SV: Cat Twomey

Photo Credit: Susan McLaren Photography

 Tell us about your first poem.

- Knocking knees. Fifth grade English classroom. The smell of erasers and cafeteria lunches. The utter confusion of the first funeral I ever attended for someone I love. The writing that made it finally make sense.

What does it feel like when performing on-stage?

- Terrifyingly beautiful - like you are speaking into a black hole with no knowledge of if you will be heard, but as assurance you have made something simply by raising your voice.

What are you passionate about writing about?

- Life. Love. The pursuit of happiness and caffeine. No, in all seriousness, I am passionate about writing anything and everything that is real. Writing is powerful because it helps people connect and it makes people feel less alone. So I write what is real, what is painful, what is hard to talk about but desperately needed. I want my poem to feel like a punch in the gut, either with conviction or empathy. I write till it hurts.

Our country has been facing some interesting times, when coming to the discussion of gender equality. As a writer, how have these issues impacted your writing?

- Wow. This is a tough question that I honestly don't know how to answer. As far as gender goes, it effects my writing much like the year I'm living in or the people I love - unconsciously. It seeps into everything I write because it seeps into every day that I'm alive.

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What are you currently reading?

- I am reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I have a passion for classic literature, but with my Biomedical Science major, I don't get it in my curriculum. So, I supplement it with used classics from Givens.

Using five words, tell us, what is Spencer’s Vanguard?

- Art for cultural revolution.