Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Hanson.
Danielle, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve written poetry since college when I took a class in creative writing and realized I really enjoyed the game of creating a poem. Art is at its peak when it allows you to see the world in a new way. I hope to create images that throw the reader off-balance while delighting them. It’s fun. But writing was always a side hustle for me, something I would work on when my corporate job was quiet, or submit for publication during conference calls. About three years ago, I realized I had achieved my corporate goals, and my learning and growth curves had slowed. It was time to move on. I had built up an OK publication history by then, and through an amazingly lucky coincidence of timing, my first book was accepted within a couple of weeks of me turning in my notice at AT&T. Another stroke of luck happened right when I left my job–a group of women in my neighborhood launched a networking group for small business owners and included me. It was just what I needed to remind myself to use the skills I had developed in my business career for the purpose of my writing–the organization, career planning and networking skills have been extremely helpful. I even developed a mission statement: to create and facilitate wonder. This is the measuring stick I use for any opportunities that I’m presenting with or opportunities that I create. Poetry has the power to change the observer and their interactions with others and therefore the world. By replacing the goals of business from “money/sales” to “social impact/connections,” those same skills can be used to magnify the impact of my work.
I now have two collections of poetry: Ambushing Water, which came out in 2017 and was Finalist for Georgia Author of the Year Award, and Fraying Edge of Sky, which won the Codhill Press Poetry Prize in 2018. I’m a poetry editor for Doubleback Books and a Senior Reader for the Atlanta Review. My poetry has been the basis for visual art included in the exhibit EVERLASTING BLOOM at the Hambidge Center Art Gallery and Haunting the Wrong House, a puppet show at the Center for Puppetry Arts. I’ve collaborated with Little 5 Arts Alive to bring poetry to the streets of Atlanta. I do weekly one-minute poetry reading on social media (check it out!) I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, and I’m constantly trying to find new ways to expand my audience.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Absolutely not. The failure rate for publication is over 95% for poetry. My failure rate has improved from about 97%+ at the beginning of my career to about 90%. That’s a lot of rejection. A lot of work goes into building up an audience. I have over 200 journal publications, 2 books, dozens of public readings, super exciting collaborations. That translates to thousands of rejections. It is what it is. One of my first mentors told me “you are not your poem” and it’s really helpful advice when the rejections pour in. My value as a human doesn’t depend on whether my work was accepted today. Unhappiness comes from the difference in expectation and reality. Set your expectations as close to reality as you can while still having goals. Chip away at those goals over time. It’s a long journey and your voice is important.
what should we know about your business? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Back to my mission statement: I create and facilitate wonder. I love taking elements of the natural world–nature, sure, but also rats and pets and love and weeds–and surprising myself and my readers with them. I think I do endings well. I think I write strange, but interesting, ideas and images. I think I write poems that people will like who don’t think they like poetry. One of my neighbors yelled to me one-day “thanks for making me think weird thoughts” and that’s some of the best praise I could receive. Here are a couple of samples. The first is reprinting from my first book Ambushing Water. The second one is a recent work.
Eating His Dead Wife
It doesn’t even seem weird anymore,
eating his dead wife’s ashes
in his cereal every morning.
He enjoys being with her every day,
her inside him for a change.
If the cereal is sweetened,
he thinks of her eyes.
Bran reminds him of her navel
and how like a bowl it was.
He doesn’t know what will happen
when he runs out of her again.
Paw
Sometimes when asleep
I feel the cat’s paw
press gently on neck
warm, furred.
Slowly claws extract,
wrap the beat of blood,
contemplate desire.
Do you have a lesson or advice you’d like to share with young women just starting out?
You are not your poem. You are a human being.
And get a group of fellow writers who will give you honest, hard feedback on your work.
Contact Info:
- Website: daniellejhanson.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniellejhanson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielle.hanson.986
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/daniellejhanson
Image Credit:
Headshot by Erin Brauer
Glowing book picture by Center for Puppetry Arts
Black and white picture is by Colin Potts
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