Interview with WEAVE Magazine + Guest Editor

Weave Magazine kindly interviewed me recently. We talked all about inspirations, obsessions and writing. I'm pretty psyched to be judging their 1st poetry contest and to be co-hosting an event with Weave and Pear Noir! in Pittsburgh this weekend, April 23rd at Remedy Bar.

Here's a taste of the interview below:

WEAVE: What is your earliest memory of writing?

Lisa Marie Basile:  I sit at the kitchen table with my grandfather and a caligraphy set. We make sweeping designs and letters across paper. We write little stories (I must have been 5). I write thoughts and ideas on green stick-it notes with my grandfather. He was in the Navy. He had an anchor on his arm. He was very quiet but used to be sort of terrible. I think he is largely responsible for inadvertantly cultivating my love creative writing. I think this process changed him as a man too. My mother always said he gave me and taught me everything she never had or learned. So maybe this was his way of getting closer to me — and her? We used to write these little aphorisms. Lots of them. I still have one saved about islands: “Ilands : Ilands are suranded By water. Billions of peopel could be stuck on Ilands.”

W: Do you have any writing rituals, such as writing with your favorite pen, pre-writing yoga, or sitting in your favorite armchair?

LMB: I am painfully inconsistent. Aside from a preference for writing in garamond or didot font (I like serifs) I don’t have a ritual. Even if I weren’t so busy I wouldn’t have a ritual. I’m a little scared of ritual. When I plan my day or my writing, it feels wrong. In my MFA workshop, when asked to write on demand, I freeze. I write when I need to, and I don’t write otherwise. Sometimes I’ll write all day and then have to wait a week or so. I trust the “muse” as we call it, but nothing will coax her from her sleepy state. She hits me over the head and drags me down. Sometimes if I feel something strongly for the world or for my life, it goes through a filter and I just have to wait to get it down. I like it that way. Maybe that’s because I don’t know any other way?

W: What does your day look like as a writer and editor? What do you spend your time on?

LMB: Each day is different between work [as a bookseller] and my graduate studies. Writing comes first, and the inspiration sort of works around the other demands in my life. It almost knows when I have a free moment. I sometimes focus very heavily on editing. Typically, I manipulate my schedule to fit in an hour or so of submissions reading for CAPER Literary Journal and Patasola Press — more if I can. I read CAPER poetry on my lunch break. I spend all day sporadically updating the sites, the feeds, the Twitter and Facebook. I designate some days strictly for Patasola Press or CAPER. I write press releases and edit very, very late at night. I feel very dedicated to making enough time for my press and journal.

When I need to write (for myself, for class) or send submissions and work on my personal activities, it just manages to occur. I’m not sure how. I also am very active with The Poetry Brothel and other reading series. The Poetry Brothel is a wonderful organization that puts on elaborate, detailed poetic readings almost every month. Being involved is perfectly intense; who wouldn’t want to read poetry in an aesthetically overcharged environment with dozens of creative people? Today, I’m putting together a beautiful chapbook with a friend. I’m also editing my book, A Decent Voodoo and waiting eagerly for its publication (Cervena Barva, 2012). So I’d say it all gets done in tiny little bursts throughout each day. I’m very grateful for my life.

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