Pins & Needle No. 27: Matthew Mercier

No. 27: Matthew MercierQ. Do you think humans are naturally drawn, in some way, to the ugly, as you once were to the witch in The Wizard of Oz? Why might that be, considering the connotation that ugly = evil?Absolutely, whether we admit it or not. But it’s queasy...

Pins & Needles No. 26: Abigail Zimmer

No. 26: Abigail ZimmerQ. I enjoyed the list aspects in “At the Closing of the World,” bonus points for coral and that beluga whale. “Hiatus” also makes use of the list aesthetic (alder, birch, oak, etc.). What’s your advice on crafting a successful list poem?Keep...

Pins & Needles No. 25: Sarah Sarai

No. 25: Sarah SaraiQ. Winged monkeys, especially those that shoot fire, are bound to provoke anxiety. Suppose they were granted an audience with the Wizard. What would be their top request?If the winged monkeys finagled an audience with the wizard they would shred...

Pins & Needles No. 24: Carrie Messenger

No. 24: Carrie MessengerQ. “I couldn’t remember before the Dust, but my sister could. She had two years on me. She was four when the Dust came.” Do you see anything in our lives functioning like Dust in this story, changing the world so deeply that it’s...

Pins & Needles No. 23: Grace Bauer

No. 23: Grace BauerQ. The craft aficionado in me adores your poem’s stanza construction, particularly the transition between stanzas two and three. What, in your opinion, makes the perfect stanza?Thanks for the kind words about “The Rhetoric of Oz” and its structure....