“I’m delighted to be able to be in community with fellow Texas writers even though I live far away.“
— Gregory Luce
A member of the Writers’ League since 2022, Gregory lives in Arlington, VA.
Scribe: Welcome, writer! Tell us — what do you write?
Gregory Luce: I write poetry, creative nonfiction, and book reviews.
Scribe: If you could choose one author to blurb your book, who would it be, and what would you want it to say?
GL: Rowan Ricardo Phillips. I would want it to highlight the depth yet accessibility of the poems and note the variety of subjects: music, nature, emotions, love.
Scribe: You have one book you’re allowed to push onto all of your friends, and they’re forced to read it to remain your friend — which one would you choose?
GL: Final Harvest (Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson) Even more than Whitman, ED seems to me to be the essential American poet. Her poems’ concision, emotional power, and wit have me returning to her work again and again. She has had a strong influence on my poetry. Every American poet should know her work.
Scribe: Tell us your WLT story.
GL: I encountered WLT at AWP2022. I visited the table and had a very enjoyable conversation with staffers. I’m delighted to be able to be in community with fellow Texas writers even though I live far away.
Scribe: Where do you see your writing taking you (or you taking it) in the future?
GL: I hope more poem publications, including more books. I’m also hoping to put together a collection of creative nonfiction.
Scribe: Here at the WLT, we love sharing book recommendations. What’s one book that has come out within the past few years that you couldn’t put down? (Bonus points if the book is Texas related!)
GL: Not Texas related (sorry!), but No Ruined Stone by Shara McCallum was the strongest book of poems I read this past year. It tells an alternative history of Robert Burns had he failed as a writer and instead followed his plan to emigrate to Jamaica and take a job as a plantation overseer. It thus examines through this lens contemporary issues such as race and sexual politics.
Scribe: Is there anything else about you that you would like to share with the world? An opportunity for blatant self-promotion!
GL: I have published five chapbooks of poems, most recently “Riffs & Improvisations” (Kelsay Books). I have published many poems in journals and anthologies. I write a column on the arts—including book reviews— for Scene4. I am Board Chair of Day Eight, a DC-based arts organization and Poetry Editor of our online journal Bourgeon.
Scribe: Where can our readers find more of you?
GL: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gluce1/
Twitter: @dctexpoet
Instagram: @dctex
