Barrelhousing with Assistant Poetry Editor Lane Berger
In this new interview series, we’ll be getting to know some of the very essential folks who work behind the scenes here at Barrelhouse, our Assistant Editors. These are the people on the front lines, generously donating their time to read submissions and help put great new writing out into the world. Today we’re sitting down with Assistant Poetry Editor Lane Berger.
1. Okay, first: tell us about all the things you do that aren’t Barrelhouse-adjacent.
I’m in a creative slump, so be it. I started working as an Editorial Assistant for Oxford University Press in July of 2021 and have been really consumed with helping our nascent OUP USA Guild.
My writing will always be there for me when I’m ready. In the meantime, I’ve been growing out my hair, taking a lot of baths, cooking, and cuddling with my cat Lupin-Reid.
2. What made you want to work with us?
Barrelhouse does it right. They don’t tell editors to linger over submissions by established artists. They don’t commission pieces, so there’s no “slush” really–just art. In short, by encouraging readers and writers to come to the page exactly as they are, Barrelhouse makes the literary world a more authentic and accessible place.
3. What are you looking for in poetry submissions? What makes a poem stand out from the slush pile for you?
Pacing. I don’t mean space to breathe but space for the reader to think.
Dynamism is important too. For me, the brevity of the medium means a poem must be functioning on multiple levels. As I read, I’m chewing each word for color, tone, texture… Good poems are tidal, with every line pulling away from or crashing toward the poem’s reason for being.
4. Who are some of your favorite contemporary poets?
Mary Ruefle, Jihyun Yun, Simone White…
5. If you could change one thing about the current lit world, what would it be?
Everyone has a story to tell. E-v-e-r-y-o-n-e. But who are we listening to?
Once we find a voice that resonates, are we doing all we can to amplify it?
6. We’re legally obligated to ask you this: what’s your favorite Patrick Swayze movie?
I think there’s a typo here. Did you mean Sir Patrick Stewart?
You should come over sometime after this terrible pandemic. I’ll make lasagna and cocktails, and we’ll watch Star Trek: TNG or Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (SPS voiced Lord Yupa in the 2005 dub).