As writers, we often find ourselves wrapped up in our ability to make sense of the world through words. Meredith Phipps discusses just this and more in today's chat about her pages penned in pandemic.
What does the pandemic currently look like in your city?
I currently live in rural northern Indiana in a small lake town. For me, the pandemic looks like: long walks by the lake, endless hours of online college, quiet nights spent with my family (who I didn't know I would ever live with again), far drives to nowhere, losing faith in people when I go to the grocery store and see people refusing to wear masks, regaining faith in people when I see a long line of cars waiting to drive by a Christmas tree lighting just because, talking to my neighbors by shouting at them across the street, watching the geese fly south for the first time in two years, trying to process emotions that I can't even register yet, feeling thankful, feeling angry, feeling empty, and feeling full.
What are some favorite books you've read during quarantine?
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins by Anna Tsing, and so many wonderful collections of poetry, including Guilty Prayer by Steve Henn and Love and Endless Love by Lilia Marie Ellis.
Have there been any movies, tv shows, podcasts, etc. that have helped keep you at ease the past few months?
“Time Crisis” with Ezra Koenig and Jake Longstreth. I really love watching reality tv and 2000s teen dramas with my roommates! Lately we’ve been watching a lot of dating shows and some classics like Legally Blonde.
How has the pandemic affected your writing?
At the start of the pandemic, I started writing seriously again for the first time in awhile. All of my plans got shaken up and I realized that I hardly knew who I was without them. So after a long time of (regrettably) not letting myself prioritize creativity, I went back to poetry, which is one of the only things that has ever really made me feel completely connected to myself.
Are there any projects you are excited to keep working on? If so, can you give us any details (no spoilers please!) about your project?
I just finished a chapbook I’ve been working on for awhile, and I’m feeling really excited about it. I’m also starting another collection of poems (and some other types of writing and noticing) which centers on the idea of documentation in excess and indulgence in messiness, so I’m really looking forward to playing around with it and seeing what happens.
If asked ten years from now what the past few months have taught you about being a writer, what would come to mind?
The past few months have shown me how essential writing is to knowing myself and to paying attention to what is happening in my life and around it.
Is there anything that excites you about the changes being incited in the publishing world in light of recent events?
I’m so excited about all of the small presses that have emerged and gained traction during this time. I think that valuing and supporting independent presses and their presence in a publishing world that can be so hierarchical (and often harmful as a result) is extremely important.
Where is your favorite place to write? Has this changed during the pandemic?
I love to write on long walks, and I always draft in the notes app of my phone (controversial, I know). I also always have to get out of bed in the middle of the night or jump out of the shower to write down lines, but that’s not really by choice.
If you curated a playlist for writing life in the pandemic, what top 5 songs would be on your list?
1.) "Garden Song" by Phoebe Bridgers
2.) “the hard way" by The Front Bottoms
3.) "Look At Me Now" by Caroline Polachek
4.) "800db cloud" by 100 gecs
5.) "Come Monday" by Jimmy Buffett
Without too many spoilers, what is your favorite poem you've written since the pandemic began?
I wrote and workshopped a truck driver / cowboy poem recently that I have surprisingly grown to really love. I don’t write from the perspective of characters very often, but I think I may have to change that because I found it really creatively freeing to write in a voice that isn’t mine.
While the future is just as unknowable as ever, what is something you are most looking forward to this year?
I am very much looking forward to reading all of the amazing projects that I know so many people are working on, as well as hopefully publishing my own chapbook and starting my undergraduate thesis.
Is there any advice you would give to young writers during this time?
Be kind to yourself and be kind to your work. Even in the moments when you doubt your writing, respect what you put into it and trust that you will love it again soon. Also, don’t be afraid to mess around with different forms and styles - breaking your own rules if half the fun of poetry.
ABOUT Meredith Phipps
Meredith Phipps is a current undergraduate student at Barnard College where she studies English and works as a Writing Fellow. She bounces back and forth between northern Indiana and New York. Her work typically centers on small moments and mundanity and all of the overwhelming emotions that can arise from them. She is an experimental editor for Wrongdoing Magazine. If you want to read her work (she's very flattered).
To learn more, follow Meredith and her writing journey on Twitter and Instagram.
Thanks for chatting, Meredith!
