Each day leading up to the 32nd annual Minnesota Book Awards announcement, we’ll be featuring an exclusive interview with one of our 36 finalists.
Interview with D. Allen, author of A Bony Framework for the Tangible Universe, part of the Poetry category, sponsored by Wellington Management, Inc.
How does it feel to be a Minnesota Book Award finalist?
Being a finalist along writers I love and admire feels like winning in itself. As a transplant to Minnesota, I am grateful to be living and working in Minneapolis within a beautiful network of artists, writers, activists, and change-makers that has deepened over time. My communities near and far makes my work possible, and I see the Book Awards process as an opportunity to create new connections and relationships.
Tell us something about your finalist book that you want readers to know?
This book is about my particular experience as a queer, genderqueer, disabled artist, but my hope is that it resonates for people across lines of difference. First and foremost, I see A Bony Framework for the Tangible Universe as a gift I can offer my past, present, and future communities, even when illness leaves me without reserves to connect in the ways I’d like to.
Share something about your writing process and preferences. For instance, where is your favorite place to write?
I often work from home, in a studio space I’ve created in my apartment. My writing practice involves many elements beyond language—reading, drawing, painting, photography, travel, performance, and mixed-media elements—so I enjoy working in a space where I can easily adapt my work plan to the needs of a current project. I also regularly work from bed, in solidarity with my fellow disabled and chronically ill artists.
Minnesota has a reputation as a state that values literature and reading. In your experience, what is it about our state that makes it such a welcoming place for writers and book creators?
I’ve been asking myself this question since I moved here in 2014, but I still don’t have a definitive answer. All I know is that I’ve been lucky to find several poet-artist soulmates here rather than just colleagues, and that my network of Minneapolis writers continues to amaze, support, and challenge me in ways I never could have expected.
What is something you are good at that few people know about?
I have a knack for telling the time without looking at a clock—I can usually tell when a friend is about to arrive at my house or a kitchen timer is within 90 seconds of going off.
What do you love about libraries?
Everything—librarians are at the top, obviously, followed by the free exchange of information, and the opportunity for quiet reflection and study in the company of others. As someone who lives and often works alone, visiting my local library (Hosmer) is an opportunity for spontaneous connections that helps me see my work from a new perspective.
D. Allen is a queer poet, teacher, and multidisciplinary artist living in Minneapolis. They earned an MFA in Poetry at the University of Minnesota and this is their first book.