Mistie Watkins & Amy Watkins

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Mistie Watkins and Amy Watkins interview each other.

Mistie R. Watkins is the author of the prose poetry collection HIRAETH (Autofocus Books, 2023).  She lives in Orlando with her kiddo, two dogs, and two rats. You can find her work in Burrow Press Review, The Drunken Odyssey, and Autofocus or follow her on Instagram at mistie_thebogwitch.

Amy Watkins is the author of three poetry chapbooks (Milk & Water, Lucky, and Wolf Daughter), a graduate of the Spalding University MFA in Writing, and a parent of a human girl.  She lives in Orlando, Florida.

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Topics include:

-- Mistie's recent book release at Zeppelin Books in Orlando, FL

-- the challenge of blending sincerity and humor in poetry

-- Mistie's new book Hiraeth, which centers on the death of their sister in childhood

-- making sure you're not the only person who doesn't fuck up when writing from life

--  writing that becomes journaling and writing that becomes the "work"

-- differences in composing poems and essays for both writers

-- the chapbook as the ideal poetic form 

-- concision in smaller work and larger work

-- learning what to leave out of a poem and a book

-- turning family myths into literature 

-- the necessity of writing the I into the family myths

-- the fiction in the facts and the truth in the fiction

-- the presence of Florida in Amy and Mistie's work

-- the specificity of place

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Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.

The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.