Paisley Rekdal Archive
In her recently published book, Paisley Rekdal argues that, in accepting our dual condition, the adventurous artist, regardless of race or other identity, must be willing to brave criticism; she insists that all creative writers, both fledgling and veteran, search within to find their own ethics of literary invention.
Paisley Rekdal’s sixth poetry collection explores the ways desire, pain, fear, and trauma transform us, often without our permission, and often into something unexpected.
Telling has the function of establishing authority, what our rhetorician friends call ethos, especially when the first-person point of view functions as a witness to an event or atrocity.
Paisley Rekdal’s writing explores identity in its many facets: the experiences and influences that make us who we are and all the ways we shape, and are shaped by, our world. I had the chance to connect with this writer I’ve long admired to talk about Imaginary Vessels.