Kim Malinowski - Author Interview

 1. Tell us a little about yourself 

I am Kim Malinowski and I am a lover of words. I read the dictionary in the second grade and the thesaurus in the third. I earned my B.A. from West Virginia University, my M.F.A. from American University, and I studied with The Writers Studio. I am bipolar and have a litany of anxiety disorders. One medication that was used to treat my bipolar disorder caused aphasia for almost five years. I was humbled by the sharp difference between holding an M.F.A. and all of the writing dreams that went with it and the lack of any dreams when I could not even read a picture book. My medication was switched and taught myself to read and write again. Not everything I say or write is perfect because of this. But on the converse side, I write better with the new techniques I have taught myself (colored pens and word magnets) than I ever did even during my M.F.A. program. I have even begun teaching these techniques. I believe that I have been given a second, or even third chance, and that I will not waste it. My motto is “write like the stars will shatter like glass tomorrow.” I live like they will.

2. Tell us a bit about the book

My book Home was published by Kelsay Books in March 2021. The collection focuses on where home is and with whom it resides. I have been told by readers that is a book dealing with grief as well. The title poem, “Home,” begins in North Dakota where my grandfather was born and focuses on my narrator’s place or lack thereof in that world. The book travels through ancestors, grief, fitting in, and ends with a poetry sequence about a widow trying to find herself again after her husband’s death without losing her treasured memories. 

3.  What inspires your writing?

Daily life, adventures, writing workshops, history, folk lore, and my neo-pagan path all influence if not inspire my work. I always push my own boundaries and have started writing prose as well as poetry. I write atrocity and mental health poetry as well as speculative fiction and poetry.

4. Do you have a ritual when you write, favorite place to go or certain things you do before writing?

Before the pandemic, I would answer my living room or the local Starbucks. Now, I say my car and the McDonald’s parking lot. I do not joke that my next book will be dedicated to my local McDonald’s parking lot that greeted me several times a day during the pandemic and was not illegal to travel to. In terms of other rituals, I am all about the ‘right’ journal for the piece I am writing. I am in love with junk journals, and these allow me to get past writer’s anxiety. I do not believe in writer’s block. I have special journals for every project. I’m embarrassed to even try to count how many journals I have—but they all have a mission in my writing.

5. What’s next for you?

I have seven full collections, mostly novels in verse, that I am trying to find publishers for. I am a host and teacher on the Mighty Networks site The Terra Nouveau Lyceum and I run a writing portal in Moon Feather Hollow, also on the Mighty Networks. I teach “Hybrid Shorts” monthly for the Montgomery County Public Libraries, and I have been guest teaching at The Poetry Salon. I also am a blogger for borrowed solace.

6.  Where can we find you on social media?

My website is www.kimmalinowskipoet.com

My Facebook Author account is Kim Malinowski

Twitter Handle: @KimMalinowski3

Instagram: malinowskikim

The Terra Nouveau Lyceum (mn.co)

Moon Feather Hollow (mn.co)

7. Where can we find your book?

kelasybooks.com, Amazon, and most retailers.