Harris Wagner was born and bred in Queens, New York. He got himself the hell out of there and now works in North Carolina as a land surveyor setting up conservation easements and parks. He holds a degree in biology with a focus in genetic work. He considers himself to be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none.
Our Associate Editor and Media Manager, Maya Pilbrow, interviews Harris about his work ’12/26/2018′ in #16 UNFUNDED.
You are someone with many and varied interests; a self-described jack-of-all-trades. What initially drew you to experiment with the medium of poetry?
I got a notebook as a present a while ago and figured I ought to put it to use. I made a rule for myself with the notebook in that I had to be unafraid to use it however I see fit or else I would never fill it up. The poetry usually comes from me trying to get thoughts out of my head. So, a lot of what I write is my internal monologue, processing, and coming out in bits and pieces.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind ‘12/26/2018’?
This one was a fun thing and collaboration with my partner Dakota. We were on the subway back to Queens, she was tired and I thought it would be fun to come up with poetry inspired by the subway car we were in.
Do you have any more writing or poetry projects coming up in 2020?
I will absolutely keep writing poetry, as it’s become a part of how I function. I’ve been thinking recently about trying to expand my writing into longer more put together things. It would be insanely cool to publish a collection of poetry like Body Poems by Anupama Pilbrow as it has been an inspiration to see a friend publish her work.