Getting Sandpointed:
A Conversation with Jackie Henrion
KIRPAL GORDON:
Reading the poetry collection, Sandpointed, I wonder if the community in
Sandpoint, Idaho, knows you from your weekly radio broadcast you host and
curate, “Songs-Voices-Poems,” every Sunday at 7 PM on KRFY 88.5? I ask because
the book is like an extension of your radio show! What also knocked me out is
this back cover blurb from the town mayor’s wife Katie Greenland: “Sandpointed
is a wise women’s collective weaving of place, presence, and possibility. At
once a portrait of sassy poetics, a song of seasonal survivance, and a recipe
for medicinal brew sure to tantalize any literary appetite. Written by a royal
flush of witty and playful writers well-versed in lettered seduction. A
soul-nourishing read.” Quite skillful of you and your writing group to get your
town represented in the arts!
JACKIE HENRION: We
were thrilled to have her endorsement. Katie and her husband, Shelby Rognstad,
are not only supporters of the arts but they are courageous thought leaders,
and devoted parents to their two children. As part of her doctorate studies in
Leadership from Gonzaga, she now conducts presentations and workshops around the
world about the power of women’s stories. In fact, the other endorsements at
the front of the book are from a number of potent women in the Sandpoint arts
community: Carol Deaner from the Pend Oreille Arts Council, Karin Wedemeyer,
founder of the Sandpoint Music Conservatory and Suzy Prez, Manager of 88.5
KRFY.
KIRPAL GORDON: It
appears this group has a long history. Why did you decide to publish a book
now?
JACKIE HENRION: With
covid restrictions and shutdowns, the women of the Sandpoint Monday Writers
decided we would stop meeting for a while. Our long-term meeting place, Foster’s
Crossing, an artistically quirky antique mall and restaurant, closed. We missed
each other. We also missed the weekly practice: writing extemporaneously to
prompts, witnessing our feelings, and giving wings to our creativity. In 2022,
we decided to reinstate the meetings at the new Monarch Mountain Coffee,
recently relocated to the heart of downtown Sandpoint. The book honors the
writing process and this moment in time—our moment in time when women’s voices
are at the crest of a cultural tsunami.
| Jackie Henrion, Rhoda Sanford, Sandy Lamson, Robens Napolitan, Desiree Aguirre, Sandra Rasor |
KIRPAL GORDON:
Cultural tsunami? How so?
JACKIE HENRION: The
most evident tsunami is that of high-profile figures held to account for their
abuse of power for sexual ends. Women are challenging traditions around the
globe, most evidently in the Middle East, on the African continent, and in
France. During the covid shutdowns we had more time to reflect how human
culture is changing in many related ways. For example, younger generations are
showing us how to be more fluid in our identities, our jobs, and our families.
In over a decade of Monday morning writing sessions, we also see changes in our
language. We have matured in our perspective, occupying more space and holding
the interspace for other women; less judgmental and more nuanced in our
observations. Not just about poetic details but about ourselves. In a way, we
are more forgiving of our formative conditions. Aging together makes us laugh
more about our hair color, weight, families, memory lapses, and pets. Sandy
Lamson’s piece, “The Oldest Bike,” is evocative in this way: ...“it
leans against the wall to witness everything going on. The oldest bike in
Sandpoint is envious; the last time it tried to see and hear everything,
someone pushed it outside, where it fell into a crumpled heap from which it
could not extricate itself without assistance. It was very embarrassing.”
KIRPAL GORDON: How
did you discover or decide on the title Sandpointed?
JACKIE HENRION: We
stretched the town’s name to a descriptive term to increase its stickiness. If
you know a little about the literary history of the Northwest, you will have
heard of Richard Hugo, the revered poetry professor at Montana State Bozeman,
memorialized by the Hugo House in Seattle. He wrote a book called The
Triggering Town, about his poetic philosophy. The resultant dominant
cultural legacy from Seattle’s University of Washington out to the plains of
Montana, is place-based. Certainly in Sandpoint, our creative language can’t
help but include the geography, such as my poem “Lake This.”
“The lake exudes a tufted
sailing regatta, lofted
Scrims wafting, floating,
coasting along
The viscous surface about
to be ice.
Like tall
ships and small craft, drifting in the Northward breeze
Stately procession, over
immobilized waves. Ducks
Dive, punctuating the edge
of the crust periodically, Purposefully."
