Chatting with Colleen Anderson

Colleen Anderson lives in Vancouver, BC and has a BFA in writing. She is a multiple nominee of the Pushcart, Aurora, Rhysling, Elgin and Dwarf Stars Awards in poetry. She has won the SFPA dwarf poetry contest twice. Her work has been widely published in numerous venues, including Weird Tales, HWA Poetry Showcases, Shadow Atlas and Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. A BC Arts Council and Canada Council grant recipient for her writing, Collen has edited three anthologies, and guest edited Eye to the Telescope, as well as serving on Stoker Award and British Fantasy Award juries. Colleen’s poetry collections, I Dreamed a World, The Lore of Inscrutable Dreams, and Weird Worlds are available online with a fourth due in 2025

Colleen is the author of the Rhysling award-winning poem “Machine r(E)volution” from Radon Issue 2.

Q: Tell us about your time being the Science Fiction & Fantasy Association (SFPA) President? What led you to run for the office and how did you approach the job once elected?

I have always believed in giving back to my community. We can’t just be feeders in any society. We must also contribute to the wellbeing and growth of that society. So it is with writing. Part of volunteering was also to enhance my education on what organizations existed and what they offered, as well becoming familiar with current trends in writing. That didn’t start with the SFPA, because I have volunteered for a long time before, on various boards and as a juror or judge, or slush reader.

With SFPA, I started as the Vice President since it’s a good position to understand the workings of an organization. Unfortunately, volunteerism is down the world over. If we had 10% of the SFPA members volunteer, we would be able to do many more great things. I volunteered because I thought I could continue positive changes and because it was hard to get anyone else to step up to the role.

However, I’m stepping down in the new year. I’ll probably still support SFPA in some capacity but I need more time for my writing. If we don’t get any volunteers stepping into these positons it could be the end of a 40-year-old organization, which wouldn’t just be sad—it would be a tragedy.

Q: Now that SFWA has begun accepting speculative poets into its ranks, how do you see the relationship between SFPA and SFWA changing going forward?

SFWA reached out when they changed their rule, but what many people don’t know is that they once did allow poetry and then banned it. I was an SFWA member in poetry long before I became an HWA or SFPA member. So in one sense, they have come full circle. I have offered help, or even extra hands to work with SFWA several times. But since the initial message, I’ve received no answer from them. This includes talking to an executive while at Stokercon where I reiterated that we were willing to pitch in, but it seems SFWA wishes to swim those seas alone.

SFWA once published the SFPA Rhysling winning poems in their anthologies of award winners but that stopped before COVID. I reached out to them to see if anything might happen in the future (considering they haven’t done anthologies for a while) but unfortunately, numerous attempts were met with silence. I guess this indicates how SFWA will continue to regard SFPA, which is sad because it could be a great partnership. However, they are in the beginning stages and perhaps they will see the benefits of cross-pollination in the future.

Q: You've mentioned that influences on your early writing were Edgar Allen Poe, Ray Bradbury, and Frank Herbert. Which authors do you find influencing you today?

This is difficult to narrow down as there are many authors and as I read many works the list can change. I do keep current in what writers in the HWA and SFPA are putting out, as much as I can. There are so many great works. I really can’t say this or that person influences me because I will inevitably miss someone. But the lists of nominees for the Stokers is full of people I admire, as well as many poets publishing in various magazines and their works are fantastic and varied.

Q: How has your poetry style evolved through the years, first beginning "as angsty teenage stuff," and since morphing into your adult work?

I guess I’m delving into deeper, more complex mysteries as well as philosophical and moral debates. Sometimes I’m giving social commentary, whereas as a teenager it was more an existential exploration of self. I’m always trying to push my own boundaries so currently, having just finished a collection of poetry on Rapunzel, I’m now looking at SF body horror.

Q: Your poetry is known for incorporating a large amount of unique spacing and multiple elements interplaying with one another on the page. Do you feel that many modern poets are hesitant to use the page to its full extent in their work?

Sometimes we’re just lazy. And sometimes we’re inexperienced, or even . . . minimalist. Poetry differs from fiction, generally because it is brevity (though not always), but also because it is as much visual art as it is verbal art. “Machine (r)Evolution” was very much a visual poem that would be hard to read aloud, though I believe I could perform it in parts. We use poetry to convey feeling and depth and if we’re not just listening to the poet who performs their work, then we are becoming intrinsically involved with it in its space. There is erasure poetry that is art; form poetry that is a picture, and poems that use specific forms. They all can play into the impact of the message.

