The Poetry of Trauma: A Conversation with Jehanne Dubrow by Chloe Yelena Miller
Chloe: I really enjoyed reading your craft book, The Wounded Line: A Guide to Writing Poems of Trauma. You categorize ways in which writers, especially poets, might address writing poems of trauma. In each chapter, you offer examples and end with writing prompts. I encourage everyone to read it and consider using it while writing and teaching.
Today I'd like to ask you about the process of writing this craft book. Our readers are mostly writers and perhaps some of them are thinking about writing a craft book of their own.
I'm curious about when you first had the idea for this craft book? You write a little bit about this in the introduction, but maybe you could share a bit here, too.
Jehanne: The Wounded Line has a funny origin story. I was invited to give a keynote speech at a poetry conference, and I decided to give a lecture about a set of ideas—best practices, useful writing strategies, literary exemplars—related to the poetry of trauma, which had been rolling around in my head for the past two decades. I thought, it would be nice to give a cohesive form to all these thoughts I have. The keynote was supposed to run for 75 minutes. So, I needed to write close to 8,000 words (most of which eventually ended up in The Wounded Line). I created a fancy PowerPoint accompanied by all sorts of engaging images; I even had an original recording of Paul Celan reading his iconic poem, “Todesfuge.”
In any case, the lecture did not go well! I had misjudged my audience; they were either overwhelmed or perhaps just not that interested in the topic. I came home from the conference feeling disheartened. All that work for nothing! I thought. After the conference, I posted about the disappointment of my lecture on social media. And, a few days later, Elise McHugh at University of New Mexico Press reached out to me, asking if I had ever considered writing a craft book about the poetry of trauma. As soon as I read her email, I realized the book had been waiting for me to admit to myself that, yes, this was exactly what I wanted to do.
Shortly after I signed a contract with University of New Mexico Press, Elise called me with a second idea. Did I think readers might be interested in a series of craft books that examined the process of representing trauma in other genres? And would I consider serving as the Editor for that series? That’s how the Writing Through Trauma series was born. There are already two more craft books in the pipeline, one focusing on the writing of essays and the other on the writing of fiction. I hope we’ll eventually publish craft books addressing the relationship between trauma and hybrid forms, graphic narrative, and memoir, and many other disciplines too.
I guess this is really a story about the writing life. Sometimes the most exciting opportunities emerge out of what initially seem like moments of failure or disappointment.
Chloe: I really appreciated the wide range of poets' work (styles and subject matters) which you used as examples in The Wounded Line. Have you been collecting these examples over the years or did you look for them for the purpose of this book? Relatedly, what was the process you went through to request permission to republish these poems here?
Jehanne: A number of the poems in the book were pieces I had collected for use in the classroom and that I often taught as role models for how to engage with trauma. Many of these pieces have come to feel like old friends, Brian Turner’s “Phantom Noise” for instance.
After I finished the book, however, I discovered that I couldn’t afford to include about 50% of the poems I had selected. They were just too expensive. Rita Dove’s extraordinarily well-crafted poem, “Adolescence II,” is an example of a poem I wish I could have included, but my budget just didn’t allow for it. So, I ended up revising half of the book and replaced many poems with newer pieces that had not yet appeared in full-length collections. In those cases, I wrote to the poets directly, and they all then granted me permissions to use their work gratis. I’m so thankful for their generosity.
Chloe: You write about how these poems and approaches have informed your own writing and also your teaching. Can you share a bit about the intersection between the workshops you’ve led and the writing of this book? (For example, did writing the book influence how you organized your classes or vice versa? Did you find yourself hoping to use the book as a text for classes or use the classes to explore ideas for the book?)
Jehanne: All the writing prompts in The Wounded Line began in my classes. Every single prompt was tested out with my own students, at the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as with non-traditional students I’ve mentored. I have used some of these prompts for years and have revised them dozens of times over, after seeing what worked well with different student populations.
Frequently, in the classroom, I like to pair the process of close reading a “role model poem” with a writing prompt that speaks to the poem’s craft, its narrative structure, or the argument it’s making. I replicate this exact pedagogy in the book. After two decades of teaching, I believe there’s no substitute for the learning that occurs when we read a poem closely and we then try to imitate or emulate some element of the poem’s thinking. That relationship between close reading and drafting new pieces lies at the heart of The Wounded Line.
Recently, following the book’s publication, I gave my students the introduction to the book, and we had an incredibly moving conversation about the fears, difficulties, and questions they bring to reading or writing a poem that engages with trauma. I don’t know if I would ever have the chutzpah to assign my own book to my students. But it was fascinating to hear their thoughts on why trauma is so hard to represent in art. Even very young poets are working through these ideas and recognize why this topic challenges artists creatively, intellectually, and ethically.
Chloe: Finally, what did you learn in the researching and writing of the book that most surprised you?
Jehanne: Perhaps, the most important conclusion I reached during the writing of The Wounded Line was that the process of writing a poem about an intimate, personal trauma isn’t significantly different from writing a poem about a large-scale, historically rooted trauma. Both kinds of poems may require research as well as an understanding of how one’s voice fits into the larger literary conversation, a sensitivity to the relationship between form and content, and rigorous attention to craft.
As for surprise—I guess what surprised me is that this experience was joyful. The book pushed me to reflect on my own writing processes as a poet, on my beliefs as a reader, and on what I cherish as a teacher. It was also truly a joy think about why poems of trauma are so difficult to write well. Good intentions are not enough. Having a strong, personal connection to the subject matter isn’t sufficient either. Poems of trauma demand a lot of us, and effective poems take imagination, intellectual rigor, and a deep knowledge of craft.
The Wounded Line: A Guide to Writing Poems of Trauma is available from University of New Mexico Press
