Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathryn de Lancellotti.
So, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was applying for MFA programs in Creative Writing my senior year at the University of California Santa Cruz when I got pregnant. I was terrified. I thought becoming a mother meant I had to give up my dream of going to graduate school and of writing a book. I was told by a professor that if I chose to have the baby, I would likely never go to grad school and that I would definitely never sleep again.
My professor was right about the sleep part.
I knew being a single mother was going to be hard and I knew there was a chance I’d never write again, but something was tugging at my heart, nudging me towards motherhood and into the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life.
When my son was two years old, I ran into a friend and fellow poet who had just been accepted into a low residency MFA program. He was a husband, a father, a working man, and he was doing it…so why couldn’t I? I was motivated and inspired by his leap of faith and commitment to his art. Something inside me, that same tugging and nudging, overcame me. I decided right then and there that I would apply to MFA programs, too.
My son and I were living with my parents at that time and they encouraged me to follow my passion. They knew, as I knew that pursuing an advanced degree would be challenging for a few years but would ultimately make my life and my son’s life better, so they agreed to help with childcare. I applied that evening.
One of the most incredible moments of my life was seeing my son watch me graduate. My graduation from Sierra Nevada University in Tahoe was outside in an open field surrounded by sugar pine and blue sky. He got as close as he could to me, flopped down on his belly in the shaded grass, and stared up at me with great pride and joy. Holding my boy and my degree at the same time was a holy moment, one I’ll never forget.
During my time in graduate school, I wrote a full-length manuscript for my thesis. I had several previously published poems, enough to create a small book, so I decided to try and get the chapbook published first, then work towards finishing and publishing the full-length collection. I sent the book out to two small, independent presses. I figured I would get two rejections out of the way, then continue sending it out. Rejection is a huge part of the publishing process. I was sure the chapbook would take a while to get picked up, if at all, but both presses said yes.
I chose to publish with Moon Tide Press out of San Bernardino, CA in August 2019. By June 2020, Impossible Thirst was a book with pages, a cover, blurbs, an author photo, and a bar code.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As Robert Frost famously wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—/I took the one less traveled by,/And that has made all the difference.” I believe there is a path society tells us will lead to success. A path we are taught to trust that leads to “safety, security, certainty,” but that path has never been for me. I have always trusted my heart over my logical mind, which would have told me I was crazy to go to grad school while working and as a single mother, and that it was too hard to write a book, let alone publish one.
If I would have traveled the conventional road, I would have believed that I wasn’t smart enough to write a book or to go to college. I would have stayed in my “safe” job, got married, saved money, bought a house, and invested in the stock market.
If I would have traveled the safe road, I would have never gone back to community college. I had a terrible time in the school system growing up. It was not for me. I’m sure if I had grown up in the times we are currently living in, I would have been labeled with a diagnosis and or put on medication. I could not focus in school, nor did I care to. I felt incredibly insecure and ashamed. I was crippled with fear and insecurity. I did not fit in the box I was told to live in, did not belong in the system I was born into. Growing up in a puritanical, patriarchal, capitalistic society was draining on my soul and did not align with my life’s purpose.
Has the road been smooth? No. I am a woman. I’m still finding myself and my voice in a male-dominated world. I was a single mother forced to take out thousands and thousands of dollars in debt to get an education. I’m an artist living in a world that values money over truth and beauty. I’m a poet. LOL! I laugh because the majority of people don’t even read poetry.
Has it been a smooth road? No, but the struggle is the poetry—and poetry is a house of windows, of truth, transparency, beauty, and healing. Poetry is the closest we get to truth through language.
Tell us more about what you do.
I’m a poet—and that alone sets me apart from others. We are a very small percentage of the population. But the poets, the oracles, the scribes have always played a significant role in our communities. We are truth-tellers. We speak on behalf of society. We channel the collective voice.
I also work for my parent’s non-profit organization, Estero Bay Kindness Coalition, as the Publicity Manager and Grant Writer. I’m doing freelance writing, editing, and publicity work for other authors on the side, too. I’m promoting my chapbook, Impossible Thirst, writing my full-length manuscript, and working on a few reviews and articles.
My poems speak to and for the times. They seek to understand and discover our place in the universe and in the world. Poet and author Lee Herrick wrote, “Kathryn de Lancellotti writes searing, unforgettable poems with a rare fearlessness and expansive grace. Impossible Thirst considers grief, God, womanhood, and motherhood with a singular lyricism, unapologetic feminism, steeped in desire and knowing. I’m taken by the musicality every time. She writes, “Sometimes I cry to the lark,/sometimes I beg for its wings. ” This is an empowering and talented visionary. These transformative poems illuminate what we need, lose, and salvage.”
I believe my job as a poet is to examine, excavate, and give voice to the shadow side of myself and of society. Speaking the truth, telling our stories, using language and a voice shines light into the darkness and has the ability to expose the thing, name the thing, and work towards healing it. Holding onto the pain only hurts us/sickens us further. We are living in a time of great sickness and dysfunction. A sickness that has always been there, but is now beginning to surface and expose itself like never before. Liberation has never been more vital and available to all of us. Humanity is connected in a way like never before. The pandemic has shown us this. Technology has shown us this. It’s time for the oppressed to use our voices and our platforms to speak, scream, sing to the oppressor. It’s time to share the narratives of our lives so that we can begin to understand each other, forgive each other, heal together.
Language can be used to lie, manipulate, steal, and kill, the oppressor has shown us this, but it also enlightens and heals. I write to heal, to discover, to seek truth and beauty, and to get lost in the mystery. I’m seduced by the mystery.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I think hard work, opportunity, and timing all have something to do with luck. I’ve worked hard, I’ve been given opportunity, I’ve believed in myself (enough). I launched my writing career during a time of major social social change and unrest. Humanity is thirsty for connection, for something true. Timing is huge. I don’t think my poems would have been as relevant five years ago, even five months ago, as they are now.
Pricing:
- Impossible Thirst: $15.00
- https://www.moontidepress.com/books
Contact Info:
- Email: lightwords333@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathryn.delancellotti
Image Credit:
Kori Kristine Photography
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