Or Desiree’s story about Marburl,
the lone post-apocalyptic figure who accumulates family on his way to the
remembered safety of Sandpoint. In this way one can see Sandpoint as an enclave
of hope where men and women can navigate new streams from their regional
cultural lineage.
KIRPAL GORDON: The
reputation of North Idaho and the extremist community called the American
Redoubt movement have grabbed headlines in the recent past.
JACKIE HENRION: They
are a noisy minority. But our group chooses to focus instead on authentic
experiences and communal sensibilities. This book amplifies our shared
experiences. We wish to become louder, inspire others. We write about this
place and the paradox and diversity of viewpoints found here. We embrace them
all. Writing our first and best thoughts, reading them to each other, and
acknowledging each other happens quietly, yet profoundly, every week.
KIRPAL GORDON: Does
the Sandpoint community know that you received your MFA degree from the Jack
Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University? I ask because your
poetry project reflects a commitment to make community wherever you are, which the
original JKSDP program directors, Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman, powerfully
espoused. How did your degree from Naropa affect this project?
JACKIE HENRION:
Although my work at Naropa influenced my language, our writing group uses the
concepts through osmosis. At Naropa, I experimented with writing tools that
helped me rise above cliches and think more poetically from Eleni Sikelianos. I
also learned much about women’s writing and philosophy in Gabrielle Civil's
class, discovering my lineage of the interspace and bridging through Dickinson,
Anzaldúa, Perloff, and others. From Anne Waldman, I learned how politics begins
and ends with personal sensations. But more than anything, I absorbed the value
of continuing focus and energy: The “vow to poetry,” Anne describes. To learn
the fundamentals of eloquent expression, then to value it enough to go to
print, is a kind of sacred rite. As a result, it has been a delight to work
with Laura Wahl at Turtlemoon Publishing, whose underlying mission is to
publish women's stories and work. My MFA from Naropa helped me navigate the
curating, editing, publishing, and marketing arenas more confidently. But all
this knowledge fits within my parallel study of meditation and mind.
KIRPAL GORDON: Can
you say more about your study of mind?
JACKIE HENRION:
Before I went to Naropa, I had experience with meditation, and my undergraduate
degree was in psychology. Then I encountered the work of psychologist Daniel J.
Siegel. His concepts provide a framework and tools to integrate all of this
knowledge in a helpful way for writing. I will mention only two here. His
“wheel of awareness” describes four areas of insight critical to growth: the
five senses, sensory awareness of subtle internal body processes, our thoughts
and emotions, and finally, interpersonal dynamics. We can rise above the
conventional when writers integrate language in these areas.
The second is what I see as original
innocence. When we start to discover ourselves through writing, we are more
compassionate if we understand that we, and others, are formed from our DNA and
circumstances. We learn how to survive through our formative environments. For example, Robens’ poem, “Where God Lives,”
is a poignant artifact of her upbringing as a minister's daughter.
“In my palms, the heat of
suppressed youth
pulsed and ran up past the
restricting cuffs
of my Sunday dress into my
restless arms.”
When we become more
self-aware through these writing processes, we learn that we can choose our
actions and words differently with a focus of attention. Then our writing can
take wings poetically. Our resultant growth and integration and provides
something valuable for readers.
KIRPAL GORDON: How
do you see that shaking out for readers of Sandpointed?
JACKIE HENRION: I
see it as a kind of chamber music. The unique thing we have found through the
group is a resonance of words and concepts. We achieve this resonance through
one of our processes: collecting a list of words during the month which we use
directly or for inspiration. In our writing, you can hear a repetition or echo
in the finished pieces. Like the first poem by Desiree Aguirre mentions
porcupines, so does one of my poems. You will also encounter some “recipes”
from different writers. These repetitions are random and individually filtered
yet pull the work together: a collection of “Wild Minds” at work. Like music,
it takes time to absorb the vibrational qualities. Rhoda's Sanford's last poem
in the book, “Give It Some Time,” is an apt invocation:
“...savor the taste,
feel the richness.
Relax into the pungent
whisper of fulfillment.”
Hopefully, it will inspire people to take this
home and start writing groups of their own. It can be transformative---in the
most subtle and fundamental ways.
KIRPAL GORDON: How
can readers find the book?
JACKIE HENRION: It’s
available on Amazon as well as in local shops (https://a.co/d/9o0OHWh). Many
come to Sandpoint to enjoy skiing, the lake amenities, hunting, fishing, and
scenery. But this book is a gift to yourself or someone else about real people
who live here, their interior landscape, their hopes for growth, and ultimately
their courage to share their work.
