CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT:
INTERVIEW WITH ELINA KATRIN
Rappahannock Review Poetry Editors: One powerful element in “Hip Replacement at Twenty-One” is the personification of weight and body, as well as the separation of body and self. How do you navigate the relationship between writing and embodiment?
Elina Katrin: With this poem, the embodiment was inevitable. When I write from personal experience, I always try to convey the depth of emotion, so I often turn concepts into something tangible. “Hip Replacement at Twenty-One” is a very raw poem, and when writing it, I had to step back and look at my relationship with my body and weight from an outside perspective. What I found was predominantly dissociation. I caught myself frequently asking “Why is my body doing this to me?” whenever I faced any type of discomfort, as if my body was a separate entity from myself. I thought this was a strong concept to explore in the poem and an important observation to bring to light.
RR: We were struck by the use of spacing in this poem. How did the shape of it come together?
EK: I love playing around with the look of my poems on the page. I started shaping this specific poem as I was writing it, which doesn’t happen often. The piece was asking for rough line breaks, and I wanted the enjambment and negative space to be unpredictable to the point that they’re almost uncomfortable. I think the format heavily impacts the reading and understanding of poetry, and I hope the look of “Hip Replacement at Twenty-One” further enhances the notion of how quickly our bodies can become foreign to us, how quickly the pain can spread.
RR: We see that you’re getting your MFA at Hollins University. How has that program and the academic experience shaped your writing?
EK: The MFA program provides me not only with time to write but also with a community of talented artists who share the same passion as me. Because of the abundance of workshops, I receive constant feedback on my writing, which is tremendously helpful for the revision process. I’d say knowing that I have to present a thesis at the end of my studies nudged me to identify the main themes in my writing, so now the majority of work I produce evolves around similar subject matters.
RR: Your bio mentions that you’re from St. Petersburg, Russia, and now reside in Appalachia. How has location affected or influenced your writing?
EK: I was born and raised in Russia and spent a portion of my childhood in Syria, where my father is originally from. I moved to Miami, FL when I was seventeen years old, and then moved again a year ago to Roanoke, VA. It’s impossible not to be affected by your surroundings, but what I noticed from my experience living in different countries, states, and cities is that the absence of place inspires me more than the place itself. When I am in St. Petersburg, I don’t write about Russia. But, since I haven’t been home or seen my family in over a year and a half, familiar Russian landscapes frequently sneak their way into my poetry. Writing about a place helps me better understand my heritage and challenge the distance.
RR: What upcoming projects are you excited about right now?
EK: This summer I am planning on putting together a chapbook of poems about family, multiculturalism, and belonging. These themes are very haunting and intimate, and exploring them in writing has truly been a whirlpool of emotions, which is exactly what I hope the readers will get to experience as well. Once I put the manuscript together, I will send it out to some chapbook contests, so maybe even someone other than my dear workshop-mates will get a chance to read it.
Elina Katrin’s work in Issue 8.3: