Contributor Interview: Erin Williamson
- Erin Williamson
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
What’s your favorite punctuation and a literary hot take you have?
Oh! The exclamation point, for sure! It can be overused and should not (!) be co-mingled with CAPITALIZATION to dictate public policy!!!!! But! Exclamation points still make me giddy. It’s the best punctuation for a sports bar, or when you need to yell "I love you," across a crowded train platform.
I don’t know if this counts as a hot take, but books are medicine. A zippy plot in a warm bath will do you more good than a cold plunge. If things are really dire, read Ursula Le Guin.
What inspired you to write “Litany”?
Several years ago, on Maui, I drove past a bicyclist who was receiving serious medical care on the side of the road. The cyclist’s companion was ten or twenty yards away, back turned and looking out over a beautiful view. I’ve wondered about the cyclist’s companion so often since then—what were they thinking about as they turned away from the chaos and toward the ocean?
“Litany” sprang from that memory and wanting to explore bystander time—that time after a grief or heartbreak has changed you but before you’ve stepped into your next self, when you are a kind of afterthought or bystander in your own life.
What writing/publishing trends are you hopping on for 2026?
I’m starting to appreciate the buzzy energy that comes from collective craft, and I am excited to explore more write-togethers. Write-togethers provide accountability, but more than that, looking around at a bunch of people laboring to tell stories or write poems makes me feel lucky to be human.
Upon research, I found that you’ve written poetry as well. Do you have a preference between writing poetry and prose? Or do you think there are fun elements in both?
To me, poetry and prose are two sides of the same prickly, winding, gorgeous street. Poems are like little flecks of stories. And, writing prose, I am so guilty of losing the plot because I am obsessed with how a word sounds out loud. I often have to say to myself, “Dude, Erin, no one is going to read this thing out loud! Chill out and move on!”
The especially fun thing about prose compared to poetry is the chance to get to know a character. On walks, I often chat it up—in my head—with some person or another from a story and it’s pretty cool to have a character inhabiting your life.
I also saw that you’re based in the Pacific Northwest. Would you say the area’s culture has influenced your writing in any way?
The Pacific Northwest is a fantastic place to be a reader. I went to high school just up the road from Powell’s Books. I spent as much time there as I could, and its institutional size made reading seem like the most important thing.
Both Seattle and Portland have good airport bookstores (Elliott Bay in Seattle and Powell’s at PDX). You can land in either place, buy a book, rent a car, and take off on a bookstore tour through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and BC. Hit me up for a roadtrip map! Small town bookstores in the PNW are awesome! So are events like the Fisher Poets Gathering and organizations like Fish Trap.
The Pacific Northwest also has landscapes for readers. On the west side of the Cascade Mountains, it’s all rain, moss, and waves. It's classic “curl up with a book” vibes. The east side of the Cascades feels ancient and full of stories. It’s a great place for imagination.
Now that “Litany” has wrapped up, what’s next on the writing docket?
I have homes for another couple of short stories, and then I’m wrapping up a book project.
Do you have any advice for upcoming writers looking to get their work published?
There is a lot of discussion about rejection rates being really high, and it can absolutely be discouraging. It’s worth remembering that most people avoid rejection at all costs. By doing good work and putting it out there, you are already something of a badass.
About the Author
Erin Williamson lives and works in the Pacific Northwest. Her work has appeared in Eureka Literary Magazine, Sky Island Journal, Frontier Poetry, and elsewhere.
About the Interviewer
Ollie Sikes (they/them) is an evolving queer writer, editor, and creator based in Dallas, TX. They completed a double BA in Creative Writing and Theatre at Butler University. Besides volunteering with Broad Ripple Review, they also serve as Content Creator for the little things literary magazine. Their poetry has been published with Synchronized Chaos. You can follow them on Instagram @ollie.sikes.
