Sweet Connections: Jill McCabe Johnson

Several times a month we connect with our contributors showing where they have been, where they are now, and what’s up for the future.

Name: Jill McCabe Johnson
Title of Pieces Published in Sweet: “Borderlines“
Issues: 8.1

Find Her:
Twitter

You can find Jill writing, teaching, editing, and publishing in Washington State’s beautiful San Juan Islands.

Find out more about Jill on her website.

What are some major accomplishments you have had since your Sweet publication?

Since Borderlines was published, my second full-length poetry collection came out, Revolutions We’d Hoped We’d Outgrown. It was shortlisted for the Clare Johnson Award in Women’s Literature from Jane’s Stories Press Foundation. I also co-edited with Andrew Shattuck McBride the anthology, For Love of Orcas, which won a Nautilus Books Silver Award.

Can you tell us about a current/ongoing project that you’re excited about?

I’m working with my agent getting ready to send out a memoir that includes the essay published in Sweet, and also finishing an essay collection and my third poetry collection

Who is your favorite author?

I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite, but of living writers, Rebecca Solnit, Rick Barot, Claudia Rankine, Ana Maria Spagna, Pam Houston, Donna Miscolta, Ira Sukrungruang, Lidia Yuknavich, Kathleen Flenniken, and Natasha Trethewey always wow me. I could easily add 100+ more names to this list. We’re really lucky to live in a time when we have access to so much great contemporary literature.

What is your favorite poem/essay/book?

I don’t have a favorite, per se, but I could read Marylin Robinson’s Housekeeping over and over. The same for Rebecca Solnit’s Field Guide to Getting Lost.

What inspires you to write?

Reading others’ works (including in Sweet!) inspires me, as does spending time in nature. There’s nothing like hiking a trail, away from everyday concerns, to free my mind, instill a sense of awe, and allow the imagination to thrive.

What are you reading right now?

My nightstand has a stack of fabulous books. Carolyn Forche’s memoir “What You Have Heard Is True,” Rick Barot’s poetry collection “The Galleons”, Jhumpa Lahiri’s Italian memoir “In Other Words,” Jericho Brown’s “The Tradition,” and a stack of books from Copper Canyon Press, including “The Essential Ruth Stone.” I’m also reading submissions for Wandering Aengus Press and its imprint Trail to Table Press, so I’m fortunate to have a deep bounty of reading riches right now.

What is your favorite sweet? We would love for you to share a recipe or link to place that serves it. Pictures are great, too!

My husband makes a cinnamon-oatmeal pancake with fresh berries that has just the right amount of sweetness. With a little butter, maple syrup, and a mug of hot coffee, it’s my favorite way to start the day, though, truth be told, I’d eat them for dinner, too.

Thank you, Jill, for taking the time to reconnect with us. We look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!

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