Member Spotlight: Mary Elaine Odden

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world?
I think the only truly unique human thing (since my dog knows how to use tools too) is our ability to witness, mostly each other, but who knows. Writing is the kind of witnessing that takes place between a page and unknowable others. In any time of isolation, where could it be more real or important?

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block?
Sit down and read a paragraph of where you left off.

What is your favorite time to write?
Morning, but it can happen any time I get to my writing place.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers?
Trust that the story you want to tell is worth telling.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age?
The internet allows research from home.

Mary Odden’s Mostly Water: Reflections Rural and North is out now with Red Hen Press.