In the Book Nook with … Katy E. Ellis

Author Katy E. Ellis from Vashon Island, Washington, who does administrative work for her local public health department, started writing when she was 8 years old and received a Hello Kitty diary for her birthday. She began writing poetry in high school, studied creative writing at university, and has never stopped writing. In 2012, dancing girl press published her first chapbook, Urban Animal Expeditions. Her second chapbook, Night Watch, was the winner of the 2017 Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Contest (now called the John Pierce Chapbook Award). Her latest full-length book, Forty Bouts in the Wilderness, was first runner up for the 2024 MoonPath Press Sally Albiso Award and has just been published in March. Katy E. Ellis belongs to a small writing group that meets once a month to workshop their poems together. She is also a member of Hugo House in Seattle. When Katy isn’t writing, one of the first things she chooses to do is to walk in the forest or along a beach. Sometimes she creates small art pieces to share at a local “Free Art Gallery” in downtown Vashon. She also likes working out in the garden when the weather’s warm enough.

Which genres do you cover?
Katy E. Ellis: I mostly write poetry but have also always written prose—either short stories, novellas, or micro-fiction. I like mixing up genres and trying to make fragments connect to each other in various ways.

Which is the latest book you had published, and what is about?
Katy E. Ellis: My latest book is a poetry collection called Forty Bouts in the Wilderness. The poems unfold layers of memory that cascade from experiences related to early childhood religious indoctrination, the near-death of a parent, miscarriage, and a search for home. The varied poetic forms (including a lyrical, fragmented essay) and geographical locations in the collection support the theme of searching for a new way to enfold our past and our personal faith into our daily lives.

At which book events can readers find you?
Katy E. Ellis: Because Forty Bouts in the Wilderness will be newly published this year, I’ve been working on a “Book Tour” of various reading events—often with other excellent writers reading with me! Readers interested in attending a reading (or two?) can check my website (which I obsessively keep updated) here: https://www.katyeellis.com/events/ .

Which book event connecting you with readers is your favorite and why?
Katy E. Ellis: My favorite events are in-person readings at cafés or bookshops because you can feel people’s energy and dedication to having made the physical journey to be there to hear and absorb the poetry or prose being shared out loud. Virtual readings can have a similar feeling and can work in a pinch (as during the pandemic) but I love the felt connection at in-person readings.

Do(es) your book(s) have any specific messages to your readers and, if so, which are they?
Katy E. Ellis: A recurring message or theme in my work has to do with encouraging people—especially women—to question what they’ve been taught about their own spirituality; to trust in their personal connection to God/dess or whatever they feel is a greater, guiding power. Forty Bouts in the Wilderness wrestles with grief and loss at the physical, emotional, and spiritual level. But readers can find hope there in the wandering through and wondering about life’s difficult experiences. Connecting with nature as a way of connecting with oneself to find solace and strength is another recurring message in my work. This can be how we can define and find our way home or back to ourselves.

Which writer(s) keep(s) inspiring you and why?
Katy E. Ellis: There really are so many, it’s difficult to nail down! But, for a few years now I’ve been inspired by poet Claire Wohmanholm. I’m drawn to the poetic forms she chooses and how they enhance the poems, which are often surreal, disturbing but also emotionally true and beautiful. I also love the work of Ta-Nehisi Coates for his clear writing and strong voice. He can get into the weeds of things, never shying away from the expanding complexities of racism and inequity in our country. For fiction, I keep my eyes out for new books by Louise Erdrich and Elizabeth Strout, or I might return to their work as well as that of Wendell Berry. These storytellers give their characters and settings so many dimensions that I feel myself believing their internal and external lives truly exist somewhere in the world with me.

Do you have any specific writing habits?
Katy E. Ellis: I’ve kind of let myself off the hook as far as having fixed writing habits or routines. I used to believe that I had to write everyday—like, sit down and write a poem in my journal or in a Word doc—or I couldn’t really consider myself a writer. Maybe striving for that habit and failing, helped me see that I come to writing in cycles and it’s always something I must do but maybe not in a real structured way. The one consistent, natural habit for me is that I write in the mornings, before my day job, or before any weekend plans. Mid-day writing is a rarity. And after 5:00 p.m., I’m totally clocked out. A writing habit that has changed for me since the pandemic is that I now write at the kitchen table since my pre-COVID writing space has become my work-from-home office. When we need the table for anything else, I pile up my things and move them out of the way.

What are you currently working on?
Katy E. Ellis: Currently, I have no distinct writing projects, but I’m always writing poems. Having a writing group has been such a huge gift to my writing life because I want to write or revise poems by a certain deadline to share with my group. I’ve got a vague idea for a novel/fake-memoir that is just bits and pieces right now. My energy this year will also be devoted to sharing Forty Bouts in the Wilderness with the world. That’s a big undertaking, and a big honor.

Which book are you currently reading simply for entertainment?
Katy E. Ellis: Not sure if I can say it’s for entertainment or more for engagement or just learning (which can be entertaining), but I’m currently reading Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange, The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Something about Living by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha. I enjoy having a few different books in different genres on the go at once.

What advice would you give any aspiring author?
Katy E. Ellis: Write every day no matter what for at least eight hours without stopping. Kidding! I would say, yes, carve out time to write and make writing a priority (it’s certainly more likely to happen when you are intentional about it than just waiting for the spirit to move you)—but allow yourself to absorb and be present in the array of life experiences that surface every day. Oh, and read, read, read. I don’t think in my early writing days that I valued reading as much as writing, and I feel like as I’ve grown older, I see the connection more and how reading feeds writing. So, I would advise aspiring authors to read every day no matter what for at least eight hours without stopping. Again, kidding.

You can find Katy E. Ellis’ books at Open Books: A Poetry Emporium, Elliott Bay Books in Seattle, and the Vashon Bookshop (Vashon Island), anywhere else where books are sold, and you are also welcome to contact her personally for a copy through her website, www.KatyEEllis.com.