In 2021, Howard County Poetry and Literature Society launched the Ellen Conroy Kennedy Poetry Prize in honor of its founding member, Ellen Conroy Kennedy. Now in its forth year, contest judges evaluated many submissions for mechanics and technique, clarity, style/music for our contemporary age, imagery/sensory power, and emotional resonance. Congratulations to honorable mention winner, Lauren Benoit, and the poem “A Poem for Robert Bly”. Read on to learn a little about the this poet and to hear the poem recited.

Tell us about your poem “A Poem for Robert Bly”. How did it come about? What sparked or inspired it?

I wrote this poem as I was coming off an eight-month long writing drought. At the time, I was hyper focused on editing my chapbook while simultaneously experiencing intense physical and mental burnout. I hadn’t written anything I liked in almost a year. Everything in my life felt dull and uninspired. I didn’t have any ideas, and I was feeling dried up creatively. Eventually I realized that I couldn’t just sit around waiting to be inspired. I had to go out and look for something to start a spark. That’s when I picked up a copy of Robert Bly’s collection My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy, hoping to find some inspiration in its pages. I was not disappointed. I was inspired the very moment I read “A Poem for Andrew Marvell.” The line “People who adore literature often say that fall / Is the best of all seasons” struck me. I found it intriguing and etched with truth, but I wanted to know more. I wanted to know why people who adore literature often say that fall is the best of all seasons. Then I thought, I’m a person who adores literature, and I also think that fall is the best of all seasons – so, why do I think that? “A Poem for Robert Bly” is an attempt to answer that question while paying homage to the poet who inspired it.

What was an early experience where you learned that language had power

I remember watching Gone with the Wind as a child and being rocked to my core when Gerald O’Hara says to Scarlett, “Do you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O’Hara, that Tara, that land doesn’t mean anything to you? Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.” Even as a small child I understood the power of those words and what they ultimately caused Scarlett to do and to become—for better or worse.

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

I am going to have to go with a kitten. Not just any kitten, but a very specific kitten. Last year my husband bought me the ‘Hair Raising Tail’ greeting card by Shawn Braley. On the front of the card there is a grey and white kitten reading a book and in a thought bubble above the kitten’s head there is a scene depicting a lion fighting a green dragon in front of a castle. To me, the image not only highlights the power of reading, but it also encourages readers to dream big dreams. It’s fitting because I often feel that I am just a small kitten, dreaming of being a lion.

Tell us about a writer or a book that you return to over and over for inspiration.

I have been greatly inspired by Anders Carlson-Wee and Kai Carlson-Wee, specifically, their collections Disease of Kings and Rail, respectively. I have repeatedly turned to these works for inspiration and craft study. I find their work accessible, yet innovative and fascinating. I am also a big fan of Ilya Kaminsky. Deaf Republic was indispensable to me when I was working on my first chapbook. I love works that tell stories on both the micro and macro levels. There is so much to admire and aspire to in each of these collections.

HoCoPoLitSo: What are you working on next and where can we find you.

I am currently working on a second chapbook and conducting research for my first full-length poetry collection which is sort of a historical fictionesque journey back to the seventeenth century. It’s heavily narrative, so it’s pushing me outside my creative comfort zone, but I’m up for the challenge and looking forward to the growth that will undoubtedly come from wrestling with narrative craft study. I can be found at gone.galt on Instagram.

Biography:
Lauren Benoit is a writer and artist. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University at Albany. She lives in Western New England with her husband, her son, and their cat Ronan Harkonnen.