Uncovering Appalachia’s Hidden Heroines: Pauletta Hansel Reveals Untold Stories in Understory
L.L.: Did you have any rituals or deep moments of contemplation; I’m wondering if you ‘spoke’ with your ancestors as you wrote? Other than the poplar tulip example in the cemetery, of course. Did you have moments of hearing an ancestor ‘speak’ to you, in a dream or meditative state, or otherwise?
P.H.: Late in the writing I enrolled in a class called “Writing with the Dead” which included both ritual and literary strategies to write about your ancestors. I had promised myself that I would write at least one poem for each of my great-grandmothers and was feeling stuck regarding those for whom I had virtually no information. The ritual aspect of the class opened up some new avenues for me. I took myself off to my favorite retreat center, and each morning I sat down and asked the ancestors’ permission to write about, for, and with them. It was a powerful week, and I came away with a dozen new poems that I felt good about. Sometimes it can be about setting intentions: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you,” as the Bible says.
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