Kris Underwood
The face behind the picture: Meet our third poster in Sally’s second-Thursday series, Voices of Hunger Mountain.
A Hunger Mountain Facebook friend recently asked: “Who are you HM? Who is the face behind the picture?”
Well, it’s me, mostly. Kris Underwood, Hunger Mountain intern, master of Facebook and Twitter.
My friends can tell you that I won’t give out much information about myself to anyone I haven’t known for a while. That’s just how I am. Seeing as I’ve been here at Hunger Mountain for a while, now, I’ll tell you this much: I’m a writer, mother, reader, generally nice person (not necessarily in that order).
I’ve been involved with a few small, online publications as various kinds of editor and I loved everything about that work. I loved the interaction with other editors and writers and I enjoyed the friendships that emerged. Mostly I loved being surrounded by words and ideas—“the business of words,” as Anne Sexton once put it. I wound up taking a break from all those words and online interaction but before long I felt that urge to be connected again. Now my creative self is being fed after being hungry for a long time.
This particular gig lets me surround myself with words and ideas while maintaining a bit of anonymity—I can post something on Facebook or Twitter without having to be completely myself. I can be “Hunger Mountain” in that status update or I can choose to be me, with my opinions. Some days it’s refreshing to choose anonymity. Either way, I get to work with cool people and engage in the business of words.
When I post Facebook status updates as “Hunger Mountain,” I try to do my part in supporting the magazine’s mission “to cultivate engagement with and conversation about the arts” with a question or a literary link. About a month ago, there were several articles out about the 75th anniversary of Gone With the Wind. I asked if anyone had actually read the book, rather than seen the movie. I thought I would get “yeah, I read it” or “read it, but didn’t like it” responses. It started out like that, but quickly developed into a very heated and substantive discussion about race, literature, and the history of the U.S. Over 40 people responded to my question. Another day I asked about submission etiquette—to use or not to use neon paper, colored paper, stickers—and received some fun responses, including this one by Wendy Babiak: I once received a submission in an envelope that was covered with scribbled missives regarding the evils of editorship, mixed with apologetic fawning. Totally insane. (Submitters: Do not give in to temptation! No neon, no stickers!)
Every Friday I ask what everyone is reading. Responses are always varied, lots of fun, and can spark some interesting discussion. Hunger Mountain’s Fiction Editor, Barry Wightman, and I discovered a mutual love for Jane Eyre. I also started a discussion about which is better, the Sookie Stackhouse books or the HBO series they inspired, True Blood. Opinion was split down the middle (but for the record, I think both have appeal for different reasons!). I never have to wonder what I should read because Hunger Mountain Facebook fans supply me with a fresh list of books every week.
Of course I also play “Hunger Mountain” on Twitter. Recently I was amazed at how quickly the Wall Street Journal article, “Darkness Too Visible,” circulated among the YA community. (Here’s one great response to the article to get you started if you missed the discussion.) A wide-ranging conversation quickly emerged, including comments from Hunger Mountain’s Young Adult and Children’s Literature editors. Within the day, they were planning—and using Twitter to help organize—an “In Defense of YA” feature, targeted for August. The power and reach of social media!
One perk of interning with the magazine is that I get to attend events at Vermont College of Fine Arts residencies here on campus. During this last residency, Matthew Dickman gave an excellent lecture on “Depression and Suicide Through Poems.” In his talk he said that it is the writer’s responsibility “to engage the dark.” I asked our Facebook fans if there was some truth to this. Most commenters agreed but I especially liked this reply from Nigel Featherstone: Perhaps good writing goes beyond both the light and the dark (perhaps it’s not interested in these definitions?), it illuminates both but shows us something else entirely. I think good writing does illuminate both the light and the dark but so does good conversation. I hope to keep the conversations going while I’m here.
Kris Underwood is a poet, mostly, but has been known to dabble in Non-Fiction/Memoir. Previously, she’s been a mentor at the MotherVerse Magazine writing workshops and served as various Editors at mother-centered magazines. She’s been living in Vermont for way too long and is looking into some place warmer with very little snow. You can learn more at her blog, Writing In the Mountains.
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Nice to SEE you, Kris!