Ask The Author: Chad Redden

In March came “The Listening Glass” by Chad Redden.

1. Your use of white space between stanzas is generous. Was this intentional when creating “The Listening Glass”?

Yes, the space between stanzas and within some of the lines is intentional. I felt the poem needed very thick walls of silence between the stanzas to hint at the many things that cannot be heard through the wall. Plus, it is a way to slow the pace of the reader. I am overly concerned about the reading experience of webpages. It is easy to scroll down and move onto the next page, so I forced an extended scroll. In my recent poems, I have attempted to use silence a part of the poem. I like hearing the gaps between words when people speak.

2. How autobiographical are you in your poetry?

Is it autobiographical if you play out the situation in your mind and experience it there? Then maybe 90%. Otherwise, 20%. Many of the situations that appear in my poems have never happened. However, I am big daydreamer and waste a lot of thinking time on how I would better handle a poor conversation, relationship conflict or zombie plague. This is probably because of reading too many Choose Your Own Adventure books as a child and always second guessing myself.

“The Listening Glass” is not super autobiographical even though I did have a listening glass. It came from a conversation with a friend who also eavesdropped and her experience with that. It was nice to put myself into her situation in which I could draw from my own experiences.

3. Who have you eavesdropped on lately? What have you heard?

I’m usually the listener in any relationship. Generally, if I open my mouth, I end up looking foolish. I try to stay quiet. Plus, I love listening to strangers talk. People say the most poetic things without thinking about it. Bus rides are usually the best when someone is on the phone, because I can make up the other side of the conversation – the voice on the phone. This is a fun game to me since usually I talk to myself in my head a lot. It is nice to be someone else.

Most recently I heard my neighbor complaining to his wife about how he left his “milk cup” over at a friend’s house. The milk cup is his favorite plastic tumbler to drink milk from. He was overly concerned that the friend had not returned his phone calls about the milk cup and worried someone might use it for soda or alcohol thus ruining his milk drinking experience.

4. How has running a literary magazine impacted you as a poet?

It has introduced me to some of my best friends even if they don’t know they are my best friends. They show me new ways of seeing through their work which I learn from.

I am impressed by the variety and creativity in people every day. Think of all of the things humans have made throughout time. Think about all of the things people write and publish online, which seems to double every day. So much of it is original or at least another vantage point. We are inexhaustible in our ways of creating. It makes me look forward to the writing and thought will come in the future and the future in general. The time someone spends writing and attempting publication is time they are not spending trying to hurt someone else or themselves.

Also, I don’t mind receiving rejections anymore. It sucks to reject and I know no editor that takes joy in it. So I know it is never a personal thing.

5. How do you make time to write with everything you do?

If I can sleep, I usually sleep in 3 hour periods. My bed is my office. My laptop is always on. I work fulltime and keep a note pad on me. I take lots of notes. When I sit down to write, read, edit, or do layout I use a kitchen timer. I work in 15 minute periods. Things add up after a while and I always feel fresh and know the next step to complete when I begin a task again.

6. What has the television said recently?

“If you won’t pawn me at least wipe the dust off of me.”

It didn’t say that. That was in my head. I don’t make time for television.