Talking SOCCERVERSE with Liz Steinglass

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Jone at Deo Writer for Roundup.

So I kind of live a quiet life, and I deliberately do not invite a lot of news into it. I did, however, learn about the US Women Team's amazing 4th FIFA World Cup victory. Yay! And it gives me the perfect segue into Elizabeth Steinglass' new (first!) book: SOCCERVERSE: Poems about Soccer, with illustrations by Edson Ikê, brought to us by the good folks at Wordsong, an imprint of Boyds Mill and Kane.

Lucky me, I met Liz (and even presented with her about how poet's use  metaphor) at WWU's Poetry Camp back in 2016. She's every bit as brilliant and gentle in person as is her poetry on the page. And this book has been a long time in process... so what joy to see it finally on the shelves!

Here's Liz to tell us a little more about her experience.

The difficult: My challenge as a writer is to slow down and take my time. I always feel a strong internal rush to finish. I think it’s because I’m in a hurry to get past the uncomfortable uncertainty. I have to remind myself to take my time every step of the way--finding a topic, finding an approach, finding a form. I have to remind myself to stay open as long as possible to different options, to different creative possibilities. I also have to remind myself to take my time revising. Leaving my work in a drawer is an important part of the process. It enables me to see it with fresh eyes when I come back to it. I also have to remind myself that it’s okay if I don’t write, and I go for a walk or go to a museum or read a book instead because all of these are also part of the writing process. Instead of rushing to the finish line, I need to give the process a good long chance to unfold.
 

The delicious and the unexpected: I’m combining these because for me the unexpected IS the delicious. I absolutely love it when the process takes over, and I find myself writing something that surprises me. This happens when I let go of my plan, allow myself to get swept up in the writing, and give my brain room to make whatever strange connections it happens to make. What if a soccer field was a man with a beard? What if the game was in the hands of a giant who moved the ball by tipping the field back and forth?

 Anything else: Another delicious and unexpected aspect of the process was seeing Edson Ikê’s gorgeous illustrations for the first time. I absolutely adore the bold images and colors and the creativity. The illustrations give each poem additional layers of interest and feeling. I love the older man watching the kids play on his thick green beard, and the giantess holding the game in her hand.

She has a vine growing out of her sleeve which to me suggests that soccer is just as natural a part of life on earth as the plants. I think my favorite illustration is the red hand with the snorting bull on the page with the poem “Apology.” Yep, that feels like the hot, angry move that will earn you a red card. But what I love most of all is that the people in the book reflect the beautiful diversity of our world.

Congratulations, Liz, on a lovely debut!!!