Hi Fledgling!
Meet my friend, Robin Walter. Robin and I have crossed paths in ways we understood (we took the same first class in college), ways we didn’t (growing up in the same city*), and ways we never could have imagined when we first met (on a horse pack trip she led in the Big Horn mountains). She is an enigmatic light of a human, a quality that comes through brilliantly in the pages of her first book of poems, Little Mercy. Here we discuss how Little Mercy was born and eventually won The American Academy of Poets prestigious First Book Award. We also talk giggles, nature as a muse, and how a whole collection can come from sitting still in a single place (having your teeth kicked out by a horse not necessary, but can be helpful).
*For some reason I claimed to have been born in Colorado Springs while giddily launching into this conversation. This is a false statement. I grew up there and was born in Moorpark, California.
Robin Walter (she/her/hers) was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She received a BA from Colorado College and an MFA from Colorado State University.
Walter is the author of Little Mercy (Graywolf Press, 2025), which was selected by Victoria Chang as the winner of the 2024 Academy of American Poets First Book Award. Her poetry and essays have been featured in American Poetry Review, Poets.org, Seneca Review, West Branch, Wildness and elsewhere.
Walter is an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University and lives in Fort Collins, Colorado. She has one well behaved dog (Banjo) and another poorly behaved dog (Fiddle).
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