Poet Anne Markham Bailey
Anne Markham Bailey on the Creative Life
I had the great good fortune of being born to a mother who nurtured me with art, writing, music, and dance. For a young human exploring not so much the meaning of life, as the nature of existence, the mystery that fuels the spark of what becomes us all, the artists and thinkers became my tribe early on. I was a girl who sought out the perfect spot in the woods, where pine straw clung to the low branches, joining with vines to create a natural retreat spot, where I could burrow in and simply be. Before long, the desire to translate my experience in the world rose up in me, and I understood that I too am a poet.
The world is a sacred place, a generous place, a communicative place in which I connect and deepen. Through my senses, supported by intellect and emotion, I engage in the process of being alive. I look to our living language for the exact expression of experience to offer into the world. I hone the craft of language in shaping expression such that you might understand me more fully, feeling the impact of my words inside of you in a way that changes you. For this is what the poets offer to me — a resonance of language that expands and becomes me.
My life as a poet and creative requires much of me. I must attend. I must notice. I must listen, consider, and feel. I must feel uncomfortable, experience doubt, and continue the process. I must claim the space to do the work, which is sometimes excruciating in the midst of daily life. Even as I am mother, daughter, wife, and friend I am required to retreat in order to do that work that calls me so clearly. Whether I am praised or rejected, my most important role is to trust my creative process and to engage in that process. For me, this means being in a poetry workshop that I trust and feel safe being part of. It means engaging with community as a creative writing facilitator, encouraging and inspiring those around me to discover their own voice through the exploration of words. At present I am doing this work in Alabama prisons and with the elderly. I claim time for my work in solitary writing retreats as part of my process of completing writing projects. Life is an unending creative process. I listen deeply for those who came before me. I offer gratitude to the teachers — those that taught me the transformative power of questioning and examination, and those that have taught me the power of meditation and contemplation. I write, because that is what I am here to do. I dream of global armies of poets, exploring and giving voice to the human experience, and changing the world in the process — in prisons and schools, in retirement communities and libraries, in hospitals and coffee shops, in forests and parks. I am here to support creative process. How can I help?
About Anne
Anne Markham Bailey (she/hers) is an American poet and author. She teaches creative writing and book arts to incarcerated and post-incarcerated people in the Alabama Prison Arts and Education Project with Auburn University. Anne is also a teaching artist with UAB Arts in Medicine.
Anne is a founding member of the Quorum Poets, a workshopping collective of Birmingham poets that hosts The Quorum Poet Present, a monthly reading, featuring a guest poet and Open Mic. She edited and contributed to The Hemlock Poems(2023). The poems from the chapbook were featured in Wild Alabama’s Saving Alabama’s Hemlocks art show. Her first book of poems, Cold Stone, White Lily(2011) was published in the UK by the Friends of Julian imprint at the shrine of Julian of Norwich.
In addition to her chapbook Nancy Marguerite’s Chopin(2018), Anne wrote and independently published The Daring Egg(2020), a picture book for children. Her most recent book is The Practice of Being(2022), a pithy creative awareness practice guidebook. Anne is completing a new manuscript of poems, The Conjugation of Winter.
Anne is a certified Forest Bathing/Nature Therapy Guide, passionate about connecting creative writing and deep listening with applied mindfulness practices in more-than-human world.
She holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Columbia University, an M.F.A. in Book Arts from the University of Alabama, and an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
To learn more and to check out her books, projects, and programs: https:// www.annemarkhambailey.com/ @annemarkhambailey
Books by Anne Markham Bailey
