from #53 - Fall 2016
“Creative writing is a luxury usually reserved for full-time faculty, so I spend a lot of time teaching composition and grading essays. There is no funding for adjuncts, so I have to pay my own way to readings and conferences. My mind is usually filled to the brim worrying about money and wondering if I’ll have a job the following semester. Since becoming an adjunct, I have longer rumination periods and write in spurts, whereas before I tended to write year-round. Usually in the spring I’ll suddenly have several really good poems, then it may not be until August when something else solidifies. That being said, when I don’t have the mindset to write, I find a way to champion someone else’s work. Just because I’m not in the act of writing doesn’t mean I stop being engaged.”