Lee Ann Brown is Assistant Professor of English at St. John's University in New York City. A poet and filmmaker whose first book, Polyverse (Sun&Moon, 1999), won the New American Poetry Series Award. Her second book, The Sleep That Changed Everything, appeared in 2003 from Wesleyan. She is also the founder and editor of the small press Tender Buttons. Buy her books here. Go here to see a listing of her work online and other information. 1. What is the first poem you ever loved? Why? "Morning Has Broken" by Eleanor Farjeon. I loved the tune which was an ancient Celtic one and then when I got a hold of the Cat Stevens version of it as well. I loved the phrase "the wet garden" and that every morning can be like the first one. That is a sense I had in my childhood very strongly: that if you just listened to the birds sing and walked in the wet grass you felt a quickening within you of aliveness and this could happen in the world here and now. Because I liked this poem of hers so much, I did a report on her poems for children which I illustrated and then went onto write some of my own in the back of my little book on her. This is prescient for me of how I worked for years after that: in direct response and inspiration after reading someone else. 2. What is something/someone non-“literary” you read which may surprise your peers/colleagues? Why do you read it/them? Sharyns McCrumb's Ballad Mysteries — well those are too literary to count. 3. How important is philosophy to your writing? Why? French Feminism and theory has been inspiring to my work. I find poetry that grounds philosophy in language intriguing and full of possibility. I believe poetry can encompass any way of thinking and the charting of the way those thoughts arise and the nature of language and being is an area rife for discourse. 4. Who are some of your favorite non-Anglo-American writers? Why? Michael Ondaatje because he has such a range of work. He can make historical phenomenon come to life and be funny and sensuous. He has both a great sense of form and of humor. Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge: talk about philosophy in writing! Renee Gladman: Sci fi Stein. Harryette Mullen of course: the pun master! Julie Patton: interdisciplinary diva extraordinaire. She is one of those people who make poems at every turn of the email or phone message. 5. Do you read a lot of poetry? If so, how important is it to your writing? I read poetry whenever I can. I feel it triggers me to write. In my poem, "Resistance Play" in Polyverse I say something like “All I need is a little resistance / to come/ to terms. // All I need is to read you and fill in the blanks / for a new poem." I get really turned on by the possibilities that open up when I read someone who can really do it. 6. What is something which your peers/colleagues may assume you’ve read but haven’t? Why haven’t you? There are a lot of things I feel I am directly influenced by yet have only read glimpses of - much of Stein's work is so powerful you only need a sidelong glance, a homeopathic dose to send you on your way. 7. How would you explain what a poem is to my seven year old? A poem is what you write when you are in bed at night and you can't go to sleep. 8. Do you believe in a Role for the Poet? If so, how does it differ from the Role of the Citizen? I think that poetry can encompass any discipline, any discourse. A poet can choose any role they want to focus on and will probably have to deal with the political at some point or in some way in their lives. 9. Word associations (the first word which comes to mind; be honest): Lemon**Spicer Chiseled**Sculpture I**Thou Of**If Form**From 10. What is the relationship between the text and the body in your writing? I have drawn parallels of how sexual pleasure is like the generative act of writing and thinking. Now I'm trying to explain to myself, to the future Miranda and to the world what just happened: all this love and import of actually pinching off a bit of my flesh that is now transformed onto another exponentially growing fascinating human being. Places where the mental and physical and emotional intersect are crucial for me.