Today I’m pleased to welcome Lady Grey to the blog. Her poetry collection, all her starry fates, was published on 6 September 2017.

Lady Grey kindly answered a few of my questions.

1. Tell us a little about all her starry fates.

all her starry fates is a collection of poems about identity. The search for it and for love, as well as the desire to find beauty, inspiration, and meaning in the every day.

I’ve always been drawn to fantasy and fairy tales and think poetry offers a unique space in which to explore the mythic and the unexpected, the truth beneath the surface of things.

2. What inspired the collection of poems?

So many things. A trip to Amsterdam spent going to art museums played a part as did revisiting some of my favorite poems, especially Ode to a Nightingale, by John Keats.

3. What process do you go through when writing a poem?

I never know what I’m going to write about in advance though there can often be a vivid image, memory, half-remembered dream or strong emotion that I want to explore. The main thing for me is to sit down and start writing, so that all those ideas have somewhere to go.

4. Is there anything about the process of creating your collection of poems that surprised you?

Yes! I had originally thought about writing a few short stories or a long essay— but all these poems started to come through instead. I wrote for about a year or so, alongside work and other projects, and realized that there were enough poems for a book.

5. What do you do when you aren’t writing? What do you do to relax and get away from it all?

Read, for the most part. I’m in the middle of ‘The Essex Serpent’ by Sarah Perry, and it’s wonderful. I also enjoy running in nature and find that it’s a great way to come up with ideas and receive fresh insights.

6. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life which book would it be?

It’s impossible to choose just one, but for poetry it would likely be ‘Devotions’ by Mary Oliver.

7. I like to end my Q&A’s with the same question so here we go. During all the Q&A’s and interviews you’ve done what question have you not been asked that you wish had been asked – and what’s the answer?

This is my first q & a for ‘all her starry fates’ so far, but I do think there’s a strong connection between music and writing, and am always interested in reading about what my favorite authors and listen to. Music helps me get into the right state of mind for writing — lately it’s been the soundtrack from Game of Thrones, which I’ll listen to over and over again to get back in the groove.

About the book

In all her starry fates, grey explores how the otherworldly relates to the everyday— with poems about love, loss, memory, inheritance, and belonging.