THE POETS: A Black Flowers Interview with Annika Holland
Annika Holland is a writer and musician based in Seattle. She is the author of My Pet Consciousness, a poetry collection published in 2022. She is currently working on her second poetry collection and a novel.
What is poetry to you?
Sometimes it’s violent drunken theater but these days it’s more about categorizing impressions.
What or who was it that inspired you to write poetry?
I’ve always written poetry here and there but it started becoming more present in my life when I realized I was writing lyrics for songs that never became songs. Essentially I had all these skeletons lying around and realized “these are poems.” I moved toward it in a more focused way after that.
Is poetry a compulsive form of art for you?
It’s completely compulsive at the outset.
Do you have a workspace? Or are you happy to work anywhere?
My workspace is wherever I happen to be at the time. I move around a lot. When I lived in New York most of the writing was happening on the subway. Now it’s mostly my bed or in hotel rooms, where I work.
Are you a lone wolf when it comes to your poetry or do you actively get involved in a community?
It’s a completely solitary act for me, by choice.
Do you have any recommendations for our readers?
Michael Löwy’s Morning Star
I also really loved the compilation of previously unseen poetry by Genesis P-Orridge that Heartworm Press put out a few years ago. It had images too, really beautiful. (Genesis P-Orridge - Coumplete Poems - 1960's & 70's)
