Interview with Sarah Watson!

I’m very excited to be interviewing a new author who has just published BOY, a book of poems. Please welcome the lovely Sarah Watson!  

K: Sarah, I think the best place to start is with you as a person. Please tell us about yourself! What do you want us to know about you besides your writing?

S: I was born in 1993, I live on the coast of Maine and I’m in my final semester of university.

I am a firm believer in the impossible. I believe everyone is capable of doing exactly what they want and we should aim for what makes us feel alive.

I enjoy so many things and I constantly find myself jumping from one big idea to another. I have a hard time deciding on one idea and sticking with it, whether in career or hobby, which sometimes worries me, but ultimately I’ve learned that it’s just how I’ve been designed and there’s purpose in that.

I want to live in a camper and travel the country.

I want to adopt children someday.

I want to drink coffee in the morning on a balcony in Paris.

I love cotton candy ice cream.

I have such high expectations and hopes for love and who I’ll allow into my heart.

Summer time is my favorite and makes me feel so happy and alive.

I love people, so much. I could spend hours watching people, reading interviews. I love knowing what makes people love and hate and hope.

I love bright lipstick, but rarely wear it.

Ultimately the most important aspect of who I am, and the reason I am anything at all, the reason I have not given up on myself, life, or other people, is because I am set free, by the most beautiful King and He fills me with peace and joy. (When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. Psalm 94:19)

K: I love how you explain yourself! It’s almost like poetry itself. :) The title of your poetry collection, BOY, hints at the unifying theme. What was your inspiration for these works?

S: I’ve known so many incredible people and been affected by a myriad of experiences; but BOY came from a place of the most personal experiences that I have collected over the past few years. This collection is designed around the feelings I had/have regarding a few very specific people who have been in my life. Both positive and negative. I’m so thankful for these boys and the way they played a part in my short life. They have shaped me and challenged me and taught me so many things, about loving myself, loving other people, and ultimately loving God. And I think that’s the best gift any relationship can give you.

K: Can you pick one poem and tell us your thoughts behind it?

S: This was one of those pieces that came really quickly and felt very authentic and natural; that’s one of the reasons I like it. I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory, but it was a piece I wrote after the harrowing task of leaving someone behind. (and how that sucks so much.)

the first mile was suffocating –

as i left the parking lot,

and pulled away from the place,

i knew you were to stay.

driving by cars, skyscrapers and endless crowds of people,

i only thought of you.

every turn of my car took me,

further –

and

further –

away from your light.

and i hated that.

i replayed every moment of leaving.

every small,

torturous task.

key in ignition.

reverse.

right blinker,

tick,

tick,

tick.

look back.

no sign of you.

drive on.

the feeling,

the sickening,

literal heart ache.

i felt as though i would explode in the worst way.

my heart growing inside of my chest,

swelling and attacking –

but i couldn’t let it out,

because the whole world was watching.

i couldn’t say a word.

so i just drove.

mile

after

mile

away

from

everything

i

loved.

K: Lovely, Sarah. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and thoroughly relatable. Do you write other things besides poetry? Are they influenced by your poetic self, or are they quite different?

S: Yeah, I do.

I have a series called Dear You, where I write letters to unnamed people in my life and I think that is very much influenced by the same style as my poetry. I enjoy writing fiction as well, which I think has reflections of my poetic voice as much as it can, being prose. I think, stylistically, the voice of my writing is pretty consistent.

K: How long have you been writing, and what made you begin?

S: Pretty routinely since my early teenage years. I don’t think there was one thing in particular that made me start writing, it just kind of happened. It became a way to get out what was happening in my head, in a way that felt really fluid and familiar, and that was comforting. Still is, obviously. 

K: What are some of your favorite books, and how have their authors inspired both your life and your writing?

S: Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller has been such an influential book in my spiritual and everyday decisions. I think it helped me define exactly who I want to be and how I want to apply my faith to my life. The way Don writes is just really great, because it’s so personal and yet so casual. I enjoy writers who aren’t looking to be perfectly well spoken but simply authentic, and I feel like he does that brilliantly.

Rilla of Ingleside has been my favorite novel since I was fifteen. I’m not really sure why I love it so much. I think it’s just the characters, they’re so special, and I grew up reading their stories so it’s just always stuck with me. L.M. Montgomery is the author that really defined my adolescence, and I guess I started writing when I started reading her work, so her voice in literature probably helped shape mine in ways I don’t even know.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is another novel I’ll never stop reading or loving. Atticus is my hero, and I just really want to be Scout Finch.

Also Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger. That book really hit me, cause it was so full of anxiety and confusion but cleared itself up on the last few pages with such simplicity and depth. Also, I love the way Salinger writes. It’s so odd and disfigured but astonishingly sharp.

K: Well thought-out choices! I can really see why and how you’ve connected with them. Please tell us about your fascinating college experience! What have you gotten out of it so far?

S: Oxford has been really fun. I’ve definitely had to push myself, which has been good. I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity to experience higher education, especially through Oxford, because it was always a school I dreamed of going to. I’m going over in July to study one final course on campus, finish a few assignments after that and then I’ll be done.

I think the two most important things I’ve learned (academics aside) are: 1) Learning is a lifelong experience and the most important thing to do while in University is simply try your absolute best and let the rest be. My mom told me this the other day when I was getting bogged down with assignments and it really helped refresh my perspective. 2) That it’s an incredibly huge blessing to be able to learn via an institution. There’s a ton of kids in the world who would love to go to school, but they can’t, because of social economic reasons (etc). I think this realization has pushed me to really give it more and take advantage of the blessing that it is.

K: That’s great! I hope your time at Oxford and England is all you dream it to be. Now for an off-beat question … what is your favorite color and do you see any connection between that and your personality?

S: First off, I have such a hard time picking one color (maybe that says something in itself, haha), but I’ll narrow it down to two. I love blue because it’s so refreshing and gold because it’s straight up rad and fantastic. I’m not sure what that says about me though. I’ll let others interpret. 

K: Those are a good mix! What projects do you have in the works right now?

S: I don’t want to say too much, but I’m working on a collection of essays/poems specifically aimed towards girls, and the experiences of growing up/deciding who you want to be/etc. I’m pretty excited about it, because it means a lot to me personally.

K: Sounds wonderful! Before we close, is there anything more you’d like to tell us, person to person, or writer to writer?

S: Person to person: You are more than enough.

Writer to writer: Keep speaking your own authentic truth. The world is listening.

Also just a giant thank you to Kelsey and everyone else who has supported my book and all my writing endeavors. The encouragement means a great deal to me and I can never say thank you enough.

K: You’re welcome, Sarah! We’re excited about your book, because your voice and message is lovely and lucid. Where can readers buy your book and connect with you?

S: You can buy the Kindle edition of my book on Amazon.com, (link: http://www.amazon.com/BOY-poems-Sarah-Watson-ebook/dp/B00SIH523M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424117637&sr=8-1&keywords=boy+poems) (Print edition coming soon!)

I’m also on practically every form of social media, which is ridiculous but loads of fun, haha.

Instagram & Twitter: wincingdeer

Tumblr: wincingdeer & pemberton93

Email: wincingdeer@yahoo.com

K: Thank you so much for allowing me interview you, Sarah! You have such great things to say and it's been wonderful getting to know you!

S: THANK YOU, Kelsey! xx