'Stay Brave' with Kim Addonizio
‘Stay Brave’ is an interview series by woman-identifying creatives for woman-identifying creatives to inspire bravery in the creative life. [Created and curated by Leah Umansky]
How do you interpret the phrase, "Stay Brave?"
Having the courage to follow your vision.
As a woman-identifying writer, what are the ways that you “stay brave” in your life?
I try to go towards what I fear, in writing and in life. To ignore or actively resist the way a woman is supposed to be and act in the world.
Who is someone in your life who models “staying brave” for you?
I’m a big fan of Stacey Abrams, who has rolled up her sleeves again and again to fight for social justice. On a more personal level, I have a woman friend who is slightly older--she's over seventy--who always inspires me by her willingness to be up for just about anything. Losing an eye in a fall recently hasn't slowed her down. She's got so much energy for life and is always so open to new adventures. Ditto a slightly younger friend, who’s a radio producer, who, it seems, will go anywhere and do anything, especially in the service of getting a story.
What writers, artists, and/or musicians do you look to to foster a sense of “bravery?”
Ruth Stone and Lucille Clifton raised their children alone. Stone had three, and was impoverished. She won the National Book Award at eighty-seven! Her final book appeared when she was eighty-nine. Clifton was a Black woman with six children, and had been sexually abused by her father. None of it stopped either one of them from writing. I admire any artist who follows their own path. Joni Mitchell moved away from the kind of music that brought her early success to explore jazz. Lucinda Williams is still rocking. I guess what I admire most is that all these women had the strength and fortitude to keep on, no matter what. And not only to endure, but to find joy and make art from their lives.
What’s a piece of advice you would pass on to your younger self about “staying brave?” What’s something you know now, that you didn’t know in the past?
Keep going. Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't; don't let anyone stop you.
Can you remember a time in your life where you realized your own bravery? How did you use it to propel you forward?
I never really thought I was "brave." I just kept doing what called to me. In some ways, it’s easier when you’re younger; you’ve got all this energy and drive. But for a lot of younger women, there is also so much uncertainty and doubt that you have to push through in order to say, “I’m here. This is who I am. Deal with it.” As an older woman now, I feel the bravery is in facing the diminishing number of years left with grace and, yes, joy. Dealing with your changing face and body, and with how you’re perceived (and often dismissed). Losing people. What I mostly realize now is that life is one long process of accommodating various kinds of losses. Luckily, that’s not all it is! But wow, mortality begins to look very real as it inches closer.
What do you do when you aren’t feeling brave? What inspires you or motivates you?
Being with friends is one of the best balms. Sharing those fears and struggles.
In what ways would you like to be more brave in your creative life?
I just want to keep moving forward. To keep having that sense of discovery, and not get stuck in past pain or loss.
What is your proudest moment of bravery?
hmm…I don’t think I have a proudest moment. Maybe getting up onstage with something I’m not entirely comfortable with, like playing music in front of people. I play a few instruments, mostly for myself, and I sometimes get pretty anxious trying some new word/music idea for an audience. But—see #5—I usually just say, Fuck it, and do it and do it anyway
What are you currently working on?
Having just finished my new book, Exit Opera , I’ll be doing some readings for it this fall and next spring. I’m also beginning work on a word/music project with my guy, guitarist Danny Caron, and trying to finish a new book of essays.
Thank you, Kim!
[Norton, 2024]
Kim Addonizio is the author of over a dozen books of prose and poetry. Exit Opera is forthcoming from Norton in September. Addonizio’s work has been honored with fellowships from the NEA and Guggenheim Foundation, and her collection Tell Me was a finalist for the National Book Award. She lives in Oakland, CA and teaches poetry workshops on Zoom.She can be found on instagram at: @kimaddonizio
Leah Umansky is a poet, writer, curator, writing coach, artist and teacher. Her new collection of poems is OF TYRANT out now with Word Works Books. She earned her MFA in Poetry at Sarah Lawrence College and has curated and hosted The COUPLET Reading Series in NYC since 2011. Her creative work can be found in such places as PBS’’ ‘Story in the Public Square,’ The New York Times, POETRY, Bennington Review, American Poetry Review, Minyan Magazine, The Academy of American Poets' Poem-A-Day and others. She is a writing coach who has taught workshops to all ages at such places as Poets House, Hudson Valley Writers Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering and elsewhere. She is working on a fourth collection of poems ORDINARY SPLENDOR, on wonder, joy and love. She can be found at www.leahumansky.com or @leah.umansky on IG.
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