October Poetry Curator Jessica L. Walsh

Jessica L.

杰西卡·L。

Walsh is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently, Blowdown .

沃尔什是四本诗集的作者，最近的一本是《Blowdown》。

Originally from Michigan, she teaches at Harper College outside of Chicago.

她来自密歇根州，在芝加哥郊外的哈珀学院任教。

Zócalo’s guest curator for October, Walsh chatted with us in the green room about life in suburbia, languages, and the Berlin Wall.

佐卡洛十月份的客座策展人沃尔什在休息室与我们谈论了郊区的生活、语言和柏林墙。

What’s your process for revising first drafts?

您修改初稿的过程是怎样的？

I tend to write by hand in journals.

我倾向于在日记中手写。

I edit as I go a little bit, but the big first revision is when I decide something I’ve written in the journal is going to be put in a Word document for possible keeping.

我会边编辑边编辑，但最大的第一次修改是当我决定将我在日记中写的内容放入 Word 文档以便可能保存时。

At that point, it’s not just transcribing the journal.

到那时，这不仅仅是抄写日记。

It’s deciding which of those words are actually going to make the cut.

它正在决定哪些词实际上会被淘汰。

A lot of things fall to the wayside then.

那时很多事情都会被抛在一边。

I do a lot of reading out loud.

我经常大声朗读。

Sound is very important to me, so I think about how the words flow together or if they don’t, I want that to be deliberate.

声音对我来说非常重要，所以我会考虑文字如何流畅地融合在一起，如果没有，我希望这是经过深思熟虑的。

At this point, it feels like you’re acknowledging the possibility of a reader.

在这一点上，感觉就像你承认了读者的可能性。

So that changes how I look at it.

所以这改变了我的看法。

Who is one poet you’re reading right now?

您现在正在读的一位诗人是谁？

It’s one of the poets I’ve invited on this curation: Fox Henry Frazier.

这是我邀请参加这次策展的诗人之一：福克斯·亨利·弗雷泽。

Her new book, Break Blow Burn is not a book where you can just sit down and read it cover-to-cover.

她的新书《Break Blow Burn》不是一本你可以坐下来从头到尾阅读的书。

The complexity of the work and the nuance of it makes it something where I take a few poems at a time.

这部作品的复杂性和细微差别使得我一次只能拍摄几首诗。

It’s a lot slower for me in good, meditative ways.

从好的、冥想的角度来说，这对我来说要慢得多。

What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?

你做过的最奇怪的工作是什么？

When I was in graduate school, I worked the overnight shift at the parking garage in downtown Iowa City.

当我在读研究生时，我在爱荷华市中心的停车场上夜班。

So, I was in the little booth overnight.

于是，我就在小摊位里过夜了。

It was the most bizarre and uncomfortable loneliness to be in the little booth.

在小隔间里是最奇怪、最不舒服的孤独。

I got a lot of reading done!

我读了很多书！

I never felt unsafe, but it was just an odd, strange feeling.

我从来没有感到不安全，但这只是一种奇怪的感觉。

Where can we find you on a typical Saturday afternoon?

在典型的周六下午我们可以在哪里找到您？

Outside, most of the time, if I can be.

如果可以的话，大部分时间都在外面。

Or a coffee shop.

或者咖啡店。

Sometimes going to see my daughter in Chicago.

有时去芝加哥看望我的女儿。

Christmas.

圣诞节。

I hate winter, but it’s so much fun for me.

我讨厌冬天，但它对我来说很有趣。

It’s wonderful and cozy and it’s a hopeful holiday for me.

这真是美妙又舒适，对我来说这是一个充满希望的假期。

Alone.

独自的。

When I’m reading and when I’m open to writing.

当我阅读时以及当我愿意写作时。

It tends to be a really deliberate thing where I decide I’m going to be open to turning all my thoughts into poetry.

这往往是一件非常深思熟虑的事情，我决定开放地将我所有的想法变成诗歌。

If I’m reading something interesting, if I’m thinking creatively, like, I also want to be writing today , a lot of things come to me.

如果我正在读一些有趣的东西，如果我正在创造性地思考，比如，我今天也想写作，我就会想到很多事情。

I don’t have a routine; my life is a bit too hectic for that, but being alone and open to the creativity, and often, having books open.

我没有固定的生活习惯；我的生活有点太忙碌了，但我独自一人，对创造力持开放态度，而且经常打开书本。

If you weren’t a poet and teacher, what would you be doing now?

如果你不是诗人和老师，你现在会做什么？

I think I would be in foreign services or international diplomatic work.

我想我会从事外交工作或国际外交工作。

I’m always fascinated by history and politics.

我总是对历史和政治着迷。

I love learning languages.

我喜欢学习语言。

So something where I can use my brain a lot and also have to learn another culture as thoroughly as I possible could.

所以我可以充分利用我的大脑，同时还必须尽可能彻底地学习另一种文化。

If you could magically pick up languages today, what would be your top three?

如果你今天能神奇地学会语言，你会选择哪三种语言？

I know Spanish and French, so getting out of the Romance languages, I would love to be able to conquer German just because it’s so complicated and bizarre.

我懂西班牙语和法语，所以摆脱罗曼语系的束缚，我希望能够征服德语，因为它是如此复杂和奇怪。

Probably Russian, for the same reason; I haven’t learned any languages that uses a different alphabet system.

出于同样的原因，可能是俄语；我还没有学过任何使用不同字母系统的语言。

And Japanese.

还有日语。

My daughter took Japanese and I thought it was so beautiful when she was memorizing things and explaining to me how mechanically and grammatically things are structured.

我的女儿学了日语，当她记忆事物并向我解释事物的机械和语法结构时，我觉得它是如此美丽。

Is there a particular moment in history that’s fascinating to you?

历史上有没有哪个特定时刻让您着迷？

The fall of Berlin Wall.

柏林墙倒塌。

It was a very vivid memory, watching it on the news.

当年在新闻里看到的，记忆犹新。

It happened to be my birthday, I was turning 15, and the northern lights were out that night, which was very rare in the part of Michigan where we lived.

那天正好是我的生日，我已经 15 岁了，那天晚上北极光熄灭了，这在我们居住的密歇根州非常罕见。

So it ended up being this night of a lot of hope and optimism about the world.

所以这个夜晚最终成为了对世界充满希望和乐观的夜晚。

Later, I got really fascinated with everything that led up to the moment.

后来，我对导致这一刻发生的一切非常着迷。

What surprises you most about your life?

你的生活中最让你惊讶的是什么？

I am shocked to find myself a suburban mom.

我很惊讶地发现自己是一位郊区妈妈。

Everything about my life is fairly unremarkable on the outside.

从外表上看，我生活中的一切都相当平淡无奇。

I just thought it would be a bit more bohemian and off-track and international, but I’m very, very happy.

我只是觉得这会更加波西米亚风格、偏离轨道和国际化，但我非常非常高兴。

I have a good life, just not what I expected

我的生活很好，只是没有达到我的预期

What did you imagine your life would be?

你想象中的生活会是什么样子？

I knew I wanted to write by the time I was in high school.

当我上高中时，我就知道我想写作。

I think I thought I was going to be a best-selling novelist—I was sure I was going to write fiction because that’s where people have a potential of living off it.

我想我以为我会成为一名畅销小说家——我确信我会写小说，因为那是人们有潜力靠小说谋生的地方。

But that’s not where my guts were.

但这不是我的勇气所在。

I found poetry much more rewarding.

我发现诗歌更有价值。