This week we talk to Christine Burrows about ‘Aluminium Sky’ which appears in Time, the latest Microlit anthology edited by Cassandra Atherton and published in 2018 by Spineless Wonders. In this interview, Christine talks about her approach to writing microlit, what she is reading right now and her favourite time of year for putting pen to paper.
- Tell us about the inspiration behind your microlit for the Time
I met a man in a small town who showed me photos of unusual patterns of jet contrails appearing regularly in the sky and explained geoengineering. I started noticing. Then researching. Down the rabbit hole I spiralled, eyes fixed to the sky…
- When it comes to microlit, do you generally start wide and then cut down or do you always plan to write a particular piece as microlit?
I’m a poet so I like succinct; the essential. I love the meld of forms and the tight space microlit provides to conjure up something sharp and surprising. Some ideas I think “that’s a microlit or prose poem idea”.
- How do you balance reading time with writing time? And tell us about the book/s you are reading at the moment.
I don’t! It’s random and opportunistic. Am loving the work of New Zealand millennials esp Ashleigh Young, Courtney Sina Meredith and Hera Lindsay Bird. Current Australian fave poets are Quinn Eades, Ali Cobby Eckerman, Tony Birch and Ian McBryde. Powerful, enlightening storytellers that grab my by the heart.
- What is your favourite season? Do you prefer to write in winter or summer and why?
Each moves me differently. I write more in winter. It’s an inward, reflective kind of season. Summer I get restless and easily distracted. It’s good for editing – those ‘aha!” edits – a word or two that totally change a piece by adding another layer or texture.
CHRISTINE BURROWS, a Melbourne poet, has appeared in many Australian and New Zealand anthologies and literary journals.Her work explores themes of grief, trauma, place, dislocation, social and environmental justice. Poetry keeps her going.