Catherine is a writer, editor, and videographer residing in the Pacific Northwest. Her writing has appeared in Macleans, Quill and Quire, Dovecote, Verum Literary Press, and Augur Magazine, among others; her chapbook, The Cages We Put Ourselves In, was published in 2020, and her debut poetry collection, Salt Bones, was published in 2025.
Catherine is currently working on her second poetry collection, set for publication in late 2025. When she’s not writing or making videos, Catherine can be found reading, drawing, baking cakes, or getting lost in the woods.
Follow Along:
You’ve recently published a book of poetry, Salt Bones. First of all, congratulations! Could you share with us a bit about this collection and what inspired it?
Thank you so much! This collection had been in the works for years, and a good number of the poems in it have gone through multiple iterations—in some cases, up to five or six rewrites. This is because I wrote many of the poems all the way back in 2018, when I was in a creative writing course where students wrote a book-length project of their choice (poetry, fiction, etc.). There are a chunk of poems in Salt Bones that were written more recently, but they all still fit nicely with the theme of the book.
Inspiration came from a number of places, including childhood, relationships (both positive and not so positive), dreams, travel, and identity; Salt Bones was basically a dumping ground for everything that was going on in my head at the time I was writing it. But it’s interesting because, while most of the poems were written at a very different time in my life, they still held true in ways that felt right in the present day—but now they reflect my current writing style much better. To be honest, some of them are completely unrecognizable from their first draft back in 2018 (which I see as an excellent thing).
Going back further, what inspired you to become a writer?
Ah, there are so many reasons! But I think the most prominent is getting absolutely obsessed with the original Nancy Drew series when I was a kid. While most people know me as a poet in my adult life, I’ve been writing mysteries/spooky stories since I was in elementary school (heavily influenced by Nancy Drew, of course). And consuming stories, too. I’m constantly reading, looking for new books to fall into. Any book I read where I find a little piece myself in, or that sticks in my mind long after I read—they’re the reason I write. I want to create something that sparks this feeling in someone else.
As for poetry: for those who know me in real life, it surprises them to know that I didn’t start writing it until 2017, since I started writing stories so young. But I was dating an artsy kind of person who would write poems for me, and it was kind of a wake up call—like, ‘Oh, wait, I could definitely do this, too.’ It just hadn’t occurred to me before. Growing up, poetry was fusty and boring (sorry, Walt Whitman). But getting older, finding out that poetry can really be anything you want it to be, that’s what really lit a fire under me.
Many of our readers are also writers themselves, so I’m sure they’d love to know more about the publishing process. How was your experience overall? Were there any unexpected challenges that you faced?
I’d say the overall experience was pretty fun, actually! I worked a little in publishing myself until recently, at a poetry press that published two books a year, so I was pretty aware of what went into it. Honestly, I’d say the biggest challenge for me is the waiting period. As a writer, it’s so, so exciting to see your work in print—to hold that physical book in your hands—and to have to wait for everything to be done and ready to go can be hard. But it’s worth it!
As someone with several publications under your belt, do you have any advice for writers entering the world of publishing for the first time?
Absolutely! I have way too much advice, so I’ll try to keep it short. My number one piece of advice is that, above all else, writing is a practice that you need to commit to. There are all these jokes on Tumblr about daydreaming about your project rather than actually writing it (which I am definitely guilty of), and I think this applies to publishing, too, in that you actually have to put the work in to get it published. It can be challenging, especially going the traditional route. But perseverance is your friend, and it’s important not to get discouraged in the process. Even if your work isn’t right for one publisher, it’ll be right for someone else—the same goes with timing. Eventually, it will be the right time and place, and your work will have a home. And if you’re self-publishing, I’d highly suggest having an eagle-eyed friend or three read over your work! They may find things you’ve missed, no matter how closely you’ve read your work (different eyes and all that).
You also write a bi-weekly newsletter (Palace Ancestors) focused on everyday beauty, a mission we share here at The Hyacinth Review. What sparked this project, and what’s the story behind the name?
At the time I came up with Palace Ancestors, I was at a point where I was doing a lot of creative work for other people—mainly writing and editing—and I’d found I was losing motivation to do anything creative that was just for me. I’d seen a few people using substack, and so I thought it could be a good avenue for some no expectations creativity, something I sorely needed at that point. I remember wanting to create something that felt like writing a letter to a friend—something personal and a bit mundane. I hesitate to use that word, because it often comes with neutral or even negative connotations, but I think the mundane can be the most beautiful thing: watching a butterfly resting on an iris, or a leaf riding the current of a stream, or drinking coffee quietly by an open window. That’s what I wanted to capture.
As for the name: my partner and I were sitting in a coffee shop; we were doodling on opposite pages of a sketchbook. I wish I could remember exactly how it happened, but one of us said the words “Palace Ancestors” in the conversation—I don’t even know what we were talking about—but I knew then that that was it.
