Episode 12: Chelsey Clammer, author of BodyHome
Chelsey Clammer
I decided to interview Chelsey Clammer because I was super impressed with her dedication to writing and publishing. I’ve joked that she’s a submission machine, but this woman is no heartless robot. Spirituality is at the center of her writing practice and in this interview, you learn how she uses it to connect with her body and the world. We talk about her essay collection BodyHome, out now from Hopewell Publishing, and a creative essay she wrote featuring the lyrics of Lil’ Wayne and Bette Midler.
I also snagged Lisa Cron when she spoke at my job. I asked her what I thought would be a closed-end question and got my microphone handed right back to me! You’ll hear Lisa’s answer after this week’s Writer’s Check In which includes a publication shout out for yours truly in the journal Full Grown People.
Listen in your browser or download on iTunes. Show transcripts are available here.
Some links to people or places mentioned in the episode:
Lisa Cron, author of Wired for Story
The Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review
“Dear You” by Chelsey Clammer in the Atticus Review
Rainier Writing Workshop MFA Program
Show Notes:
0:48 Writer’s Check- in
2:45 Q&A with Lisa Cron
7:40 Chelsey Clammer Interview
9:26 Chelsey’s submission process
13:27 What Chelsey’s learning from the MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University
17:44 Chelsey’s editing tips
23:22 Writing as a spiritual process
26:46 Chelsey reads an excerpt!
31:11 Do vivid details come on revision?
34:33 Analyzing repeated images in BodyHome
38:17 Chelsey on making connections between intros and conclusions
44:56 Analysis of “Dear You,” an essay featuring Lil’ Wayne and Beth Middler
53:29 Chelsey’s advice for herself five years ago
Chelsey Clammer
ABOUT CHELSEY CLAMMER
Chelsey Clammer is currently enrolled in the Rainier Writing Workshop MFA program. She has been published in The Rumpus, Essay Daily, The Water~Stone Review and Black Warrior Review (forthcoming) among many others. She is an award-winning essayist, and a freelance editor. Clammer is the Managing Editor and Nonfiction Editor for The Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review, as well. She is also the Essays Editor for The Nervous Breakdown and Senior Creative Editor of www.insideoutediting.com. Her first collection of essays, BodyHome, is forthcoming from Hopewell Publishing in Winter 2014. Her second collection of essays, There Is Nothing Else to See Here, is forthcoming from The Lit Pub, Spring 2015. Clammer is currently working on a collection of essays, Circadian, that weaves scientific facts with personal stories in order to look at the poetics of the body.