Back in September, I sat down with poet and editor Melissa Lemay for an interview on her site, Collaborature. Somehow I completely missed when the piece went live—and we can chalk that up to juggling a few too many projects at once, or my own scatterbrained nature, or… whatever—but that one’s definitely on me. Melissa did send me the link, and I figured it’s better to share it late than never!

We talked about Record of Dissent, the upcoming (as-of-yet untitled) collection about coping mechanisms, and how The Chaos Section Poetry Project came together. The conversation also wandered through writing habits, parenting, philosophy, politics, music, the messy-but-often-beautiful balance between creative work and everyday life, and, perhaps one day, having lunch with Jeff Tweedy.

Melissa’s questions were thoughtful and generous as always, and it was a real pleasure to take a step back and reflect on where this project came from, and where it’s headed next.

You can read the full interview here:

Fractions in a Spectrum: An Interview With Nick Allison

And while you’re there, be sure to explore some of the wonderful poetry and other interviews featured on Collaborature.

Huge thanks to Melissa for the thoughtful conversation and for being such an essential part of The Chaos Section Poetry Project.

— Nick Allison