Rebecca Foust and the writing life…
VAH: Are
you a full time writer?
RF: Yes.
VAH: Is writing vocation, occupation, or profession?
RF: Vocation because I do it for love, not money.
VAH: When the page is blank what gets you writing?
RF: Writing—anything—gets me writing.
VAH: What is your “process” when working on a new piece of writing?
RF: Right drunk and revise sober. Let it all out in the first draft and then pare back and revise.
VAH: Do you have a submission system or plan?
RF: Yes, three times a year: fall, spring, summer.
VAH: What does your typical writing day include?
RF: Unfortunately it begins with answering a ton of emails—the main reason I go on writing retreats is to get away from emails and social media.
VAH: That immersion into writing and the ability to turn off the tech is quite inviting.
Bonus:
VAH: If you had a super power, what would it be and why?
RF: Never have to sleep because I hate to sleep.
VAH: What is a little known fact about you that will amaze and/or amuse?
RF: I used to collect rocks.
VAH: How fun! I used to collect rocks too. In fact, I occasionally can’t resist picking up and stashing one away in my pocket.
Three random, non-writing facts about you?
RF: I love to cook. Have 3 kids. Am a pretty good snowboarder. Once was proficient on the stationary trapeze.
VAH: Who is your biggest fan?
RF: My sister Sandy Geimer.
Thank you Rebecca Foust, for taking the time to talk about your writing life.
Rebecca Foust Sampler:
Southern Indiana Review Spring 4014 Issue, “the fire is falling,” Jan 2014:
“Dynamic Response of Multi-Layered Soil Media in the Frequency Domain,” featured on Poetry Daily, 2/1/15
“Biography,” “But What Can Wake You,” and “Eulogy,” published in OmniVerse, Fall 2014
“Dream of the Rood” featured on Poetry Daily, 10/2/14
“Prodigal,” Valparaiso Poetry Review, Volume XIV, Number 2 (Spring 2013)
Rebecca Foust was the 2014 Dartmouth Poet in Residence and is the recipient of fellowships from the Frost Place and the MacDowell Colony. Her fifth book, Paradise Drive won the 2015 Press 53 Award for Poetry. Molly Peacock calls it “jagged” and “fresh” and Thomas Lux says “There is great music in these poems, and sonnet after sonnet is masterful. Not si
nce Berryman’s Henry have I been so engaged by a persona.”
Foust’s poems are widely published and appear in current or next issues of the Hudson Review, Massachusetts Review, Mid-American Review, North American Review, Southern Indiana Review, and other journals. Her book reviews and essays have published in American Book Review, Calyx, Chautauqua, Prairie Schooner, and Rumpus, and her essay, “Venn Diagram” won the 2014 Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Award and appears in the current issue of Malahat Review.
Find Rebecca Foust on the web and social media: Website. Twitter. Facebook.
Vicki Hudson 