Susan Black Allen caught my attention as a featured reader at a Poets INC open mic, for the tantalizing title of her debut collection The Best Sex I Never Had: Secrets & Solace of a Psychotherapist. And then for her polished performance of narrative poems that welcomed the audience into her world of dating after divorce, false starts, and therapy.
Welcome to the Poetry Shop 5, Susan! We like to start by asking our guests: who was your gateway poet?
Mary Oliver–she’s a storyteller who invites you into her world. Her language is straightforward, approachable, yet so rich with detail and nuance. I adore her as I know many people do! I am currently reading her final collection Devotions, which is wonderful.
Which poetry books are on your current “to read” list?
I’m looking forward to reading Carlos Ornelas’ book Ketchup. I saw him read in Los Angeles. His words sang and moved me deeply. I felt like I briefly stepped into his world as a Latino man, a culture and worldview very different from my own.
Another book on my list is by Alix Klingenberg, Quietly Wild: Poems, Photographs, and Rituals to Mark the Seasons. I enjoyed Bread, Sex & Trees, gifted to me by a friend who knows Alix. We are all Unitarian Universalists. Alix is an ordained minister in the faith.
Is there a book on the craft of writing that you recommend to poets?
I have picked up The Portable MFA in Creative Writing (The New York Writers Workshop) on and off over the years. It has chapters on writing poetry, fiction, personal essays, memoir and playwriting. It gives you assignments for "Week One," "Week Two," and so on. I always loved school, but going back to get an MFA isn't in the cards for me, at least not right now. This is a way to "scratch that itch" and be given much welcome guidance and structure!
Finally, what’s a poetry book that others may not know about but deserves a shout out?
Karla Cordero's How to Pull Apart the Earth. I met Karla at the Oceanside Book Festival and she was so kind! We ended up buying each other's books. She writes beautifully about growing up in the desert in a border town -- an experience far from my own growing up in the woods of New England. I look forward to attending Karla's "Glassless Minds" open mic sometime soon.
About Susan Black Allen
Susan is a psychotherapist who works with military families. Her poems and essays on mental health, relationships and parenting have appeared in The Boston Sunday Globe Magazine, the San Diego Annual Poetry Anthology, and the non-profit This is My Brave. More of her work can be found at susanblackallen.com and on Instagram at @poetsusanblackallen.
Books Referenced
The Best Sex I Never Had: Secrets & Solace of a Psychotherapist by Susan Black Allen
Devotions by Mary Oliver
Ketchup by Carlos Ornelas
Quietly Wild: Poems, Photographs, and Rituals to Mark the Seasons by Alix Klingenberg
The Portable MFA in Creative Writing by The New York Writers Workshop
How to Pull Apart the Earth by Karla Cordero
