Getting 2 Know Lorri Neilsen Glenn

Author of  Threading Light: Explorations in Loss and Poetry

What would readers be most surprised to learn about you?

Lorri Neilsen Glenn: That I love to laugh. My last two books have been about losing — loved ones, time, illusions — and reaching for light. I write about loss because I’m trying to learn it, something we all have to do as we age. To paraphrase Nietzsche, if I haven’t known deep sorrow, I can’t know deep joy. If I haven’t been gutted, I haven’t earned a belly laugh. Plus losing teaches me attention; being as present as I can be in the moment keeps me buoyant, and, strange as it seems, tougher, I think. And maybe funnier.

What is your creative process?

Lorri Neilsen Glenn: My writing process changes from one day to the next; I don’t have a routine. I am a sometime journal-keeper, and wish I kept one daily. I can write under pressure, but not always. My best thinking time is in the morning, but not too early. To have an entire day to write is pure joy, even if the writing isn’t going well. I am certain about this, though: more than anything I need silence and long hours of solitude for the writing to come. If I’m near the ocean or an open horizon, if you can toss in birdcall, some wildlife, a good walking trail, perhaps the sound of wind or rain in the trees, I’m ready.

Read more about Lorri Neilsen Glenn’s new book Threading Light: Explorations in Loss and Poetry

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