Harrington on the Art of Doilies
On Beloit Poetry Journal Poet's Forum, BOA Author Janice Harrington explains the inspiration behind her piece "Why, Oh Why, the Doily?" She walks us from her early drafts in 2004 to the "springboard" Selden Rodman provided in Horace Pippen: A Negro Painter in America.
"I knew I wanted a poem that enacted obsession, wanted to crochet a poem (links, chains, intertwining, dropped stitches) that moved from the specifics of family history and memory toward more abstract representations."
She then goes on to give an analysis of each section of her work, starting with section one, which "begins with a memory: a woman crocheting beside the front window of her living room. I then join this memory to other threads. I wanted to ground readers with a clear, understandable image before moving forward."
Read the full post here Beloit Poetry Journal Poet's Forum
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