​What is the name of the piece that you have in Grabbed?

In Memoriam Ann

What was the inspiration for your piece? What compelled you to write it?

It’s a true story: my husband had a friend from grad school that I met when we were all actors in New York. In the early eighties, it was just a matter of course for women to be sexually harassed—strangers commenting on your appearance or telling you to smile, catcalls when you walked past a construction site—and sometimes it got physical. Ann was stunningly beautiful, so I’m sure she got more than her share. What made this incident memorable was her fierceness in fighting back. That was unexpected back then, especially from a seemingly demure southern woman.

Why did you choose this particular form or genre for this piece?

It was a small anecdote in scope, so I decided to write a very short piece. I’m not sure how one would label this, poem or lyrical prose. The borderlines of genre are blurry for me.

As a writer, do you feel obliged to share difficult experiences? 

I don’t write out of obligation, I write out of what fascinates or compels me, the stories that keep nagging at me. Maybe that a kind of obligation, but it’s an obligation to the story.
 
Debra Dean is the bestselling author of four critically acclaimed books that have been published in twenty-one languages. Her debut novel, The Madonnas of Leningrad, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a #1 Booksense Pick, a Booklist Top Ten Novel, and an American Library Association Notable Book of the Year. Her newest book, Hidden Tapestry, tells the true story of Belgian-American artist Jan Yoors – childhood vagabond, wartime resistance fighter, New York bohemian – and the two women who agreed to share his life. New York Times bestselling author Ross King calls it “one of the most remarkable artistic stories of the twentieth century.” A native of Seattle, Debra and her husband live in Miami, where she teaches on the creative writing faculty at Florida International University.

​What is the name of the piece that you have in Grabbed?

"Redemption"

What was the inspiration for your piece? What compelled you to write it?

I decided to do a series on Fairy tales. I wanted to rewrite them from a feminist perspective. I think "Redemption" was the first of the series that eventually developed.

What compelled you to submit your work for this anthology? Was it a difficult decision? 

No, it was not difficult. It was one of the few that I have written that are about various kinds of abuse or uncomfortable situations. 
 
Why did you choose this particular form or genre for this piece?

I always write poetry, so this was no different than most of what I've written. 
 
Can you speak to the evolution of writing your piece? How long did it take you to write this piece, including revision? 

Probably a day. Most of my poems that work don't take more than a day (or night, actually, since I write at night). 
 
As a writer, do you feel obliged to share difficult experiences? Why?

I share whatever comes to my mind as a poem. Sometimes they are extremely difficult topics, and sometimes they are not. 

What do you feel the impact of the #MeToo movement has been on your work, if any? 

I really can't say the movement has impacted me one way or another. I've always been honest in my poems.
 
What would you say to another writer who has been uncomfortable or silent about their experience? How can they begin to share their experiences? 

I would say to write from your heart. Write what is true, feels true, and write what you know. And never be afraid of what people might say.
 
How can a publication such as Grabbed help to empower or heal readers?

I think it's important for people to know they are not alone, that others have had similar experiences, and seemed to have survived. It's important to feel INCLUDED, not excluded.

Barbra Nightingale’s newest book, Alphalexia, is with Finishing Line Press. She has eight other books, including Two Voices, One Past (Yellow Jacket Press, 2010), Geometry of Dreams (Word Tech, 2009). Over 200 of her poems appear in such journals as Rattle, The Florida Review, The Apalachee Review, Mississippi Review.com, Barrow Street, Calyx, Kalliope, Many Mountains Moving, Birmingham Review, Chattahoochee Review, The Kansas Quarterly and many others.  Her book, Singing in the Key of L won the 1999 NFSPS Stevens Poetry Prize. She is an emeritus professor from Broward College, and currently an associate editor with the South Florida Poetry Journal.