Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000
by Lucille Clifton
Lucille Clifton is a big inspiration for my poetry. As a former professor at my alma mater, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, I’ve heard a lot about Lucille Clifton these past four years, and for good reason. I admire her ability to create evocative images out of so few and simple words. In this collection are poems on femininity, race, aging, illness, death, and a host of other topics. I tore through this book much faster than I was expecting because of how closely I connected with Clifton’s voice. Her honesty and straightforwardness in her work is truly stunning. The poems read so easily and smoothly with their simplistic diction, yet they are so complex when it comes to theme and message. I think her poems are a wonderful read, even if you aren’t usually a poetry person and even if you don’t happen to be sitting by the water, the breeze tickling the pages.
Nicole Hylton is a writer-of-all-trades from Southern Maryland. She writes poetry, short stories, and has completed two novellas, Internet Official and Dropping Her Gloves. Her work has appeared in Aethlon and Avatar. She holds a B.A. in English from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, minor in Sociology & Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
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The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review was founded in 2010 as an online and print literary and arts journal. We take our title from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and include the full archives of our predecessor Moon Milk Review. Our aesthetic is eclectic, literary mainstream to experimental. We appreciate fusion forms including magical realist, surrealist, meta- realist and realist works with an offbeat spin. We value character-focused storytelling and language and welcome both edge and mainstream with punch aesthetics. We like humor that explores the gritty realities of world and human experiences. Our issues include original content from both emerging and established writers, poets, artists and comedians such as authors, Rick Moody, Cris Mazza, Steve Almond, Stephen Dixon, poets, Moira Egan and David Wagoner and actor/comedian, Zach Galifianakis.
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Nicole Hylton is a writer-of-all-trades from Southern Maryland. She writes poetry, short stories, and has completed two novellas, Internet Official and Dropping Her Gloves. Her work has appeared in Aethlon and Avatar. She’s beyond excited to be working with Eckleburg (and not just because The Great Gatsby is her favorite book.) She holds a B.A. in English from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, minor in Sociology & Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Eckleburg: What captures your interest most in your work, now, as a reader of your work?
Nicole Hylton:
I’m always compelled by the emotionality of my characters. My main characters (or speaker, in my poetry) are often those who struggle with some kind of inner turmoil, which comes out in musings as well as interactions with other characters. All of my characters are struggling with something, and I think it really comes through in how they act and speak with each other. So much is often unsaid or undone, which to me reveals so much about who these characters are.
Eckleburg: What are you working on now?
Nicole Hylton:
I’ve just finished my first draft of my second novella, Dropping Her Gloves, which was my senior project at St. Mary’s. I’m going to let that sit for a bit while I work on my poetry and my first novella, Internet Official, which I wrote in 2015. Although, I must admit it will be hard to put Dropping Her Gloves away because it’s a topic I’m so interested in (sports and gender) and a project that’s so close to me. But I know I will come back to it soon enough. In the meantime, I’ll be editing and sending out some of my poetry, so you can look forward to that.
Eckleburg: Who and what are your artistic influences?
Nicole Hylton:
I find myself influenced by both written and visual art. I’ve had deep interests in both ever since I was a kid, drawing on the walls of our house with crayon (sorry Mom and Dad) and staring at books for hours in my crib. I will always be inspired by The Great Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald for their tortured beauty and lyricism. Frida Kahlo inspires me with her sharp tongue and vulnerability in her art: her ability to communicate her pain and bear herself before her audience so viscerally is amazing. In general, I admire artists who can portray images beautifully on a page or canvas, despite whatever pain may be behind them.
Eckleburg thanks Nicole Hylton. Do you have new work published here at Eckleburg or elsewhere? Add your Selfie Interview and share the news with our 10,000+ reading and writing community. If you have a new book out or upcoming, join our Eckleburg Book Club and let our readers know about it.
Nicole Hylton is a writer-of-all-trades from Southern Maryland. She writes poetry, short stories, and has completed two novellas, Internet Official and Dropping Her Gloves. Her work has appeared in Aethlon and Avatar. She holds a B.A. in English from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, minor in Sociology & Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
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About Eckleburg
The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review is a print and digital literary journal. We offer original fiction — short stories, short short stories, hybrid—poetry and nonfiction. We also curate The Eckleburg Gallery — visual artwork and intermedia — as well The Groove including first released, original music by The Size Queens. Our archives include emerging and established writers, poets, artists, musicians and performers such as Rick Moody, Cris Mazza, Eurydice, Steve Almond, Stephen Dixon, Moira Egan, David Wagoner, Zach Galifianakis and many more. We run annual print issues, The Eckleburg Reading Series (DC, Baltimore, Chicago, New York….), as well as, the annual Gertrude Stein Award in Fiction with a first prize of $1000 and print publication.