Jennifer Albrecht-Battisti is set to have her chapbook of poems ECHO BAY published in early 2018 with Serving House Books along with Renee Ashley's MINGLEMENTS: PROSE ON POETRY AND LIFE and Letisia Cruz's THE LOST GIRL'S BOOK OF DIVINATION: COMICS POETRY. With a feature coming this Friday, September 8 at the Writer's Block for their Expo Series I interviewed her about the upcoming feature, her poetry, and what inspires her to write. 

VIM: You and I are featuring at the Writers Block reading from our poetry along with Jamel Brinkley, Teri Amory, and Harry Fagel. What are you most looking forward to the feature?

JENNIFER ALBRECHT:  What I most look forward to at any poetry reading in Vegas is connection. Writing requires a necessary isolation and solitude, so having the privilege of connecting to other poets and the audience is exhilarating. The energy is palpable. I also really love hearing other poets work and soaking in the range of talent and styles our community has.

VIM: Past couple of months you have featured at various poetry events. Which has been your favorite so far and what would be your perfect setting for a future feature?

JENNIFER ALBRECHT: I am grateful to feature anywhere! It's an honor and a delight to get to do what I love ! The LUSH event I participated in was one of the most memorable for sure. Collaborating with local artists and watching the creative fusion of different artistic mediums was incredible. The displayed artwork of the interpretation of the poems gave me an entirely new perspective on the power of poetry.

VIM: That was a wonderful event. It was great collaborating with AIGA on that Lush event. What can you tell us about your upcoming book of poems?

JENNIFER ALBRECHT: My first chapbook titled Echo Bay is forthcoming in early 2018. I am extremely excited to be working with Serving House Books for the publication. The manuscript includes poems with an undercurrent of explorations of family, grief, memory, motherhood and marriage with a strong tie to the Mojave desert and growing up in Las Vegas.

VIM: Sounds like a deep trek into your mind and heart. What first inspired you to write? And if you can. Can you share a line from one of your poems?

JENNIFER ALBRECHT: That's a beautiful way to put it. I first fell in love with poetry when I discovered Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends. It was sound and Cadence I was captivated by. I was about 8 when I started to write little poems. There really hasn't even been a choice when it came to writing. Poetry never fixes but it always mends. It's a beautiful container for all of the sharp corners, eye sores--the unspeakable, but also the astonishing beauty, the bizarre and hilarious details of human nature and the honesty that can only be transmitted through the lovely arrangement of images. Here is a couple lines from my poem, "Echo Bay", from which the collection is titled after: My grief is a row boat In a desert thundering nowhere, Waiting for a ghost.

VIM: Thank you for allowing me to interview you and I'll see you this Friday at the Writer's Block.

Jennifer Albrecht: Thank you!! That was fun