Bruno Mars, betta fish and seasonal affective disorder have one thing in common – they’re all the subjects of poems by Sarah Green.
On Monday the poet Sarah Green gave a poetry reading in Bobbitt Auditorium. The reading was sponsored by the English department and was the first event of the 2024-2025 Albion College Reading Series.
Meet the Poet
Green is an assistant professor of English at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in poetry from Purdue University and a doctorate in creative writing with a poetry focus from Ohio University. Her debut poetry book, “Earth Science,” was published in 2016, and her second book, “The Deletions,” will be released in spring 2025.
In an interview before the reading, Green cited two people who propelled her journey of becoming a poet. The first was her grandmother, a literature professor at Michigan State University, who sent Green handwritten poems in the mail.
“She once sent me a Wordsworth poem where she illustrated it with daffodils, with colored pencil,” Green said. “She kind of courted me into poetry.”
The second person who pushed her to poetry was her “Introduction to Creative Writing” professor from her first year of undergrad at Oberlin College. She said she had planned to be a theatre major, but she “got so much encouragement” from her professor that she became an English major.
“When you’re a young student, you really blossom under people telling you that you have something to offer,” Green said.
Green said her first poetry book, “Earth Science,” came out of her Ph.D. dissertation. She said the theme of that book is “a sensitive person surviving, finding resilience.”
When Green started writing “The Deletions,” she said she thought of it as her “divorce record,” inspired by albums that musicians had made when they were going through divorces, such as Kacey Musgraves’ “Starcrossed.”
The book ended up being “probably only a third about divorce,” Green said, with other themes coming through as well, such as the question: “What is a mother?”
“I’d been a stepmother, I’d been an infertile person, so I was interested kind of in ‘what is mothering, what’s up with that?’” Green said.
Words of Wisdom to Writers
Green has a few pieces of advice for young writers who might want to publish a book of poetry, but don’t know where to start.
First, focus on getting individual poems published in literary journals and magazines, Green said. Having previously published poems can make a book manuscript look “more compelling” to potential publishers. She also suggests volunteering to be a reader for a journal or magazine.
“Many literary journals are excited to have smart people screening submissions,” Green said. “It’s a great way to learn about what’s it like on the other side of journals so that you can kind of tailor your submissions more.”
Green added that a full-length book is not the only option for a young poet looking to release a body of their work.
“When I didn’t have a book yet, I just assumed that a book would be the first thing,” Green said. “Then I got impatient, and I submitted to and won a chapbook contest.”
A chapbook, according to Green, is typically 16-25 pages, while a full-length poetry book is commonly 48-60 poems. Creating a manuscript for the former is much easier than for the latter, Green said. Plus, she added, if you later decide to make a full-length book, you can still reuse the published chapbook poems.
Brown Meets Green
Albion College English Professor Danit Brown met Green in 2018 when they were both residents at the Vermont Studio Center, Brown said. It was because of this connection that the English department invited Green to be a part of the Albion College Reading Series.
“I just remembered her as being very charming, and her poems as being charming as well, so I thought that she would be a good fit for our students,” Brown said.
Brown has been at Albion since 2005 and said the Albion College Reading Series has been in place since before her time. In her experience, readings in the series are often students’ first-ever opportunity to attend a reading.
“Generally the response is really positive, and they find it a lot more fun than they thought it would be,” Brown said.
Since there are only two creative writing professors on campus – Brown and Associate English Professor Helena Mesa – Brown said she thinks it’s especially important for Albion students to “hear how different writers approach writing.”
The Reading Series will continue in the spring, with writer Brenda Peynado reading on Feb. 10 and author Kristen Gentry reading March 19.
Addressing Students’ Questions
In a Q&A after the reading, Green answered questions about her writing style and process.
When asked why she was drawn to poetry over other literature avenues such as fiction, Green said, “I don’t like to wait for the fun part, and poems are short enough that you get to do the fun part sooner.”
In answering a question about finding inspiration, Green said it’s important to “show up” and wait for the poems to come to you. Although, she said, that’s hard if you’re a student who has to write for class. She added that the way professors expect students to turn out poems according to a syllabus is “ridiculous” – though she does it to her own students as well.
“Students are asked to produce on a sort of rhythm that I don’t think is super natural to writers outside of school,” Green said. “Just give yourself some grace.”
Green ended the Q&A with a call to “remember that reading is important,” adding that reading can remind you of ideas or give you a jumping-off point in your own writing.
“Usually when people are stuck, I say ‘remember to read,’” Green said. “Read good poems.”
Jocelyn Kincaid-Beal has a major in the English department.
Leave a Reply