Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor –

You have been interim executive director and executive artistic director here at Gemini Ink for about a year-and-a-half. How has it been for you and what goals have you set for yourself and the organization?

The first year as executive director is a huge learning curve because you are getting more of an overall sense of the organization. I was the literary program director before and loved doing it. But that’s a different kind of job. I have a great team, and I am excited to work with them. We brought the amazing Terrance Hayes, the National Book Award winner, here in March for our Autograph Series events. We are now working on bringing a prose writer for March 2020. This Autograph Series is the annual event for which we bring a nationally prominent writer to San Antonio.

 We have been a literary arts organization in San Antonio for 25 years, so it’s been a very interesting time to take over the helm as we are kicking off the next 25. Our program, Writers in the Communities, is doing really interesting outreach with different kinds of community partners. We also are kicking off a Confluence Park Reading Series on August 30th, in this new beautiful urban park, right on the San Antonio River. So, I am excited about continuing to bring diverse voices to San Antonio and celebrating the writers we have here.

And a big thing on the literary map is the national AWP* Conference which will be held in San Antonio in March, and we are a literary partner for that. It will be an opportunity to show San Antonio writers on a national scale.

You are an accomplished poet who has published two books of poetry and been nominated for prestigious awards. Tell us why you chose poetry given that in the U.S. poetry is not a widely read literary form?

I think poetry chose me (laughs). I did start out writing prose but I found out rather quickly that I was not really interested or adept at describing how a character walked across the room or talking about the sofa in the corner. The logistics of writing a novel overwhelmed me. I found it freeing to write poetry. I see poetry as the detailed shot that represents something larger. I enjoy the compact feel of a poem and that you can parachute in to evoke something. I love the physicality of language and enjoy the kind of language surgery that a poem allows.

If you could recommend only one or two contemporary poets to people, who would you pick?

That’s almost a cruel question! There are so many amazing writers out there… Right now, I would say, Kaveh Akbar, an Iranian-American poet, and Texan Meghan Peak. Akbar’s book Calling A Wolf a Wolf is a beautiful book of poems – wonderful use of language, imaginative, dealing with difficult topics. I would recommend him. Megan Peak just came up with her first book called Girldom.  I thought her book was fantastic. It plays with the concept of “girlness” and turns it on its head. I think it’s an important topic to be writing about right now.

Who has had the most influence on your life?

I guess, my mother. She grew up at the time when women were expected to have children and bring them up, and she had to go through this revolutionary time for women (in the last 50 years), and she continually reinvented herself. She had four kids by age 27, divorced, remarried, found a career, first in public relations, then got a stock broker’s license. Her ability to renew her life is something I have always seen as a great influence.

What was the best advice you ever got?

I guess, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps: difficult times will pass and persistence will get you through.

Tell us something about yourself that even your friends may not know.

My deep dark secret: I make things talk. My husband says I am anthropomorphizing everything. I’ll give a name to a tea pot, or a stuffed bear or a potted plant. Anything can take on a personality. I think it’s the 5-year-old in me still happily going through the world (laughs).

What is/was your greatest disappointment?

I lived in Madrid, Spain, for 5-6 years and I loved living there. For a series of reasons, at one point I decided to return to the United States. And I regret how I did that. I felt that I left prematurely. I wouldn’t have lived there forever but I should have stayed longer. Leaving Spain felt almost like losing a love. I learned that a place can be a real presence in your life.

What makes you happy?

Writing! Getting a poem published, having one of our events go really well…

What famous person would you like to meet?

I actually think Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) is really interesting (laughs). And I would love to meet President Obama. That would be cool.

What are you most afraid of losing?

My memory. Not that I am losing it now, but speaking hypothetically, your memory is such a backlog of who you are, that it would be devastating to lose it.

Could you mention some books you recently read and loved?

My husband accuses me of having the tallest pile of books he’s ever seen on my night table, a literary Leaning Tower of Pisa. I usually peel off the first five to read. I’ll email you the list.

You moved here from New York. How do you like life in San Antonio?

I really enjoy the city. Unlike New York City, it’s not overwhelming to live in but there’s a lot going on. It’s a vibrant city. And I still can’t believe I live next to a palm trees; never seen so many mockingbirds in my life! I do miss snow and the crispness of the Northeast autumn. But I met so many interesting writers here. I think it’s a dynamic, growing city with a lot of diverse voices.
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*Association of Writers and Writing Programs

Alexandra Van De Kamp’s Reading list:
The Gold Finch by Donna Tartt
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Buddha’s Dog & Other Meditations by Ira Sukrungruang
Tell Me How it Ends by Valeria Luiselli
Poetry
Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar
Virgin by Analicia Sotelo
Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith
Whereas by Layli Long Soldier
Surge by Michelle Whittaker