Barrelhousing with Assistant Poetry Editor Nathan Erwin

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 Nathan Erwin.

1) Okay, first: tell us about all the things you do that aren’t Barrelhouse-adjacent.

I’m a people-person’s people-person. Which also means I have difficulty saying, “no thanks,” and I end up doing a lot. Right now, my main gig is with NIH at Boston Medical Center where I am a Community Engagement Facilitator. I also organize and train young farmers for the Pocassett Wampanoag Land Trust and teach a course called “Sustainable World” at George Mason University.

When I’m not drowning myself in work –– I write poems. If it’s a good day, I may be writing poems on a mountaintop. Sometimes, if I listen hard, the landscape tells me its own poem.

You might also find me fishing, drinking black coffee, or twangin’ on a guitar. And above all, I love spending time with my wife, Olivia, and our Bernedoodle, Hazel June.

2) What made you want to work with us?

Barrelhouse was the first literary magazine I ever read. It helped open a door.

3) What are you looking for in poetry submissions? What makes a poem stand out from the slush pile for you?

Voice. The click into place of the speaker. As a poet, you know when you’ve touched the right voice(s). With practice, Voice comes to the table more and more often. It wants to be fed. I like it when you can tell a poet’s voice is fat from writing.

I also appreciate the “simple” poem. I meander in my work, so when I discover a poem that resonates in brief lines or with a controlled motif, I dig it!

4) Who are some of your favorite contemporary poets?

Children are my favorite poets: unencumbered and jubilant. I used to teach 3rd grade and loved the surprise of my students’ associative swerves.

But as for contemporary poets, I’d have to say: Vievee Francis, Bernadette Mayer, Larry Levis, Jimmy Santiago Bacca, Jaime Chavez, Lucille Clifton, Charles Wright, Taylor Johnson, Li-Young Lee, and Robert Creeley.

5) If you could change one thing about the current lit world, what would it be?

I’m put-off by a show-off.

I hear poems told by the constituency every day. It’s all around: on the bus, in the church, at the playground, [insert preposition and location here]. So, I’d change the exclusivity that permeates our writing culture, that says, “These are the poets with their special little words. And there’s the rest of the heaving masses.” That may be an overstatement, but you probably get what I mean. 

I’d also be happy to see more coupling of contemporary poetry and myth. Where did we misplace the stories our ancestors handed us? Stories with deep histories of place and bright turns of phrase. I think our folktales are as close to modern magic as we can get. And since poetry’s akin to magic, they should be reacquainted.

6) We’re legally obligated to ask you this: what’s your favorite Patrick Swayze movie?

“The Fox and the Hound 2” for his tempered voicing of the Johnny Cash inspired anti-hero, Cash.