July Queer Creative Shoutout

Meet poet Holly Walker in July's queer artist feature

The Rot Spot is growing, and I am thrilled to share that in addition to my monthly research pieces exploring LGBTQ+ rights and queer history, I will also be doing a queer creative feature monthly as well. 

In my newsletter at the end of May called, Profits Over of People, I talked about the issues that can arise from corporations profiting off of LGBTQ+ pride while still supporting politicians pushing for legislation to remove LGBTQ+ rights. Since then, I've been considering ways to support LGBTQ+ business owners and creatives, and that's where the idea for this monthly feature was born. 

July's queer creative feature is on poet Holly Walker. For well over a year, I have followed Holly on Twitter (rip Twitter, I will not be calling it by X or whatever it is now). I've loved reading Holly's poems, and her beautiful typewriter poetry business has fascinated me. I was elated when she agreed to be The Rot Spot's first artist feature. Without further ado, here is the Q&A with Holly (it's been lightly edited for clarity). 

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Briefly tell me a little bit about yourself:

I am a 22-year-old queer writer who owns the business Holly's Typewriter Poetry, writing poetry on my Royal Heritage typewriter for people all around. Besides writing, I love reading books, supporting local businesses, and going to art museums. 

How did you get into poetry? 

Growing up, poetry was something I wasn't good at. I was interested in writing fiction and screenplays when I first started my undergrad at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. When I took my very first creative writing course, we focused on poetry for several weeks. I began to really enjoy writing poetry and saw it in a completely new way due to the instruction of my wonderful professor. After studying poetry in class, I continued practicing in my spare time to get better at it, and eventually, I fell in love with it. 

How long have you had Holly’s Typewriter Poetry and why did you choose to start your business? 

I've had my business since May of 2020. When COVID happened, I was finishing my classes at home while living with my parents. I have really bad asthma, so during this time, I was limiting my going out due to the pandemic. When summer arrived, I wanted to try to get my writing out there, whatever that looked like. I've had a typewriter since high school to write my friend's letters and experiment with a different way to write. I remember visiting Chicago a couple of years prior, and I saw a man do typewriter poetry. I never forgot that because it was so fascinating to me. To further practice writing poetry, I started my business.

What topics and themes weave in and out of your work? 

I pull most, if not all, of my inspiration from personal experiences. I try my best to carry around a journal to jot down certain details around me, bits of dialogue I find fascinating, and how I'm feeling during that moment. The people I know and my constant experience of life work as a muse to me.

Who influences you as a poet? Whose work do you LOVE? 

Oh gosh! There are so many. Marie Howe, Sylvia Plath, Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, and Joyce Carol Oates. They're all great.

What is your favorite type of poem to write? 

Stream of consciousness will always be a favorite. I also really enjoy writing ekphrastic poetry. 

You do custom poetry, is there any prompt you received that you especially loved or a poem you wrote for a special occasion that stands out to you? 

I love the really random prompts. Sometimes people will give me a couple of unrelated words, and I have to figure out how to make them work. I love a challenge like that. This wasn't for a special occasion, but a man got his wife a poem as a present. I always ask the partner getting the poem what color their partner's energy is and why. When I asked him, he said she was yellow like sunshine, and we both started crying. It was a beautiful moment. 

If someone wants to get a custom poem for you what is that process like and do you have any tips for someone on what they should include in the prompt? 

You can give me any word, description, idea, or nothing at all, and I can turn it into a poem. It is really dependent on what the person is looking for. They can include whatever they want! Or, if they have no idea what they want, sometimes I get creative liberty. Other times, people just tell me what's going on in their life, and I write about what I think they need. Normally, if the poem is for/about someone, I will ask guiding questions such as where did you two meet? What do you like doing together? What do you like about them? 

Is there anywhere we can read your published work? 

Yes! I included links to everything here: https://hollystypewriterpoetry.bigcartel.com/about-the-writer

If someone wants to get into poetry what advice would you give? 

Start by writing in a journal. Vulnerability is hard, and utilizing a journal is a good start in practicing how to confront and write about your feelings. 

What’s next for you? Anything new and/or exciting on the horizon? 

I am attending Emerson College in the fall! I just graduated with my BFA, and I am really excited to start my MFA program. I am moving to Boston from North Carolina at the end of August! I also will be coming out with a poetry anthology with a few other poets sometime in the next couple of months, so stay tuned for that! 

What’s a fun fact about yourself not related to your poetry? 

I used to be a barista for four years, so I know a good bit about coffee!

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If you’re interested in getting a custom poem from Holly, check out her website here and be sure to follow her on social media to hear updates on her custom poetry and the upcoming poetry anthology.