Kevin Carson was one of our Fall 2025 Digital Residents. As a part of this program, we do Q&As with our residents to feature them, their work, and their words. See our Q&A with Kevin below, and explore more Spotlights here.
TSW: Tell us about your work, writing, or project. What are you writing these days? How is your work changing, and how is it changing you?
Kevin Carson: These days, my writing has been bouncing off the walls. There’s so much happening all the time and it’s fairly difficult to not get lost in it. As a poet/writer I find all of it both fascinating and terrifying. I am always stuck between writing the beautiful thing and writing the hard ugly thing, and I am enjoying being in this spot of not having to figure it out. Some days I want to write a poetry series on Bob’s Burgers because it’s what fuels me and keeps me believing in better times, while other days I am trying to decipher the language in psychological research and putting that into tangible poetry pieces. I think the world is changing a lot and it’s changing rapidly — it’s only natural that my writing and I change with it.
TSW: What is a question you’re asking yourself these days, and what is a question you or your work is asking of your reader?
KC: How can we fight against violence without being violent ourselves? I write a lot on my own experience as an Immigrant’s Rights Activist and each day I open my phone I see someone being brutally ripped away from the one they love. Right now we are experiencing a tremendously violent point in history and it is shy of showing signs of slowing down. I am asking my readers to understand their power, to know they have it, to learn the ways it’s been used before, and ask what they’ll do with that knowledge.
How much shock can we endure until desensitization sets in? Simply put, we are exposed to violent acts on purpose. In hopes that some day we will walk past the man shivering on the street asking for food and feel nothing. This is happening already. We watched as millions are executed in numerous genocides around the world and while our neighbours are ripped/kidnapped from their families. We cannot let our minds, bodies or souls feel normal in any of this, not even for a second.
Why are we still opposed to death? I have always been bothered by the way we treat death as an act. We pretend it’s not there, and if it’s not there it won’t happen to us (what a terrible facade). I think more of us would live better lives if we weren’t scared of death all the time. I think we should dare to be brave and accept the one thing that will never change for any of us.
TSW: Who do you bring into the room with you when you write, and/or, who do you consider your work to be in conversation with? Who are you writing for?
KC: Everytime I write, I bring my younger self with me. Most of what I do so easily now are silly little dreams he had and I have every intention of keeping all of them safe. The other folks I bring in are my ancestors. They know more than I ever can and I need them every single day of my life in every single word I write — it just has to be them.
TSW: What were you processing during our residency program? Did anything unlock for you? If so, what new entrance did you find for your work or for yourself as a writer in the world? And what caused that shift?
KC: I found myself processing my own thoughts and feelings about writing. It’s a very daunting experience as a new poet/writer who is also new to the American Poetry world. Narrative Shifts helped me adjust in a way that I didn’t think was possible. I didn’t believe that I can do the things I want as I am and learn as I go. That’s completely different now. Being in a community with writers who adore what they do reinvigorated me to do the same for my own work.
TSW: What’s a mantra or motto that you have in mind these days when you are writing or creating? Is there a writing routine or ritual that keeps you beginning?
KC: My mantra is,“Whatever it’s going to be it will be, it just needs to exist right now.” I don’t have a ritual or routine yet (not for a lack of trying). I am being kind to myself as someone who struggles with words very often (dyslexic) — whenever I feel the writing bug I put it down somewhere and eventually it will be what it needs to be.
TSW: What motivates you to keep beginning, and/or, what is a story that gave you permission to tell yours?
KC: Right now the main thing that motivates me has been my younger brother . I want him to know that someone who looks like him can exist in this world and find fulfillment (I’m still searching). I am currently reading Look by Solmaz Shaif, and it is taking me for a whirlwind. The thing that gave me access (rather than permission) to tell my story was Shaif’s line “it matters what we call a thing.” Often I don’t have language for my experiences but poetry has given me numerous ways to navigate that and I am beyond grateful that TSW helped facilitate that growth.
TSW: What is something that someone said — a fellow resident, a past mentor, perhaps something from one of the bonus sessions — that helped change the way you see your writing or work?
KC: Cal Angus: keeping an archive matters, your words matter and the stories you tell matter.
