BCC Shines a Light On: Melissa Holbrook Pierson
Name of the piece published by BCC:
When/where was it originally published:
The Weeklings, June 2013
Tell us more about your piece! What is the background of the piece? What led you to write it? What’s your process?
I let events sort of resonate inside me until I can hear what they have to say—and it’s usually some kind of mystery that calls for notice, not understanding. My writing aims to “shine a light” on hidden experience without explaining it. Just let the reader look. So it’s a lovely circle back to have you shine a light on a piece that shone a light on something else!
How did you feel when it was first published and how have your thoughts or feelings on the piece changed from then to now?
I was so happy to have The Weeklings as a place that embraced the weird and uncategorizable. I felt free writing for them. I don’t write well when it’s “to fit.” Something always feels constrained, artificial, when I’m trying to suit genre norms.
Is there a specific message you would like readers to take away from reading this piece?
Anything can be a subject. Especially the things that seem too small to be a subject.
What else would you like to tell readers about your writing? (Doesn’t have to refer only to your BCC piece)
I trust things to tell me what they’re about. I try not to impose meaning on them. The world is an uncanny place, and pretty much everything I write—prose poetry, essays, books—revels in the oddity of life.
Where can readers find more of your work? (Website/social media, etc)
Links galore at melissaholbrookpierson.com
