Poet LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs sits at her computer to talk with editor Seth Amos, at his computer, about poetic form and the trials of hair maintenance.
LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs is a vocalist, writer, and sound artist who publishes and performs extensively. She is one of twenty-nine authors from around the world whose work appears in the new anthology Writing That Risks: New Work from Beyond the Mainstream from Red Bridge Press.
Seth Amos: Your poem in the anthology, “bacche kā pōtRā,” is a golden shovel, a form created by Terrance Hayes when he used a line from Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem “We Real Cool.” Why did you decide to use this form, and how do you approach form for other poems?
LaTasha Diggs: I was invited to submit to another anthology that was focusing on the form. Before that time, I knew nothing about the golden shovel. But upon reading Terrance's poem and understanding how it was constructed, it made me curious. I ended up writing about eight within a week. Most loosely stuck to the formula. I don’t consider myself a formalist. When I decide to play with one, often it has to do with examining a language and finding ways in which my interests in using multiple languages can be juxtaposed against a form. Basically, I give myself a bigger headache.
Seth Amos: Your poem in the anthology, “bacche kā pōtRā,” is a golden shovel, a form created by Terrance Hayes when he used a line from Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem “We Real Cool.” Why did you decide to use this form, and how do you approach form for other poems?
LaTasha Diggs: I was invited to submit to another anthology that was focusing on the form. Before that time, I knew nothing about the golden shovel. But upon reading Terrance's poem and understanding how it was constructed, it made me curious. I ended up writing about eight within a week. Most loosely stuck to the formula. I don’t consider myself a formalist. When I decide to play with one, often it has to do with examining a language and finding ways in which my interests in using multiple languages can be juxtaposed against a form. Basically, I give myself a bigger headache.
"to groom was spiritual once"
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