A Chat with Skyler Saunders
Skyler Saunders is a poet, digital artist, and freelance copy editor. Their poems have appeared in anthologies and magazines with Train River Publishing, Sunday Mornings at the River, Doghouse Press, and more. You can find Skyler's poetry on their Instagram @skyler.celeste.poetry, where they recently wrote a poem every day for 395 consecutive days. Their pronouns are they/them or she/her, and they live in the San Francisco Bay Area with their partner.
When did you become a poet? How did you know it was the right medium for your stories?
I’ve always been a strict rule-follower; I was the kid who would tattle on other kids for cheating, and I couldn’t lie to save my life. I’ve loosened up on that a lot as I’ve got older, but the rules of English—grammar, spelling, things like that—have stuck in me pretty intensely. I like poetry because it frees me up to do whatever feels right. I don’t need to follow any rules, I just need to do what’s best for the art. I don’t feel like I have very good creative instincts in almost any area, but the written word is the only exception. Regardless of if it follows the rules or even makes sense, I can go wherever those instincts take me.
Who are some of your literary or artistic crushes or influences?
This is such a strange short list, but these are the people who came to mind, in the order they did so: Silas Denver Melvin, Ashe Walker, Mary Oliver, and John Darnielle.
What are you currently reading?
I have more books I’m in the middle of, but these are the ones I’m actively reading at the moment: Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall; The Associated Press Stylebook 2018: and Briefing on Media Law (I’m reading two pages a day for the entire year—I told you I liked the rules of grammar); and Sunday Mornings at the River: Spring 2021 (that wasn’t intentional! I really just read the first 30 pages or so today).
What are you working on next/what was your last project?
From April 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, I wrote a poem every single day, and shared nearly all of them on Instagram. That was a wild journey for me, and one I didn’t know I was starting until I was already too far in to stop. Now that that’s done, I’m cautiously starting to work on writing a book!
What are some common themes you see in your own work?
A sense of wonder and awe, directed at everything and anything; peace and comfort in love; taking back something that was meant to be mine; the grief that comes with recognizing how much time was lost; self-indulgence; bold optimism in the ability to be enthusiastically and unironically myself.
How do you beat writer's block?
I have a few strategies, but the best one (and also the one I forget about a lot of the time) is simply to read! Reading helps so much, regardless of what it is. It could be poetry I love, poetry I hate, novels or memoirs or essays or anything at all inspiring, thoughtful, or passionate. Anything that makes me feel. The best is when I read something that makes me go, this is it. This is what art is for, this is why you want to create. And then I do.
What is the first book that made you cry?
I read so much as a child, that I’m positive I cannot remember which book was really the first one to make me cry. But the first one I can think of was Where the Red Fern Grows. I remember finishing it while at lunch with my mom and grandma, and crying in the middle of the restaurant, entirely taken aback and unprepared for the ending. I was probably around nine years old. I don’t believe I’ve read the book a second time—which is unusual for me in a way—but it has stuck with me for a long time.
Do you take poetry classes or read books on poetry?
Only casually! English was my favourite subject in high school, and even though I majored in sociology in college, I took several English classes for fun. They weren’t focused on poetry specifically, but my high school English classes are really where I first fell in love with poetry. I have a few books about poetry in my to-read pile, but I haven’t got around to them yet. If anyone knows of any I absolutely have to read, feel free to let me know!
Do family and "real life" friends read your work?
Part of me hates to say it, and part of me is proud, but yes! I could never keep a secret, so even though I was terrified to start sharing my work publicly, I immediately told pretty much everyone I know. Everyone in my “real life” knows about and/or follows my poetry Instagram, from my mom to my boss to random acquaintances from high school. And even though I’m really awkward if any of them ever compliment my work or comment on a specific piece, it has had the wonderful unintended effect of inspiring many of my friends to write poetry, too. Every few months I get a DM from someone I haven’t spoken to in a while, saying that they never do this, but that they wrote a poem and want to share it with me. That always feels like such a gift.
What does "good poetry" mean to you?
Poetry that makes me feel, that makes my chest ache, that makes me gasp out loud in an empty room. Poetry that makes me angry, that makes me cry, that makes me feel so full of love I don’t know what to do with it. Poetry that makes me stop in the middle, or put the book down after I’ve finished the page, and just sit with how I feel for a long time without moving. Poetry I need time to recover from.