Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Lyn Walrath.
Holly, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
As a kid, I was a huge nerd. I remember dressing up as Gandalf from Lord of the Rings when a middle school teacher asked us to read a poem out loud in class. I got made fun of a lot for that, but I never stopped loving weird and strange things. I’d always wanted to write, but I convinced myself you needed to “live life” before you could write. Or maybe the world convinced me.
I worked as a jeans folder, a printer, an ice cream scooper, and a financial advisor until I finally had time to drop my odd jobs and pursue my dream of finding a creative career. About four years ago, I started writing seriously with the goal to publish. Last year, I published my first chapbook of speculative feminist poetry, Glimmerglass Girl (Finishing Line Press, 2018). While I spend a lot of time hustling these days as a freelance editor, I also love every minute of it. Filling my world with art is something I’ll never regret.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I write weird things. Weird writing inhabits a liminal place between genres. It’s the stuff of the strange and not-quite-definable, a hybrid kind of writing that sings its own song and creates the instruments as it goes. Basically, it’s anything that doesn’t fit the mold. I think this approach excites me because I don’t really think or dream in the ways that are expected. For example, in Glimmerglass Girl, some of the poems could be called prose, and there are illustrations along with the words. I want to shine a light on the dark places in the world—to show our reality at a slant.
How can artists connect with other artists?
Houston is one of the best cities in the world to live if you’re an artist. For writers, we have a slew of writing resources like Writespace, Imprint, Write About Now, Writers in the Schools, Houston Writer’s Guild, and more. My suggestion is to go to events and be brave. Talk to people. Ask them questions. People think about writing as this lonely thing that you do alone in a dark room, but the reality is that writers thrive together.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
These days, I’m creating poetry on my Instagram @Holly__Lyn. I’ll be teaching a workshop online at the Poetry Barn this Summer on resistance and found poetry, so keep an eye out on my social media for that. My chapbook is available on Amazon and through Finishing Line Press.
https://www.instagram.com/holly__lyn/
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.hlwalrath.com
- Email: hlwalrath@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holly__lyn/
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/hollylynwalrath
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Holly-Walrath/e/B01KVVE6HA
Image Credit:
Michael Glazner, Holly Walrath
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