Student Spotlight: Jillian Hanson

Student Spotlight: Jillian Hanson

Interview

Why do you write?

I write to know what I know. I often (almost all the time) feel things deeply but have no words for what I’m feeling, so cre­at­ing poems helps me to under­stand my expe­ri­ence and get at what’s true. Also, writing keeps me sane and grounds me like nothing else. 

Is there an author who has most pro­found­ly influ­enced your work?

A few poets I love and wish I could write like are Mary Oliver, William Carlos Williams, Emily Dick­in­son, Adri­enne Rich. There are a million others, but these are the ones that come up first. Also, I’ve been an avid reader of fiction my whole life. Again, too many authors to name, but a few that I love: Ann Patch­ett, Louise Erdrich, Marge Piercy, and Mar­garet Atwood. And I can’t imagine my child­hood without James and the Giant Peach, A Wrinkle in Time, Stuart Little, and all the Little House books. 

Why did you choose Stonecoast?

I heard about Stonecoast from an alum not long after she grad­u­at­ed, and what she said lit a spark in me. I looked at other low-res pro­grams but this one stood out for its com­mu­ni­ty, it’s faculty, and its focus on writing for social justice.

What is your favorite Stonecoast memory?

I’m only in my second semes­ter, but I LOVE my fellow poets so much, the stu­dents and the faculty. What a stellar group of people. Also, during my first res­i­den­cy I bonded with two other “firsties” who just hap­pened to be exactly my age — 57 — and the #57club was born. They’ve been a won­der­ful support and source of joy for me ever since.

What do you hope to accom­plish in the future?

I want my work to live outside my own head, in what­ev­er form that takes. Obvi­ous­ly being pub­lished comes to mind, but what matters more to me is having an impact on others, moving the needle towards good in the world, even just a teeny bit. I want my poems to point others towards joy because we really really need that right now.

If you could have written some­thing already written, what would it be?

I wish I could write a poem as good as “Diving into the Wreck,” by Adri­enne Rich. This poem has meant a lot to me for a very long time. It feels useful, the way a map is useful when you’re lost. 



Jillian Hanson has been writing all her life, pro­fes­sion­al­ly and cre­ative­ly, alone and in groups. She has worked as a stage actor and direc­tor, a free­lance writer, and a com­mu­ni­ca­tions and devel­op­ment spe­cial­ist in the non-profit sector.

Cur­rent­ly, she’s a partner at Blue Sky Black Sheep (www.blueskyblacksheep.com), where she pro­vides cre­ative coaching/consulting and leads online writing groups. She lives with her husband on Sebago Lake in Raymond, Maine.



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