An interview with Amy LeBlanc

Amy LeBlanc is a writer and editor from Calgary, Alberta. She is currently non-fiction editor at filling Station magazine and is the author of two chapbooks, most recently Ladybird, Ladybird published with Anstruther Press (August 2018). Amy's debut book-length poetry collection, I know something you don’t know, is forthcoming with Gordon Hill Press (Spring 2020). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Room, Prairie Fire, Contemporary Verse 2, Geez, and EVENT among others and she was recently long-listed for Room Magazine’s 2018 Short Forms Contest. She will begin her MA in English Literature and creative writing at the University of Calgary in fall 2019.

How did you begin writing, and what keeps you going?

I’ve wanted to be a writer my whole life. My mother often reminds me that I had planned a series of animal murder mysteries as a child (finches stabbed with tooth picks and the like) and she has early drafts of novels and stories I’d written that are rife with spelling errors and illogical conclusions. I always wrote for fun, but I began taking writing seriously toward the end of high school when I knew that I would be completing and English degree with a concentration in creative writing. I began publishing fiction and poetry in my third year and I started volunteering in the literary community around the same time. I think that my writing community is what keeps me going. As a past Editor-in-Chief of NōD Magazine, I got to see firsthand the way that writing communities tie us together. I wouldn’t be able to write without the support of my communities in Calgary and I’m so excited to become part of the grad student community at U of C.

With two poetry chapbooks to date, do you feel your process of putting together a manuscript has evolved? How do you decide on the shape and size of a manuscript?

My process has evolved so much through these two chapbooks. When I first began grouping poems together, I tried my best to be intentional, but I hadn’t yet read enough really good poetry collections to have any idea what I was doing. Everything is much more intentional now, but the jump from chapbook to book-length manusript was still huge. I put together my first book length collection in fall 2018 and I laid out all of the pieces on the floor. I tried to look for framing devices, varying poem length, musicality, poems that build on each other, and poems that contrast each other. I think I tried fifteen different orders until I finalized it and I’m sure the order will go through further revisions before the book is released in 2020.

Have you noticed a difference in how you approach individual poems since you’ve published chapbooks?

I have. I find that in a lot of ways I think bigger; instead of writing one poem about a topic I love, I start thinking about how I could expand the poem into a suite or a chapbook or a manuscript that could do the topic justice. Even when I try to write a poem as a standalone, I find it difficult to stop myself from taking on another big project because I get too excited about the creative possibilities.

What poets have influenced the ways in which you write?

There are so many poets that have influenced the ways that I write. I’m always drawn back to Sylvia Plath and Ann Carson, but I’ve been inspired lately by poems that friends of mine like Alycia Piromohammad and Conyer Clayton are writing. I’ve also fallen in love with poetry from Erin Knight, Cornelia Hoogland, and Canisia Lubrin in the past few weeks.        

How important has mentorship been to your work? Is there anyone who specifically assisted your development as a writer?

I’ve had the privilege of working with Aritha van Herk and Larissa Lai through the university and with Elizabeth Philips through the Emerging Writers’ Intensive at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. All of these women have been instrumental in my development as a writer because they have pushed me to write in new ways and they have read clumsy drafts and works in progress to help me pick out the line or phrase that could stay for the next draft.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on a novella that is set in small town Alberta. This piece has been in varying stages of completion for the last three years, but I am almost done my second full rewrite. The book has a lot to do with grief, female friendship, and community ties. I have a bit of a love hate relationship with the manuscript because I keep coming back to it. Even when I want to write something (anything) else, this is the project I’m most tied to.

Can you name a poet you think should be receiving more attention?

I think that Lauren DeGaine should be recieving more attention. She is an up and coming Canadian poet whose first chapbook was recently released from The Blasted Tree Press and her second chapbook is in the works. Her writing is beautiful and visceral. All in all she is just a lovely human and definitely a writer to keep an eye on.