Each week we will be connecting with our contributors showing where they have been, where they are now, and what’s up for the future.
Name: Elizabeth Kerlikowske
Title of Pieces Published in Sweet: “Forever Tutu” and “The Shark“
Issues: 3.3 & 5.2
Find Her:
Google her!
You can currently find her sequestered in a spruce grove in Michigan. There are probably worse places to be right now!
What are some major accomplishments you have had since your Sweet publication?
Several Pushcart nominations. Won a chapbook contest with “Last Hula” a book about my dad’s last month. Worked for two years on an ekphrastic book with painter Mary Hatch called “Art Speaks.” Was awarded the Community Medal for the Arts in 2017 for my work with poetry nonprofits.
Can you tell us about a current/ongoing project that you’re excited about?
I’ve been involved in several collaborative art projects where I am both a writer and visual artist. These have focused on certain subjects: the canonical hours, home, alchemy and now we are exploring photosynthesis. I made a giant book with poems and collaged each page. It won a prize in a juried art show!!
Who is your favorite author?
Robert Frost, Rumi, Dickinson, Ted Kooser, Atwood
What is your favorite poem/essay/book?
Ray Carver’s “Your Dog Dies”. Joseph Campbell anything.
What inspires you to write?
It’s not like that. “What inspires you to breathe?” Nothing. You just do it; you have to.
What are you reading right now?
Just finished Ted Kooser’s chapbook “At Home.” Reading Robin Kimmerer “Braiding Sweetgrass” for photosynthesis project.
What is your favorite sweet?
I used to love SloPoke suckers. Now I like blueberries. Favorite sweets are always family. My son Nick and baby Iris first meeting.
That truly is the sweetest!
Thank you, Elizabeth, for taking the time to reconnect with us. We look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!
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