INTERVIEW: Elizabeth Alexander

Elizabeth Alexander

Elizabeth Alexander has been writing poetry for a very long time, since she was little kid. And, she recently got the chance to read one of her poem's during President Obama's inauguration ceremony.

Full Name: Elizabeth Alexander     

Currently Live: Washington, DC      

Hometown: Washington, DC      

What writing and publishing advice would you give to emerging teen poets? Read all the time; always have a book [with you]. Read widely and diversely; read more than you ever imagined you could. Keep learning and keep taking in examples of what good writing is. It’s very important to keep healthy, to attend to the health of your body. It’s difficult to listen to your distinct and magical voices if your body is not as it should be. That means fresh unpackaged foods, moving [your body] every day, and spending some time in a quiet space. Send your work to places where you imagine your work would make sense. I try to tell people you should be published [only] when you’ve written really well.

Is writing poetry ever a way for you to escape from the world? When I’m in the midst of writing poems, really deep in it, certainly that’s when I lose track of time. I’m a mother of two sons so I don’t lose track of time because I don’t have that option, but I would say there is that moment when I say “oh my gosh look [how much time has passed]” and that is when I’m writing a poem. [I have time to do that] when I’m home at night and they’re asleep.

In your own words, how would you describe the style of your poetry? I usually leave that to others because it’s so hard. If I asked you to describe yourself [you’d find that] hard to do. I guess I would describe [my poetry] as richly textured, often historical, and it attends to beauty.

Who are some of your favorite poets? Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, Walt Whitman, Robert Hayden, Derek Walcott, and Elizabeth Bishop.

What were your favorite subjects in school? I loved school and always loved English. I liked reading literature and I liked getting lost in books. In high school I liked history a great deal. I had a wonderful American History teacher. I think I liked the stories of history. I liked Spanish very much. I really loved my teachers because they came from different Spanish-speaking countries and I think that made me realize as a black person that I existed in a context not only in the U.S., but also within the context of the whole world.