Word Vancouver in Conversation with Indigenous Curator Molly Cross-Blanchard
We are so excited to announce our 2021 Indigenous Curator Molly Cross-Blanchard!
To welcome her to the Word Vancouver team and community we asked a few get-to-know-you questions, so let’s learn a little more about Molly’s new poetry book, use of humour, and her love of writing. Enjoy!
What are you most excited about in joining the Word Vancouver team?
Gathering artists I admire and showing them off to a bunch of new people! Festivals are such incredible opportunities for writers to really get to dig into what it is that makes their work special, so I’m looking forward to offering space for folks to talk about what they think is at the heart of their artistry.
As a curator what is something unique that you bring to the festival?
I’m still a very early-career writer, and a lot of my peers and influences are also early-career, so I think what I’ll bring to the festival is a look into the emerging Indigenous artist community. I also love reading and writing about contemporary pop culture, and I feel strongly that pop culture should have a place in literary discussions, so watch for some “guilty pleasures” content.
What first sparked your love of writing?
Reading. My mom read to me every night until I could do it myself, and then I was reading under a blanket with a flashlight past bedtime. I loved, and still love, a surprising and well-thought-out story, but I don’t read fiction nearly as much now. I really mourn how hungry I was for books when I was younger. It feels like a bit of a chore now that I’m actually in the industry. I think that’s why I’ve been drawn to poetry. It’s more bite-sized, and immediately satisfying, and rich, which seems to be what my brain has craved for the past ten years.
Your poetry book Exhibitionist (Coach House Books) came out this spring. How does using humour play into your poems and writing process?
I think comedians (good ones, not ass clowns) are the ultimate sociologists and influencers. They’ve got these incredible radars for determining what a group of people considers to be a collective “truth” and then they provide new angles on those truths to incite revelation. Maybe that’s confusing. But to me, well-crafted humour is the best vehicle for conveying a message, and my message is that women are made to feel too much shame, just being in our bodies and existing. I could just plainly write that: “Women shouldn’t feel ashamed of our bodies!” Or I could make a joke about it and allow the reader to discover that truth within themselves, because it will mean more to them if they’re able to connect the dots from their lived experiences than if I just make a statement. I’ve also just always wanted to make people laugh, because I admire effortlessly funny people SO. MUCH.
How do you come up with your poem titles? Does the title come first or last?
Ugh, I love this question. When I’m reading poetry, I tend to skip over the titles. I don’t know why. So in coming up with my own titles, I like to make them vital to the message of the poem, like setting up the “rules” for reading it, or even just being the first sentence of the poem. I make them IMPOSSIBLE for jerks like me to skip.
I always start a poem with the title, but 99% of the time that title changes before it sees publication.
How has writing and reading been helpful over the past year?
I wouldn’t say it’s been particularly helpful. I’ve mostly been watching a lot of TV, and working, and meeting my bare-minimum publishing deadlines. But I’m hoping to dive back into some writing this summer and (should the stars align) turn out a first draft of a novel by the end of 2021.
Molly Cross-Blanchard is a white and Métis writer and editor born to the Calder clan on Treaty 3 territory (Fort Frances ON), raised on Treaty 6 territory (Prince Albert SK), and living on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples (Vancouver BC). She holds an English BA from the University of Winnipeg and a Creative Writing MFA from the University of British Columbia. Molly is the publisher at Room magazine, and her debut collection of poetry is Exhibitionist (Coach House 2021).
Instagram: @mollyecb
Twitter: @MollyECB
You can buy Molly’s book HERE
