Chelsea Dingman’s first book,
Thaw, was chosen by Allison Joseph to win the National Poetry Series (University of Georgia Press, 2017). Her second poetry collection,
Through a Small Ghost, won The Georgia Poetry Prize (University of Georgia Press, 2020). She is also the author of the chapbook,
What Bodies Have I Moved (Madhouse Press, 2018)
. Visit her website www.chelseadingman.com.
INTRODUCTION
If I could tell my younger self one thing about being a poet, it is simply that a writer is someone who writes. That the interaction with the page, that relationship that I’ve valued and trusted my whole life, is the most important relationship that I have, whether it is my work on the page, or the work of someone else. Sometimes, I only have scraps of time to engage in reading and writing. I am taking notes on my phone in traffic, or reading a collection of a few poems at a time in the early morning while my kids are still sleeping. But this engagement is life-sustaining.