EP 191: Interview with poet and author Leslie Cairns

Today, Tete DePunk, one of the co-hosts of The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, will be interviewing poet and author Leslie Cairns, who submitted her poem “Family Trees”,” to Issue 2 of our literary zine, “The Unconventional Courier.” She also submitted her short story, “Owl, Lunar, Twig” to Issue 3 of The Unconventional Courier.

Links to both of her works are at the bottom of the description.

Leslie's Bio:

Leslie Cairns (She/her): Leslie Cairns holds an MA degree in English Rhetoric. She lives in Denver, Colorado. She is a Pushcart Prize Nomination for 2022 in the Short Story category ('Owl, Lunar, Twig'). She was an honorable mention in Flash 405's call in Exposition Review (2022). She also won a Valentine's Day Writing Competition with Short Story Today (2023). Her poetry chapbook about eating disorders and therapy, titled 'The Food is the Fodder', is available for purchase and to read through Bottlecap Press.

You can follow Leslie on Twitter @starbucksgirly

Tete DePunk asked Leslie the following questions in this interview:

1. What inspired you to write “Owl, Lunar, Twig”?
2. What inspired you to write, “A Menagerie of Animals”?
3. You said that for both of these works, you had to overcome doubts when writing these respective works.
4. How did you overcome the doubt? Do you often face doubt when you set out to create a work?
5. How would you advise others to overcome doubt in their creative or personal journey?
6. What is the best encouragement you’ve encountered in your creative journey?

Leslie’s works for "The Unconventional Courier"

Family Trees: https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/family-trees

Owl, Lunar, Twig: https://tetedepunk.wixsite.com/theunconcourier/post/owl-lunar-twig

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