My poem “Whirlpool” won the 2024 SFPA Dwarf Stars poetry contest. It’s a nonet and starts with 9 syllables, each line decreasing by one syllable. That form gives impact to the poem I created. And I chose a tale that worked with the form. In this way, more than fiction, form and story inform each other. It’s a fun challenge and during COVID, to keep my sanity, form poetry kept me treading water.

Q: For speculative poets looking to become familiar with the genre, where do you suggest they go online to learn?

One of the best ways to learn is to read. Don’t just read the poets of the past but read the new works, the up and coming stars. Read the shortlist for the poetry collections in the Stoker Awards, as well as those nominated for the Elgin Awards. Join the SFPA and read Star*Line, the Rhysling nominees, and the Dwarf Stars nominees. Read SFPA’s online Eye to the Telescope. Attend conventions that offer panels or workshops in poetry, and then read some more. There are many online spec magazines that feature specpo. Use Submission Grinder to find the magazines that do SF, or horror, or fantasy, and read what they’re publishing. There is so much to read out there and a lot of it is free.

Q: How have you managed to make it as a freelance editor in an increasingly crowded freelance market?

I started long ago, making cold calls (ugh) to publishers and cutting my teeth on editing paper manuscripts, after I took a copyediting course. I also was an online editor (volunteer) which is a great way to learn how to write better. I’m now up on Reedsy, so clients can seek me there. I still work a regular job but not as many days, and I choose the projects I want to work on. While the freelance market may be crowded, one just needs to look on Amazon to see that there are more writers all the time. Being successful is one part knowing your craft and then knowing how to sell yourself. Editing helps polish those gems.

I’ve also taught workshops and blue line editing at conventions. All of these help hone my craft. Should I choose to go full freelance, I think I could make it work and choose what I want to do.

Q: In a world of consistent division and conflict, how have you retained your belief that the world is an intricate and inherently beautiful place?

I don’t watch the news because it’s a constant bludgeoning of the dire. Every day, I look at the world: the sky, buildings, trees, people. I observe the changing of seasons, I look at patterns, at children laughing and dogs being silly, at leaves unfurling and changing color. I like to travel to see history, archeology, architecture, and geography, the beauty that this world can be and what people can make it into when they’re not trying to “other” each other. I look at the microscosm, which is each individual. If I looked only at nations and governments (the macrocosm), I’d probably hate everything. I’m cynical but I love the earthly pleasures, and most of all I remember that spending time with people (not in a mall), with my friends and family is what it's all about.

Q: As a self-proclaimed optimist, why do you think you're drawn to writing darker stories rather than lighter tales?

At the same time as I may look at the beauty of the world, I am not ignorant of its darker side. I am worried about the rise of racism, hate, and bigotry, misinformation and willful blindness and ignorance. Othering is a frightening thing to watch, or be part of. I write the darker stories because maybe they will make people stop and think, see another side but I fear that those that read the stories are not the ones that should be reading them.

Q: Which of your poems or books have remained most often in your thoughts long since they were published?

That is as difficult to answer as the question about who influences me. My first full-length poetry collection I Dreamed a World stays with me because it was my first, but before that was the now out-of-print chapbook, Ancient Tales, Grand Deaths, and Past Lives (Kelp Queen Press) which holds a special place. 

For stories, I’ve had two collections printed and perhaps “Exegesis of the Insecta Apocrypha” was the most disturbing story to write. I’ve explored morality tales and the sociopathic mentality and let’s just say that’s not fun. But likewise, I’ve continued to write, explore topics and hopefully evolve. Two recent stories that I think grasp my current focus of body horror and eco ficton are “Our Most Precious Water” in Flame Tree’s Moon Falling anthology, and “Atalanta Runs” in OnSpec. The latter is part of a mosaic novel in an uncertain, climate affected future where every character deals with loss.

With individual poems, there are so so many, but I have to say “Machine (r)Evolution” was one of the most experimental I did with form. It was also a challenged for every time it was printed. I’ve learned a lesson there and would reformat my page to smaller if I’m going full experimental again.