Meet Emily Kerlin | Poet, Author of “Twenty-One Farewells”, Public School Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Kerlin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, let’s talk legacy – what do you want yours to be?
I want people to find joy in my poems. That may seem strange because most of my writing gestates in struggle: in loss, grief, fear, etc. But I think what people appreciate about my writing is that I can generally find hope or beauty or something comforting to lean into, even if the subject matter is sad or dark. For me, the way I get through is by distilling the hard stuff into smaller, more manageable parts. That, and remembering how much harder life was for my great-grandmothers! I hope that others will be inspired to do the same.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started writing poems when I was a little. I was part of a creative writing group in high school and I took a few poetry classes in college, but then I married and had kids and stopped writing for about 15 years. When I was going through my divorce, I found myself returning to writing as a means of coping with my overwhelming emotions and I realized this was something I wanted to pursue more seriously. I asked around and eventually found one poetry group and then another to join. That was about 7 years ago and I am still a member of both groups. It’s been in these spaces that I have found my voice and my confidence. I have learned so much about the work of poetry. The other poets in the group have all become my mentors– encouraging me to submit poems for publication, coaching me through readings, offering thoughtful critiques of my work. I am so glad I came back around to writing. I have had so many champions along the way who encouraged me to keep going, and to keep aiming high, even when I felt out of my depth. I think having solid mentors is the single most important predictor of success in the arts. You just have to those people saving you a place at the table, telling you that you belong there and that your work is of value.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would want to strike a balance between urban and natural spaces/experiences. In our town we have a wonderful park that has a walking trail going through a restored prairie with sculptures along the way so we’d take a walk around there. I would take them to one of our local art museums which has some great exhibits. I would take them to the University of Illinois campus which has such a lovely combination of young people and energy, but also so much incredible history and beautiful old buildings. We also have a pretty new African American Heritage Trail which would be interesting to explore together. I would take them to our Performing Arts Center to catch a show– maybe Buddy Guy or Andy Summers or Ani DiFranco. We could walk along Boneyard Creek and check out a coffee shop and have lunch at one of the great restaurants on campus–maybe ramen or shawarma or a poke bowl. We have a great bar that has local bands playing almost every single day during the summer on an outdoor stage, so we could take in some live music, then go for a long bike ride along the Kickapoo Bike Trail. But really my favorite place is my own backyard, so we’d probably spend a lot of time there just catching up on life and how weird it is to be 50.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have been part of a writing group called the Glass Room Poets for the last 6 years. When I started with them, I felt very much like an imposter– wholly unworthy of being in the group. I hadn’t really done any writing in 10 years, and even that was just writing in notebooks for myself. But now I have to credit each of them for their patience with me, and for convincing me, over time, that I belonged there. Even though the work I was bringing in the beginning was rough, they found things to celebrate and gradually helped me become a stronger, more confident and skillful poet. My husband has also been a stalwart supporter of Emily the Poet, even before I was thinking of myself that way. He is usually my first reader and his feedback is always insightful. I have learned to trust his judgement very much, whether he says–YES Em this is good, keep going with this, or hey– based on this– maybe you should consider working in the garden today?

Website: https://emilykerlin.com

Instagram: poemily14

Image Credits
1st photo (professional headshot) was taken by Della Perrone