Christina Cook’s poems, translations, essays, and reviews have appeared and are forthcoming in a number of journals, most recently including Cimarron Review, Crab Orchard Review, Dos Passos Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Prairie Schooner, and Valparaiso Poetry Review. Two of her poems were nominated for the Best New Poets 2011 anthology and her manuscript was a finalist for the 2010 Bull City Press First Book Prize. Christina holds an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a contributing editor for Inertia Magazine and Cerise Press. She is a senior writer at Dartmouth College.

In answer to our question of why she writes, Christina responded:

“What keeps me moving forward as a writer is very simply physical need. Many people feel their stress levels escalate when they skip a workout. I do just fine when I miss a morning run (or a month or more of morning runs) but if I go too long without writing poetry, my brain begins to feel claustrophobic and my spirit withers in the consequent darkness. Poetry, for me, is a way of locating myself in the world; it’s my way of processing thoughts and experiences. Sometimes the process of writing a poem will lead me to an epiphany of sorts, and it’s cool when that happens; but more often, it balances me just to know I’m swimming through the murk of life’s deep-end rather than staying safely close to shore.”

 

 

 

 

   
 

 

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