#CopingWith is CCM’s interview series run by managing editor Joanna C. Valente
Abigail Welhouse is a contributor in our anthology “A Shadow Map,” which was released on February 22, 2017. Besides that, however, Welhouse is the author of several chapbooks, Bad Baby (dancing girl press), Too Many Humans of New York (Bottlecap Press), and Memento Mori (a poem/comic collaboration with Evan Johnston). Of Bad Baby, Alex Crowley has said: “Welhouse’s imagery is lively and she navigates nostalgia without being maudlin, confronting moments of joy and self-doubt in equal measure…cutting as well as lighthearted.”
Luckily, Welhouse talked to me about her favorite gif, meal, and apocalypse plans:
Describe your favorite meal.
Made by someone else.
What music do often you write to, if at all?
Classical or baroque. Bach especially recalibrates my brain.
What are three books that you’ve always identified with?
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, Ruin by Cynthia Cruz, and all of the Saddle Club books by Bonnie Bryant.
Choose one painting that describes who you are. What is it?
Madame X. It reminds me to try to be brave about making art that risks offense. I’ve particularly loved that painting since my friend Micharne Cloughney included a song about it in her play The Way We Live.
Choose a gif that encompasses mornings for you.
What do you imagine the apocalypse is like? How would you want to die?
I picture someone pressing a button with the power to destroy the world. But I’d rather die in my sleep after knowing in advance for exactly one week.
If you could only watch three films for the rest of your life, what would they be?
The Princess Bride, Casablanca, and The Addams Family.
How would you describe your social media persona/role?
I try to be a resource for job leads, amusement, and supporting friends. When friends–especially longtime friends–write or make something beautiful, I’m so proud of them. Pride is a silly reaction, since I never have anything to do with their accomplishments. Still, I think it’s one of my better qualities. (For example–my longtime friend Rebecca Weaver published this beautiful essay about cleaning and grief recently, and I am so proud.)
What’s your favorite animal and why?
Horses, because they don’t need to listen to humans, but often do.
What do you carry with you at all times?
Altoid mints, wintergreen flavor only.
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (ELJ Publications, 2016), & Xenos (2016, Agape Editions). She received her MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, as well as the managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM. Some of her writing has appeared in Prelude, The Atlas Review, The Feminist Wire, BUST, Pouch, and elsewhere. She also teaches workshops at Brooklyn Poets.
Abigail Welhouse is the author of Bad Baby (dancing girl press), Too Many Humans of New York (Bottlecap Press), and Memento Mori (a poem/comic collaboration with Evan Johnston). Her writing has been published in The Toast, The Billfold, Ghost Ocean Magazine, the Heavy Feather Review, and elsewhere. Subscribe to her Secret Poems at tinyletter.com/welhouse.