Clifford Brooks interviews Lynne Kemen
Welcome, Lynne Kemen. I’m delighted to have you here today for the Blue Mountain Review.
Thanks, Cliff. I’m happy to talk with you today.
Let’s jump right in —what are you working on these days?
Right now, I’m working on my second full-length poetry book and considering a chapbook of ekphrastic poetry. I’ve just stepped down from Bright Hill Press’s board to have more time for writing, though I’ll finish Word Thursdays-our Zoom and live reading series- to close their thirty-third season. And thanks to you, I’m re-issuing my first book, Shoes For Lucy.
I’ve also joined the Southern Collective Experience Community Outreach board, which I’m very excited about. I’ve been an editor for SCE’s Blue Mountain Review since 2021.
You’re unusual in that you wrote in college, then took a nearly fifty-year hiatus. Tell us about that journey back to poetry.
Life intervened in wonderful ways. I lived and worked in New York City from 1978-2016 in nonprofit theater administration, founded a Center for Dance Medicine, managed a large orthopedic practice for twenty-six years, went back to college for a second BA and PhD in biopsychology, then taught at Hunter College for sixteen years, as well as serving as the psychology department’s student advisor. Each experience exposed me to new people, allowing me to meet and talk with such different personalities. I’ve also lived in other parts of the country and done extensive travel. I can pull memories from each of those experiences.
When I retired in 2016 and moved full-time to our Catskills farmhouse, I immediately joined my local library board and Bright Hill Press. Taking Robert Bensen’s poetry class there in 2019 helped me rediscover my love of writing. I’ve been making up for lost time ever since.
