Poetry to me is a medium by which I experience the world in its ability to elevate my consciousness beyond the faux limitation of my mind.

From “Emotional Resonance and Self-Discovery: A Conversation with Adesiyan Oluwapelumi“

The emotion, feeling, and insight of the poem is conveyed down the poem and into the mind of the reader.

From TGLR Exclusive Interview with Jim Peterson

This year feels like a year of questions, for me. Maybe the prophecy lies somewhere inside that notion, like we can find the future in how we ask for it.

~ Jacqueline Goyette

I write in recognition of their courage, convictions, sense of justice, and what they stood for. I write to honor what they left behind, what they withstood, what they lost, and what we gained as a result.

~ Eneida Alcalde

Perhaps it’s important to me that we recognize the human-ness of these sort of lost individuals and acknowledge those traits in ourselves.

~ L.L. Babb

I listened to many people’s experiences around a particular issue, looked for themes in their answers, and drew conclusions. I bring that experience to my writing by examining how a character’s outward behavior reveals their inner life.

From our Q&A with Lea Pounds “Exploring Writing, Public Health, and Historical Fiction“

I was talking to my mother on the phone when she told me that in the old days people used to buy birds and free them in the hope of having a wish fulfilled. That thought was in my mind when I wrote Razia Razia.

From our Author Q&A with Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar

I often felt like I had to lose my sense of humanity in order to continue working in customer service, especially food service. It might sound like an obvious sentiment but if there’s one thing I can get across with ‘smoke break,’ it’s to treat service workers with some grace – and perhaps to highlight the complex inner worlds experienced by all people, even those that are paid to serve you.

From TGLR Author Q&A with Cat Casey

I hope that their complicated relationship gets at the trauma behind the numbers of dead and injured at these mass shootings. Everyone means something to someone, and relationships can be complicated and tangled and messy, even between two guys.

From TGLR Exclusive Interview with Jacob Orlando: On Writing About Gun Violence and Human Relationships