Maya Williams Feature
We are thrilled this week to feature the work of Maya Williams, who has a poem in Issue 66 of Touchstone, which you can listen to here:
My Therapist Reminds Me Again How My Parents’ Divorce Plays a Role in My Trauma
Maya Williams (ey/they/she) is a religious Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who was selected as Portland, ME’s seventh poet laureate for a July 2021 to July 2024 term. Maya received a MFA in Creative Writing with a Focus in Poetry from Randolph College in June 2022. Eir debut poetry collection Judas & Suicide (Game Over Books, 2023) was selected as a finalist for a New England Book Award. Their second poetry collection, Refused a Second Date (Harbor Editions, 2023), was selected as a finalist for a Maine Literary Award. Their third poetry collection, What’s So Wrong with a Pity Party Anyway?, was selected as one of four winners of Garden Party Collective’s chapbook prize in 2024. Maya was one of three artists of color selected to represent Maine in The Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America series in 2020, one of The Advocate’s Champions of Pride in 2022, and one of Maine Humanities Council’s recipients of the Constance Carlson Public Humanities Prize in 2024. You can follow more of eir work at mayawilliamspoet.com.
Touchstone Associate Editor Mica L. Rich interviewed them.
On Grief and the Things We Stay Alive For, An Interview with Maya Williams
By Mica L. Rich
- Take me back to the beginning. What made you decide to publish your work? What pushed you over the line from writing to express yourself, to wanting to share your stories with others?
I first published my work in college, but what made me really decide to publish my poems and essays was a desire to connect with people. A desire to connect with people who thought, “Oh my goodness, me too!” when reading my work, or who are ready to share my work with a loved one if it’s not part of their lived experience.
- What was your favorite thing about being a Poet Laureate? What’s one thing you were excited to accomplish during your term?
My favorite thing about being a poet laureate from July 2021 to July 2024 was engaging with people in my community in Portland through poetry. I’m really proud of what I accomplished in my three years. I’m especially proud of my last program in my term: “What Do You Stay Alive For?” It was a reading for poets of color sharing work about suicide awareness and how writing keeps us alive while living in a hard world. It was also a space for resources for people of color’s mental health, some even led by people of color in Southern Maine.
- What influence do you hope your poetry (or poetry in general) will have on the world around us?
I hope my poetry and poetry in general will influence people in the world to stick around and make it better for as long as they can.
- Your most recent collection, What’s Wrong with a Pity Party Anyway?, explores complex themes of grief. These themes have become even more relevant as our world undergoes increasingly complex loss and change. What is one takeaway you would like people to have after reading your book? What is one lesson about grief you would like to pass on?
One takeaway I would like people to have after reading my book is that it’s okay that everyone’s journey with grief is different because of how nonlinear it is. I also hope people can find ways to have their own pity parties to express their grief in the best way that suits them.
- What’s a question about your work that you wish people would ask more often? What do you wish you could share that you don’t get enough chances to talk about?
Oooh! This is a good question. I wish people would ask more often about poetry commissions. I can be emailed at mayawilliams16@gmail.com if you’d like to pay me to write a poem for your loved one, an event, your organization/company, or your performance (e.g. drag, burlesque, music, acting, etc.) I’d love for more chances to talk about that. I’m working on a commission right now for a sculpture artist’s exhibition, for example.
See Maya read the title poem from What’s Wrong with a Pity Party Anyway?
Keep up with Maya online at:
X: https://twitter.com/emmdubb16
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmdubb16/
You can get her latest book here:https://gardenpartycollective.bigcartel.com/product/what-s-so-wrong-with-a-pity-party-anyway-by-maya-williams
