Q&A with Ellie Fisher
“The sky bites down. Tremors break out, shivers of wild civility.”
~ ‘Orbit’ by Ellie Fisher
Your poem 'Orbit' is an imaginative take on the theme of revolt/revolution, using cosmic and domestic imagery to explore how two people can be intensely drawn to one another. What was the inspiration behind this piece?
‘Orbit’ was inspired by personal experience but also from observation. The intention behind the use of contrasting celestial and mundane imagery was to sharpen and heighten the tone of the poem, so as to recreate for the reader the effect of the original experience.
Your poem is full of flickering motion and an interplay between light and dark that reminded me of 'chiaroscuro' paintings. How important is visual imagery in your writing process?
Visual imagery is massively important in my creative process. The twentieth century German writer W.G. Sebald used the technique of using found images to help him construct his narratives. This is a significant part of my practice, regardless of whether the images make it into the final finished piece. The process through which imagery transitions from reality to photography to word images is deeply interesting to me. The way in which photography and art can converse with literary forms is something I attempt to explore and actualise in my writing. I like the way a visual image can be developed and exposed through words into linguistic imagery, and how, in each reader’s mind, this word image can spark a fresh cascade of memories and reflections.
Your poetry appears in Not Very Quiet and Pelican, while your flash fiction is published by Night Parrot Press. What do you enjoy, or find challenging, about both forms?
I see my poetry and flash fiction as being directly connected by prose poetry, as the form thieves the intoxication of poetry and combines it with measure and weight of prose. Therefore I feel like the two separate forms speak to one another. I enjoy the challenge of distilling and chiselling thoughts and emotions in both forms, which both demand extreme brevity.
You begin your poem ‘in/delible’ with a quote from Mary Oliver. Who are some other great writers or poets you admire?
Mary Oliver is certainly one of the writers who lives in my pantheon of creative imagination! I appreciate her simplicity and connection to eco poetics. Other poets I admire include Paul Hetherington, Ted Hughes, and Sylvia Plath. I admire Hetherington’s mastery of prose poetry, and the way in which he creates quiet, breathtaking moments which are full of significance. Ted Hughes has a muted power that stuns me in its clipped perfection, while his pagan and nature imagery are stunning. Finally, Sylvia Plath is the poet I admire the most, and who I return to on a weekly basis. Plath is linguistically gorgeous, her use of imagery is staggering, her enjambment is daringly experimental, and the psyche of her work is striking. Each time I revisit her poetry I feel the raw electricity of her words; I have huge respect for her.
Ellie Fisher studies History and English at the University of Western Australia. Her poetry is regularly featured in Not Very Quiet, a biannual online women’s poetry magazine, and Pelican, Australia’s second oldest student publication. After appearing in Night Parrot Press’ inaugural flash fiction collection in 2020, in April her work will again feature in their next volume, Twice Not Shy: One Hundred Short Short Stories.