Cherry Potts:
I am a writer / editor, in fact, I started Arachne Press because of the frustrations of working with others, but I am a writer first. Before I learnt how to wield letters and words, I wrote in pictures, it’s a complete obsession. I’ve written loads of short stories which have been published in 2 collections, magazines, online, and in anthologies, and performed live by me, and by actors. I’ve written 2 novels (almost finished the third) and a novella (only one of the novels is published so far), and a very small number of poems. I write in all kinds of genre, literary, historical, fantasy, science fiction… I tend to the dark, and serious, but enjoy a light touch to set the darkness off. I write very slowly usually, sudden bursts followed by long gestation; that suits short story writing, less so novels, but very occasionally I find myself seized with an idea and write and write and write – one very long poem started in a work meeting, continued on the tube and train and into the night!
As an editor I’m usually working on at least 3 books at a time. Menopause: the Anthology* is due out 18th October, Getting by in Tligolian by Roppotucha Greenberg is just back from the printer, Birds Knit my Ribs Together by Phil Barnett is with the proofer, I’ve just finished typesetting Byways, Poems and Short Stories on Foot (another anthology) and we are shortlisting for contributions to JOY//US Poems of Queer Joy.
*Over the last couple of years there has been a lot in the media about menopause, challenging stereotypes and myth-busting. One of the stereotypes that is, however still prevalent, was that the menopausal woman is heterosexual, and white – partly because of who has been telling the story most recently, partly from a blinkered outlook, that doesn’t ask the question – what about black women? What about Asian women? What about Lesbians? What about the trans community?
I have only my own experience of menopause to reference, and as this book has taught me, one woman’s experience is just that, one woman’s experience.
It turned out Catherine was thinking along much the same lines, so we pooled our resources, shared contacts, fact-checked what was coming in, and chose the poems and stories for their strength accuracy and quirkiness. We wanted the book to be fun and we didn’t want anyone to mistake it for an earnest medical tome, hence the glorious cover from Kate Charlesworth. The title Menopause: THE Anthology is a bit tongue-in-cheek, you need to imagine one of those gravelly film trailer voices saying it. People learn by stealth and having a bit of a laugh or reading a powerful poem can affect people far more than facts and statistics. So our poems and stories range from the moving to the witty via rage, sadness, reckless abandon and joy – the menopause isn’t all doom and gloom, it can come as a huge relief!
Link for Menopause the Anthology:
Link to my writer website https://cherrypotts.co.uk/
What does your memory smell like?
I have a very specific one – my grandmother’s sideboard – dark wood ingrained with vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper, with an overtone of mustard. Quite pungent. I once smelled the same in a National Trust property of great size and opulence, not long after Gran died, and I had to leave immediately, it was quite overwhelming.
What do you want your future to taste like?
Raspberries, always raspberries. Ideally Scottish ones, straight off the plant.
Favourite line of a poem right now?
Ooh, difficult, I read so much poetry, and I’m reading submissions at the moment, so that’s distracting. Right now, because I’ve just finished typesetting, Phil Barnett’s debut collection, so it’s very fresh in my mind, and he has such a vivid turn of phrase, Birds knit my ribs together, which hit me so hard I insisted we used it as the title.
The poet/the poems that give you life?
That changes on a regular basis, but there are firm favourites – U A Fanthorpe, for example, and Kate Foley. I started Arachne in the hope that Kate would let me publish something, three collections later… Of the poets we’ve published, Ness Owen and Jeremy Dixon really excite me, if they have something new on offer, I am tempted to say yes before I actually read the poems, but I am disciplined enough to read at least half before saying yes. I recently did the Sealey challenge, reading a poetry book a day throughout August. I caved with about a week to go, poetry isn’t suited to speed reading! But the book I loved best of the 20+ I read that month was Rae Howells The Language of Bees.
What is your why?
Frequently, anger! It is an enormous motivating energy for me. If I’m festering about something I have to get on and do something constructive, even if indirectly. Why do I write? Because I got angry about not seeing myself in what I was reading. Why did I start Arachne Press? Because I was angry with my then publisher – and so on. Once I’ve got a productive response to the anger, I can put that to one side and turn the energy into enthusiasm for the result.
Catherine Pestano:
What does your memory smell like?
Evo stick and copydex and sharpened pencils, dust motes in sunlight in a book filled classroom. Cut grass and privet, fried bacon and turf fires. Seaweed and wet hair.
What do you want your future to taste like?
Layers of flavor, I love curries and all things spiced and garlicky. Salt in the wind. Warm skin. Musk roses.
Favourite line of a poem right now?
I am loving so many of the poems in our anthology: One that makes me smile is Chloe Balcombe’s Gutsy Menopausal Woman. It sums up so much of the freedom to be experienced at this time of change and renewal. I hope our wonderful collection will lift up or release and help everyone going through the menopause transition recognise and express what this time is like for them.
The poet/the poems that give you life?
Sappho – On a soft cushion I will soothe my tired body
I will let my body flow like water over the gentle pillow
Translator Josephine Bulmer Sappho: Poems and Fragments (Bloodaxe Books)
I love Josephine Bulmer’s lyrical way with the translation.
And adore a bit of Audre Lorde https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42579/recreation
and Maya Angelou Still I rise, an early influence shared with me by my partner Anne, many decades ago.
What is your why?
Passion for the people. As a community artist and social worker I feel deeply that the arts in all their wonderful forms are an incredible powerhouse for reconnecting to our deep selves, our wisdom and to hope. I love running workshops in nature bringing creative arts, group work and campfires together for growth and self nourishment.
Readers can hear some of the anthology read by its creators here:
poembypoem 