You’re truly multitalented – you’re a writer, editor, videographer, herbalist, and artist among other things. What advice would you give for someone trying to juggle multiple interests and pursuits at once?
Thank you! People ask me all the time how I do so much, and the answer is, I protect my time so that I have enough of it to do everything that I want to do. I don’t mean this in the sense of “stop doing anything for or seeing anyone else,” but in that I make sure my creative time comes before other things—at least most of the time. I’m also the kind of person who needs a lot of time alone, so the things I love doing naturally slot into my day-to-day.
But it also helps that my friends are interested in the same things as me. Often, when I’m with someone else, we’re doing some sort of activity/task together: writing, gardening, drawing, knitting, etc. But I also love a good coffee catch up, or a movie night, or a quiet walk through the woods. That’s when the ideas for all these things rise to the surface.
As creatives we draw inspiration from so many sources – what would you say are your greatest sources of creative inspiration?
I think when it comes to poetry specifically, my greatest sources of inspiration come from everyday life experiences, specifically tiny fragments of them. Often, an idea for a poem comes from a word someone has used in a conversation, or a flower I saw in someone’s garden, or a feeling inside me. This last one is the easiest to write about, especially if it’s a feeling I don’t want to feel—likely because, for me, writing poetry is almost always a cathartic experience. I’m always trying to get a feeling out of my body so I can make sense of it.
I’d say nature, though, is one of my biggest sources of inspiration; I often find that, no matter what I’m writing about, nature works its way in there in some way. I sometimes have to cut out references to the mountains I can see from my window, just because I know I’ve used it countless times before.
What are some of your all-time favorite poets/poems and performances? What works (by yourself or other creatives) would you suggest to those who might enjoy your work?
Oh gosh, we need an entirely separate interview for this question! Where to start.. Margaret Atwood’s Power Politics was the first collection I ever read, and it was responsible for changing how I viewed poetry. Since then: Sue Sinclair’s Breaker, Miranda Pearson’s The Fire Extinguisher, Catherine Owen’s The Wrecks of Eden, Kayla Czaga’s For Your Safety Please Hold On. Savannah Brown’s Sweetdark is a more recent discovery, as is Ada Limón’s Bright Dead Things. Oh! And Adrienne Rich—I received a “best of” collection for Christmas one year. Her writing is simple but so, so powerful. And while I’m not huge into spoken word poetry, I do love pretty much everything Olivia Gatwood has done.
What are your goals for your creative practice moving forward? Are there any particular projects you have in mind that you are excited to bring to life?
Another big question! Well, right now I’m working on my second poetry collection, which will likely see the light of day in late 2025. It is close to Salt Bones’ publication, but to be fair, I wrote all the poems in this next collection as part of a writing challenge in summer of 2022, so they’re all more than ready to go. I’m also always writing poems, so there are more collections coming down the pipe.. Likely a third one for late 2026, but we’ll see!
I’m also always working on a novel or two, and while in the past I’ve been happy to just write them and move on to the next one, I’m at the point where I’m considering having some of them published. I don’t know why I haven’t done it before—I think the writing process was enough for me for a long time, and by the time I’m done writing one, I’m already more than ready to dive into writing the next. But I’ve had so many friends read them and say ‘Please, just go publish these already’ that I’m considering it.
Finally, I recently re-introduced my Patreon; I had it going last year, but was a little scattered with it. I took some time away and have nailed down exactly what I want to share there and what I want it to be. It’s a lot more personal than anything else I share on the internet, which has been such a fun experience—I’m loving connecting with people there in different ways than I do elsewhere.
Really, in terms of goals, I’ve boiled it down to only putting work out that excites me and that I enjoy working on. Which isn’t a groundbreaking concept, but since I started thinking that way, everything I’m doing feels a lot more streamlined. I’m a lot less scattered with my creative practice than I was a year or two ago!
It’s a Hyacinth Review tradition to ask: which books would you consider to be your top 5 favorites, at least for the moment?
Oh boy, only five! Okay, I can do that. I’m going to go with:
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt
Diary by Chuck Palahniuk
Land of Love and Ruins by Oddný Eir
Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller
Finally, what media/music/miscellany have you been loving lately?
I just finished reading The Hours by Michael Cunningham, which was amazing. I’ve also been working my way through Erica Bauermeister’s novels and Natalie Goldberg’s nonfiction books on writing. As for music, my taste is all over the place, but Poppy’s “they’re all around us” and “crystallized” have been on repeat, as have The Beaches, Artemas, Sir Chloe, and Destroy Boys. Also out of left field, I watched Havoc, Tom Hardy’s newest action movie, which was phenomenal. While I do love a good art house film, sometimes I need to turn my mind off with an action movie that has a straightforward narrative—and lots of imaginative fight scenes!
Thank you for having me!
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