Holly Rowsell's 'a perfumed expiry'

a poem and interview

Now then,

Earlier today I published two poems by Holly Rowsell, one of which can be found below. Holly kindly accepted my invitation take part in a short interview to find out more about her poetic influences and gave further insights in to her composition.

‘a perfumed expiry’, by Holly Rowsell

i'll pack the near empty
glass bottle when visiting
home on weekends.

cinnamon and cardamom.
week old coffee.
fragrant receipt.

do you remember?
it’s the only one
you ever recognised.

in our lives still unlived
are there seven milliliters
of perfume left between us?

---

Another one of Holly’s poems, ‘how have you been???’ can be read here.

An interview with Holly Rowsell

Joe Pickard: Which poets have had the biggest impact on you?

Holly Rowsell: Early last year I took part in a summer workshop lead by Chicago poet Steven Willis which greatly shaped the way I write. Each of my poems since has been improved in some part by his advice. Otherwise, the poetry I most often engage with is written in Aotearoa. Tayi Tibble, Hera Lindsay Bird and Cadence Chung are some favourites who I’ll recommend every chance I get!

JP: What are your favourite lit mags at the moment?

HR: Most of the lit mags I read are close to home, being based in Pōneke or elsewhere in Aotearoa. Sweet Mammalian is my favourite journal of all time and I suspect it will go on holding this space forever. I read it religiously. Landfall, Catalyst and takahē are other wonderful publications I’m always keeping up with.

JP: Do you have any routines or habits for writing?

HR: I’d love to be more situated in a regular routine, but truthfully, I just write when I write! I’m one to collect fragments in my journal or notes apps, sometimes for weeks at a time, until the pieces fall together. In these moments, many poems tend to form in quick succession. Other times, an image or line is strong enough to build an entire poem around in one afternoon. My writing is more haphazard and irregular than I’d like. I’m working this year to carve some dedicated writing time into each day.

JP: I really loved ‘a perfumed expiry’, I think the scent of smell is so well to utilised. What made you chose cinnamon, cardamom, and ‘week old coffee’?

HR: This poem reflects a dear time in my life and I wanted to recreate a certain warmth. To me cinnamon and cardamom imbue that familiar and homely feeling. This comfort needed its counterpart, denoting the lingering ache of the past. It’s the bite of a coffee, one that’s been left a while. The result is something both sweet and bitter, warm and cool.