A Conversation With the Ages: Kevin Craft on Poetry

Kevin Craft.

His poetry has appeared in big-name literary journals and reviews throughout the country. He has B.A.s in English and French from the University of Maryland, and an M.F.A. in English from the University of Washington.

He teaches English and writing at Everett Community College. He’s also the executive editor of the prestigious Poetry Northwest magazine.

I caught up with Mr. Craft in his book-lined office in the Grey Wolf Hall at EvCC.

He is a gregarious down-to-earth guy, someone who wears a flannel shirt but can go into deep literary talk mode without sounding too academic. Very likable. He has poet's cadence to his speech, a way of drawing out certain words for emphasis.

The following interview has been edited for length and in some places condensed.

Influences/Themes

I wanted to know what influences Mr. Craft as a poet. As I read his poems I noticed themes of nature, and a lot about Rome (both modern-day and Ancient Rome).

“The idea of wanting to be a poet in the first place… it was not my first instinct.”

In high school and college he was first attracted to biology and physics. These were the things that captured his attention and imagination.

However, “I was really interested in the processes of storytelling. Reading fiction, poetry, literature in general was a way to experience the multiplicity of the world. I thought, hey, I want to try this.

"It turns out I had a knack for writing. I like the focus and intensity of a poem. The curiosity of science never left me. I like using literature to understand the world. Connecting the physical world, the natural world, and the social world through language. Language is our common ground.

"I’m also naturally drawn to history. How things start out, how they change over time. What are the forces of metamorphosis? This is where Rome comes in.”

Kevin leads a study abroad program for UW students in Rome. The city and its ancient texts seem to come up frequently in his writing. He has an abiding interest in human origins and classical history.

“The history of civilization became a natural part of my curiosity.

"Rome is the quintessential city, the Eternal city, many cities layered into one. It does a good job of preserving its own history. You can study the relationship between the past and present there... So much richness there that comes into focus. I have a real love of cities and civilizations.

“I see a poem as almost a proof, a scientific kind of treatise. That's maybe overstating the case. But I think that the sciences and historians use the same tools that poets do. That is to say, what we can know of the world is always an imagined representation of things.

"Poetry is a concentrated way of understanding the multiplicity of any given thing or experience."

Kevin acknowledges that his poetry explores the intersection of natural and urban environments. A transplant from the East Coast, in the Northwest he discovered, “that synergy: the intersection of urban culture and easy access to the natural world. The oceans, the mountains, the nature, the forests, the deserts. All of it within a two-hour drive.”

*Kevin Craft's poetry often explores themes of the natural world.*

Poetry Northwest Magazine

Craft is the executive editor of Poetry Northwest magazine. The prestigious magazine was started in 1959 as an independent publication. The magazine has published work by famous poets Anne Sexton and Sherman Alexie, among others.

Kevin showed me a copy of the first issue. The magazine began as a simply-pressed and simply-bound, almost chapbook-like periodical. Simple pamphlet format.

“It was started by people who attended the University of Washington and studied under the poet Roethke.”

This group of regional poets, though outsiders at the time—many of them ended up becoming famous. Among them was Richard Hugo, a former fisherman, who lends his name to one of the most important literary centers in Seattle.

“Seattle at that time was remote, disconnected from literary cities of the United States... New York, Boston, Chicago. To a lesser extent San Fransisco. Isolated. [Poetry Northwest's founders] wanted a magazine that would represent the voices of the northwest to the nation. There was no internet back then.

"Poetry Northwest started out as a platform for emerging local writers as a way to join the national conversation. It was in no way parochial; it brought outside voices into the conversation and exported regional voices.”

The magazine has been through several incarnations. It was adopted by the UW in the early 60s. That gave it institutional support for funding. It moved to Portland for a time in the mid-2000s and went back to being an independent, 501(C)(3) nonprofit. Then Kevin Craft was approached to take over the magazine.

“I convinced Everett to adopt the magazine as part of our written arts program. We offer students internships at the magazine doing production—writing and graphic arts students. Since 2010 it’s been a small but successful part of our program, a fun project for everyone concerned.“

Early issues of Poetry Northwest. The magazine has recently changed to a larger format (not unlike the size of a digital tablet or a computer monitor) with more of an emphasis on graphic design content. — *Early issues of* Poetry Northwest. *The magazine has recently changed to a larger format (not unlike the size of a digital tablet or a computer monitor) with more of an emphasis on graphic design content.*

Public Education/Everett/Northwest Writers

Mr. Craft is the Written Arts Coordinator at Everett Community College. I wanted to know if he values public education. I wanted to know what his take was on the literary culture of Everett.

“Writing in general, writing and literature, are the ways in which we clarify our thinking, advance our thinking and enrich our lives... so that our lives are not lived thoughtlessly or with out reflection…

"We live in an accelerated society. Poetry is the compressed form of literature. You get that full experience and get a dose [of meaning]. Oddly enough, poetry is one of the principle vehicles of our age. Compression and density work in its favor.

"Every place needs its storytellers. Everett is this interesting between place. It's stuck between larger cities. People think of it as a working class city with a legacy. The aerospace industry, mill town, labor violence… it's at this interesting crossroads of railroad and river.

"I think what we're seeing now in Everett, what EvCC is a part of, is a small cultural Renaissance. [The college], we bring poets to campus to read for free. These events are open to the public. I see the college as a cultural resource, not just an isolated region on the north end of town. Sharing literature in a workaday town is particularly interesting and valuable, it opens up a different kind of conversation.

"Poetry isn’t the go-to entertainment for most people. But it contains something that people often find themselves seeking… Poetry has this reputation of being difficult. What we seek to publish in Poetry Northwest [is poetry that] speaks to people who are not specialists, people who can pick up the magazine and find something unexpected that they can relate to.

"Poetry enhances our experiences, shedding light on our deeper feelings, bridging the gap between mind and heart.”

Advice to New Poets

LIEv: What’s the best advice you would give to a young poet?

KC: "The best advice is to read. You have to read. That leads to a number of things.

"It leads to a love of language, an appreciation. It expands your experience of repertoire, what’s possible. Find a way to write regardless of other pressures in your life. You need to read and write consistently to be a poet.

"Do it for the love of it. There is no fame in poetry, there are no riches in poetry. You’re doing it for the love of it. It helps you to live a better life. Publishing is a means of connection, but it’s not about turning it into fame or fortune. It’s about seeing and living your life more richly and sharing it with others.

"Poetry is also a conversation with the ages.

"I'd like to add that EvCC is doing really good work in the written arts. There's a lot of institutional support [from the college] for the arts— written, graphic, and the way those two studies intersect. Whether pursing a degree or not, I encourage people to look into what we offer. Take (or audit) one class or many. There's something for you here to sharpen your writing and pursue your dreams."