Dreams, Ancestors, and Points of Entry
Katherine DiBella Seluja discusses the creative process behind her latest collection which explores ancestry and immigration
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing poet Katherine DiBella Seluja about the creative process behind her latest collection, Point of Entry, which explores ancestry and immigration.
We discused:
The importance of workshops, collaborations, and dreams in shaping her work
Poetry, creativity, and the ongoing process of writing and rewriting
Publishing experiences with independent press and university presses
The importance of patience and perspective in the publishing process
Katherine DiBella Seluja is the author of Point of Entry (UNM Press, 2023) and Gather the Night (UNM Press, 2018), and she is co-author with Tina Carlson and Stella Reed of We Are Meant To Carry Water (3: A Taos Press, 2019). Her poetry and micro-fiction has been published in Intima Journal, Naugatuck River Review, South 85, Sin Fronteras, and bosque, among many others. Her poem, "November Fruit” is permanently installed at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico. Katherine is a poetry editor at Unbroken Journal.
Watch the video below, or keep scrolling to read an excerpt from the interview. To hear Katherine read poems from Point of Entry, check out the video (I highly recommend it).
Dreams, Ancestors, and Points of Entry
[This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.]
Radha Marcum: This is your second full-length solo collection. How was your process different for this book versus your first?
Katherine DiBella Seluja: Writing and organizing the work was very different this time. When I began my first book, I started writing poems several years after I began focusing on poetry more seriously. That earlier work, while good, reflects a younger version of myself.
Writing the poems for Point of Entry felt like a different experience internally. My toolbox was bigger, I had more resources and a larger network of support in the creative process. Building the book was a multi-sensory and tactile experience for me. I used more approaches and resources, not just my intellect.
The work that came out of various workshops and collaborations with poets I admire, such as Amy Beeder in Albuquerque. [Poet] Tina Carlson and I often do generative work with Amy. As the collection of poems for Point of Entry started to come together, I did sessions with Amy focused on creating varied and interesting work for the book. A good handful of those poems made it into the final cut. I also had support from other workshops along the way.
Radha: Those relationships seem to have helped you generate and complete the work. Is that true?
Katherine: Having previously published collaboratively generated work, I deeply respect the collaborative part of the process, even in a solo book. The support from peers, mentors, and the accountability of a workshop significantly helped me generate and complete my work.
It's just occurring to me, as you're saying that, there's a fascinating sort of collaboration that happens with the theme. As the theme and intention became clarified internally, I felt like the poet side of me was collaborating with the theme. This process involved paying homage to my ancestors while acknowledging our current immigration situation. This was an internal collaboration that I experienced but hadn't articulated before. Your comments helped clarify that for me.
Radha: I’d love for you to tell us a little more about the book's themes and how you came to recognize them.
Katherine: A fascinating thing I've observed over time, and discussed at some of my readings, is the themes that artists feel drawn to, or even obsessed with, over time. In my previous collaborative book with Tina and Stella, I was already thinking about my ancestors, immigration, and migrants. The migrant girl in that book was one of the main voices and was based on my maternal grandmother, Serafina, who emigrated to the US from northern Italy at eight years old. I envisioned this young girl coming to a new world, and that began my exploration of these themes.
When that book was done, I felt like the migrant girl still had more to say. Realizing that a voice or theme isn't done yet is one of the most exciting things for me. This led me to write many of the ancestor-themed poems in my current book, "Point of Entry," deepening that voice.
Many of the stories in the book are biographical, based on oral traditions handed down from my mother, grandmother, and godmother. I took artistic license to fill in the pieces I didn't know, because those individuals are no longer with us. The backbone of the book are stories that I was told. I wanted to memorialize and honor our family stories within the realm of poetry.
Radha: The poems are beautiful and haunting the way they are built from these details. Yet, there's a sense of mystery. What's not revealed feels as important as what is revealed in the poems. It's a delicate balance to strike, but one that seems important.
Katherine: Exactly. On so many levels, in our current immigration situation, so much is not revealed. There's so much unknown, with decisions made behind closed doors impacting thousands, even tens of thousands of lives. On a micro level, there are the unknown, anonymous bones found in the desert. What could be more unspoken than that?
Radha: Were there any poems that you decided to leave out of the manuscript? If so, why didn't they make the cut?
Katherine: Yeah, there were lots of changes, right up until the very last minute. I'd say there was a "slush pile"—or maybe "bone pile" is a better term—of a good dozen or 15 poems that would expand and then shrink. Dana Levin talks about this process perfectly: it's like sifting down through a funnel. It grows and then tightens, much like the movement of a chest breathing.
What was included varied with each iteration, as I laid everything out on the floor or the dining room table. Eventually, there were 10 or 12 poems that started to feel redundant or superfluous, or they just didn't make the cut. They didn't feel done enough. Some poems seemed like they weren't ready, like they needed more time to simmer.
There are one or two poems I wish I had added. I enjoy looking at things from different perspectives, and it seems there's always more to say. After the final draft was sent in, I realized there were additional gaps I could have filled. Maybe those will go into the next book.
I love the process, even though it can drive you crazy. That's the creative part, and I enjoy having my fingerprints all over it. I like to do the work, get feedback, and then sit down with the poems again to see what they look like today.
Radha: I love your description of it being like a living, breathing organism because it really is. You mentioned points of view, which makes me think of your title, Point of Entry. Do the points of view and that idea of point of entry have some overlap? And how did you get to that title?
Katherine: The truth is, it came to me in a dream. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s actually true. There was a challenge—okay, sometimes things come to us in dreams. I don't know why it sounds cliché, but I had a dream about it at a very important time.
Tina, Stella, and I, along with a number of others, were in the middle of an incredible workshop with Carolyn Forché in Taos, generously hosted by Lisa. It was a once-in-a-lifetime workshop. We were given an assignment, and the title poem "Point of Entry," which is about the middle of the book, is a short piece I wrote during that workshop.
I had a dream that triggered the poem in the pre-dawn hours, and the title just dropped in. I held it as a working title for a long time—five or six years. As I got closer to sending in the final manuscript, I reconsidered various titles, sought opinions from a trusted circle and my poetry mentor, and ultimately stuck with "Point of Entry.”
The title plays off "port of entry," referring to where immigrants enter a country, but I envisioned it encompassing all kinds of points of entry. There's a grouping in the second half of the book of birth poems, representing another point of entry. There’s also a subtle theme of a soul entering the body.
Where we come from, our lineage, is another point of entry. There are many points of entry, and these different aspects stood behind the title for me.
Radha: The working title often isn't the final title, but I think the book itself, with each poem as a point of entry into these themes, invites readers to explore these highly relevant stories and current affairs. I really appreciate the title on that level. A good title can invite the reader to enter a book in a certain manner, and I appreciate Point of Entry for doing that.
Katherine: Thank you.
To hear more of Katherine’s insights, including the differences in working with small presses versus university presses, watch/listen to the full interview here.
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