MARCIA TRAHAN INTERVIEW

 

NILAVRONILL TALKING WITH

POET OF THE MONTH

MARCIA TRAHAN

NOVEMBER 2025

NILAVRONILL: Welcome to Our Poetry Archive. Since April 2015 we are publishing and archiving contemporary world poetry each and every month. Up to the last month we have published 127 monthly issues and 11 Year Books. I hope you would also like OPA very much, like hundreds of poets around the world.

MARCIA TRAHAN: I admire Our Poetry Archive very much and am beyond honored to be your featured poet. I was thrilled when you accepted all five of my poems. I hope to reach readers around the world.

NILAVRONILL: Why do literature and poetry in particular interest you so much? Please give us some idea about your own perception of literature or poetry in general.

MARCIA TRAHAN: I have been interested in literature all of my life, since my sister taught me to read at age three. I read Dr. Seuss and wanted to write and illustrate my own picture books. I published my first poem at age nine. I was a shy child, and I understood that writing was a way to reach people, a way to express myself without having to say a word. Now, I view literature and poetry as radical acts. Poetry in particular is radical because it uses potent imagery and unusual language to shake up the reader’s world. Literature’s voices make me feel less alone.

NILAVRONILL: Do you believe that your literary self is actually an extension of your soul?  We would like to know the factors and the peoples who have influenced you immensely in the growing phase of your literary life.

MARCIA TRAHAN: Yes, my literary self is an extension of my soul, and poetry in particular comes from the very depths of my being. I have been influenced greatly by Mary Oliver and Louise Gluck, who wrote about the spiritual aspects of the natural world. I have also been influenced by Sylvia Plath, who explored all of life; people focus on her death and her images of dying, but there is much more to her work than that. I write about the rebirth of the soul, the uncovering of the true self, and the destructive and redemptive powers of love.   

NILAVRONILL: Do you consider particular language, culture and nationality shape up the poet’s literary self? What is your personal experience being an American? I would like to understand how much and in what way your language, your culture as well as your nationality paved your literary self.

MARCIA TRAHAN: Being an American poet means looking deeply, past the surfaces that our culture is obsessed with. It’s especially important to seek deeper truths now, when so many are vulnerable due to the political landscape. From early adolescence, I have asked the hard questions: What are the facts? What is real? Who are the heroes and who are the villains? American language can be glib, so I seek words that get to the bottom of life, the essence of existence. Right now, it’s hard not to be angry all the time about what is happening in this country. I turn to reading and writing poetry when I need to explore kindness, grief, and love.

NILAVRONILL: Do you think the primary obligation of a poet should be to communicate with the temporal as well as with the eternal essence of life and the universe? If so, how can one fulfil that particular obligation?

MARCIA TRAHAN: Yes, I think poets are obliged to seek the temporal as well as the eternal. As a poet and as a person, I am obsessed with time’s passing; I’ve had several life-threatening illnesses, and I’m keenly aware of the fact that we only have so many years on this earth. I write from an awareness of death and the hope for an afterlife. I am always thinking about what the universe might hold for us, in life and beyond. As poets, we fulfil our obligation by writing about all of these aspects of time.

NILAVRONILL: It is an established fact that every poet should create his or her own poetic language as an unique literary signature that would eventually keep him or her alive beyond his or her time. I would like to know your personal experience in this regard, and how can one achieve that unique literary language in his or her lifetime?

MARCIA TRAHAN: Yes, the best poetry outlives the poet. I am thinking of the recent death of Andrea Gibson and their poems and readings going viral in tributes to their life. Gibson’s language is direct, honest, and truthful. I hope that my own work might touch lives in some small way. When I write poetry, I look for honest language that expresses exactly what I am thinking and feeling, not in therapeutic words, but in soulful words. As I suppose all poets do, I imagine my work being read after I die.

NILAVRONILL: Is it possible to put into the words everything that as a poet you wish to express literarily? If not, why?

MARCIA TRAHAN: I don’t think that poets ever express everything. Poetry is a lifelong endeavour that demands ceaseless exploration and the search for meaningful moments. I write about life, death, rebirth, love, and loss, but even as I work with my deepest self, I’ll never say all there is to say.

NILAVRONILL: Do you think literary criticism has much to do with the development of a poet and the true understanding of his or her poetry?

MARCIA TRAHAN: I don’t give much thought to literary criticism. As a poet, I look past potential critics and try to reach readers who will appreciate what I have to say. I am grateful for thoughtful feedback about my work, but it’s not my driving force. When I do read literary criticism, I want to learn about how the life of the poet influences the work, but I don’t want to see the life overshadowing the work. Again, I’m thinking of Sylvia Plath and how many critics focus on her depression as if she had been in despair every day of her life. I also write about depression, but there is much more to me and my poetry than that, and I hope that my audience sees all that I have to say.   

NILAVRONILL: Literature encompasses every aspect of life; it blends the various shades and textures of human aspirations as well as drawbacks. It also lights up the new horizons and new dimensions of human capabilities relentlessly. I would like to know your particular viewpoints; how do you relate all these in your own writings?

MARCIA TRAHAN: As a poet and essayist, I write about disappointment, anguish, losses of all kinds, disorientation, discovery, elation, and revealing the self. I look for these themes in all the literature I read, including poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. I look for voices that have something unique to say about the human experience. When I write, I try to use my voice to express things no one else has said.

NILAVRONILL: How would you evaluate your contemporaries and what are your aspirations for or expectation from the younger generation?

MARCIA TRAHAN: Among my contemporaries, I particularly admire the poetry of Scott Ferry and Julie Benesh. They get to the heart of the matter with dazzling language, exploring intimate truths. I think that young poets should read everything, not just poetry, but fiction, creative nonfiction, and plays; and they should attend and participate in readings. It’s exciting to think of what lies ahead for young poets. I believe they will channel their political rage and social awareness and give us vivid, honest, powerful work.  

NILAVRONILL: Humanity has suffered immensely in the past, and is still suffering around the world. We all know it well. But are you hopeful about our future? What role can literature in general play to bring a better day for every human being?

MARCIA TRAHAN: I am hopeful about the future; despite all the suffering we’re seeing in the United States and around the world. I see poets sharing their work on social media, and it inspires me. I’m reading poems that are furious, brash, courageous, and deeply in love with the human experience. This work helps all of us to feel less alone. I have often had my spirits lifted by a poem I read on Facebook.

NILAVRONILL: We are almost at the end of the interview. I remain obliged to you for your participation. Thank you for sharing your views and spending much time with us.

MARCIA TRAHAN: Thank you for asking these wonderful questions and for featuring me on your website.

 

 

MARCIA TRAHAN is the author of Mercy: A Memoir of Medical Trauma and True Crime Obsession (Barrelhouse Books). Her poetry has appeared in ONE ART, Cathexis Northwest Press, Two Hawks Quarterly, The Write Launch, Wild Roof Journal, Every Day Poems, Cloudbank, and others. Her essays have appeared in HuffPost, The Rumpus, the Brevity Blog, Fourth Genre, and elsewhere. Marcia works as a freelance book editor and holds an MFA from Bennington College. To learn more, visit www.marciatrahan.com.