Lynne Thompson: Embracing the Unknown

Many poets are beguiled by the fundamental where did I come from question. Much of Lynne Thompson’s work traces the threads that influenced her sense of identity and how it interacts with politics and race. At the same time, the job of a poet is to find a new angle on how to address issues that may be “universal” or at the forefront of the zeitgeist. So, Thompson advises, “You need to get outside the frame and try on all the shoes in the story.” This is how you find your way through to something more unique. 

In this interview Lynne Thompson walks us through several poems around her adoption, what is known and what is not known, and what the imagination does with each. She talks about how to embrace the not knowing, and how poetry is really everywhere if you’re listening for it.