spoken Word Performer in Cedar Rapids & Iowa City.
