As has been the case with several of the writers involved in this series, I’ve gotten to know Barbie Angell on Twitter, where I find her humor & her perspective on the world & its quirkiness to be both compelling & entertaining. As I came to know Barbie a little better, I began exploring the poetry on her blog, & was delighted to find a fresh & unique voice, chockful of wit & demonstrating a sparkling facility for rhyme & rhythm— undervalued skills in "poebiz" these days. Here’s a brief writerly biography:
It has been said that if Shel Silverstein & Dorothy Parker had conceived a child, the result would have been Barbie Dockstader Angell. Razor wit & simple rhyming verse combine to create an innovative style. Barbie has named it “poetry for the common man.” (Although she does have plenty of women readers as well.) Bitter, satirical, humorous & sometimes brutally honest, her portfolio contains everything from rhyme to free verse, children’s and adults, as well as short stories.
Barbie was raised in Illinois & has lived in the Asheville area since 1999. She has been writing since 1986 and has won awards both academically and artistically for her poems & short stories. Barbie has been published in small press books, magazines & newspapers throughout the years & has performed her work for audiences small & large around the country.
& yes, she does have an odd obsession with Alice in Wonderland.
Barbie Angell says: “my life is in progress….constantly seeking renovations but unable to find an affordable contractor.”
I know you’ll enjoy this interview, & please check out a video of Babrie Angell reading her "Ode to Shel Silverstein" at the end of this post. Then you can read two more of her poems—“the meeting” & “She’s Come Undone”—in the post just below; these poems are also posted or on the Writers Talk blog!
When did you first realize your identity as a writer?
from the time i was 6 years old, my dream was to be a lawyer. i had seen the t.v. show “paperchase”and desperately wanted to make that my life. while i was living in the children’s home “Mooseheart”my english teacher Miss Ruch encouraged me & i won the only award that the school gave out for writing; the memorial day award. i met Jerry Dellinger my senior year & he convinced me to turn down my acceptance to harvard & instead attend lincoln college where he taught theater. by my second semester freshman year, he had become such a force in my life that i didn’t hesitate to follow his advice. he assured me that i was a writer not a lawyer and he encouraged that up until his death in august of 2010.
Describe the creative process involved in any one piece you’ve written—this could be book, a story, a poem, an essay, etc.
a great deal of my pieces begin with one line. typically it’s something that i say in conversation or post on a social media site. there are poems which i have been revamping for years and ones which took only a few hours. i am constantly editing & revamping my work. mostly i try to look at anything from a new perspective. of course, this becomes difficult when the perspective i’m trying to steer away from is my own. there is a piece entitled “the meeting”which i began writing in 1995. it starts with the line, “i bumped into Truth on the subway” i was hanging out with my friend michael horn at denny’s after seeing the movie “mr. holland’s opus”and for some reason i spoke those words. at michael’s urging i wrote them down with the intention of using them in a poem. it was a full year before i ever was able to continue that thought. the poem was originally “completed”in 1996 and went on to help me garner much attention, multiple publications and achieve a 12th place out of 1400 poets in competition. last year i gave it a complete overhaul and i still don’t know if i’m done with it. at times i write while listening to headphones....my favorite music for this is Peter Gabriel....but other times all i need is a place to sit and ideally be uninterrupted.
Could you describe your relationship to the publishing process (this can be publishing in any form, from traditional book publishing to blogging, etc) ?
my poems are normally not accepted in the world of academic poetry. rhyme goes in and out of vogue and most publications do not even finish reading a work in that style. i consider my writing to be “poetry for people who don’t know they like poetry.” because of this, i typically get passed over in publications geared toward “traditional”verse and instead find opportunities in places where one does not normally find any type of poetry. i currently publish my own books as it is difficult to find an entry into the world of publishing when one has an untapped area in the world of literature. the bias in literary circles doesn’t bother me however. if one is so close-minded that they will not accept rhyme as a viable art form just because it wasn’t written 75 to 100 years ago....then that is obviously their own issue to deal with.
Has being a writer affected your relationships?
absolutely. arguing with spouses in the past, the thought of, “are you going to write about this?’or “was that line or piece about me?”has come up. when i was living in bloomington, illinois i was incredibly well-known as a performing poet. this caused quite a large problem with my boyfriend at the time since i was garnering more attention than he was a musician. we simply couldn’t go anywhere without my being recognized & asked to sign something or recited a piece. i’m far less well known here in asheville, nc but it never bothered me at all. i think that it’s really only an issue because i’m a performer and not just a reader or writer.
How would you describe the community of writers you belong to—if any? This may be a “real”or “virtual”(in more than one sense) community.
most of my community is online. i’ve found them to be predominantly supportive, even if my style of work isn’t what they believe is the “correct”way to write poetry. i get a lot of messages and critiques from people who attempt to convince me that i shouldn’t rhyme. they seem to not notice that i do write in a variety of styles including micro-fiction, prose and free-verse. but, as i’ve said, the anti-rhyme perspective doesn’t concern me at all. if i painted my house green and green was someone’s least favorite color then their dislike wouldn’t bother me....so why should a dislike for rhyme be an issue for me either?
What are your future goals in terms of writing?
literary world domination. : ) i’d like to get a literary agent and ideally be published with Grand Central Publishing. my goal used to be Harper Collins because they published Shel Silverstein, but Grand Central publishes two of my favorite authors....Rachel Simon & Steve Martin. i’d also like to have work in The New Yorker. Dorothy Parker and Steve Martin were both regular contributors and i feel that my work would be well-received by the magazine’s audience.
Bonus Question: If your writing were a musical instrument, what would it be?
the violin. it’s an instrument which can be used both as a violin or a fiddle. the versatility of it is reminiscent of my variety of styles and genres. as i understand it, a slight change in pressure and tempo can change the same combination of string, wood and space into an entirely different instrument. that appeals to me and is precisely what i attempt to do with my words. recently a theater company in illinois produced some of my poetry for the stage. i wasn't involved with any part of the production, not the choice of poems, order of pieces or how they were performed. i was happily surprised to see that some work, which i had always thought presented itself as comedic, came off well as dramatic or vice versa. i was honored to discover that not only was my writing far more adaptable than i had imagined, but also able to be enjoyed as a performance even without me being onstage.
it is my habit online to type in all lower case unless i capitalize to illustrate respect or for emphasis. this being an online interview i chose to continue this practice....i hope that it has not interfered with your understanding of my responses. : ) thank you for reading.
