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Kelly McQuain has a stalwart stance on poetry, believing that though it is “serious business,” it should be a form of play. The Bella Vista resident has become a reverent reveler recently, as he has been touting titles from “Velvet Rodeo,” his award-winning chapbook, with two readings scheduled over the next week.
“I aimed to create an arc to relay numerous experiences, with the tone going from visceral to reflective,” the 47-year-old said of the work, which the California-based BLOOM Literary Journal granted its poetry chapbook prize late last summer. “Combining the experimental and established elements, I’m going for emotional honesty and honoring my impulse to tell stories.”
The venerated versifier began to compile the contents for “Velvet Rodeo” two years ago, sending material to the Golden State last June. Various settings inform the 13 pieces, with his Bella Vista realm receiving recognition in “Lent.” The locations also reveal his regard for travel and allegiance to observation. Aside from the designation-infused studies, McQuain engages in divulging his maturation’s methods through autobiographical explorations. No matter their structural or thematic identity, McQuain wants his words to accomplish a heartwarming task.
“I love communicating,” he said of perfecting his poetry as a public offering rather than as a private exercise. “I want people when reading or hearing my poems to be able to say ‘I got it.’ Poetry seems like a foreign animal to so many people, but I don’t want to be obtuse or obscure.”
In promoting “Velvet Rodeo,” which takes its name from the volume’s initial piece, the Pushcart Prize-nominated “Scrape the Velvet from Your Antlers,” and the final word of the last piece, “Mechanical Bull,” McQuain hopes for harmony tonight at the Mount Airy-based Big Blue Marble Bookstore and Wednesday at the Center City-situated Fergie’s Pub. Those appearances figure to offer local praise complementary to the reception he reaped during last month’s New Orleans-based Blood Jet Poetry Series and Saints and Sinners Literary Festival. Any endeavor stands to engender camaraderie among individuals who love lauding language and its possibilities. McQuain finds the wonder of words keeps compelling him to explore his artistic sensibilities and sensitivities. Those aspects guided the composition of “Velvet Rodeo” and will factor into the fleshing out of a larger in-the-works collection.
“I’m very happy to have received the prize from BLOOM,” McQuain said of the publication, which falls under the focus of the Arts in Bloom Project Inc.’s enthusiasm for championing queer artists, writers and audiences. “It will help to get me taken more seriously as a writer; it’s a humble start.”
The worldly wordsmith initiated his writing journey as a West Virginia youth with an affinity for comic books. Along with penning stories, McQuain developed an interest in visual arts, a passion that perusers of “Velvet Rodeo” will observe courtesy of its cover. He gravitated toward poetry in junior high school and wrangled his resolve to write first at West Virginia Wesleyan College then Temple University.
“I wanted a big urban experience,” McQuain said of selecting Philadelphia’s role in assisting his scribbling. “I felt it could help me because of its diverse identity and abundance of opportunities to observe and create.”
His love affair with the city and the institution yielded a Masters degree in fiction, which gained a companion upon his acquiring a Master of Fine Arts in drama and communications/creative writing through the University of New Orleans’ low-residency option. Well traveled, with treks to spots such as the Czech Republic, France, Mexico and Spain for retreats, he has simultaneously found himself noting his brief presence in yet colossal significance to the world.
“I always want to draw on a variety of resources to encourage understanding,” McQuain said. “There are more similarities than differences to discuss.”
For a long period, he abandoned poetry in exploring those likenesses, becoming a commended essayist, reviewer and story producer. Carpal tunnel surgery altered his focus and returned him to the genre, where he could work on smaller, more concentrated projects teeming with narrative qualities.
“I’m planning a return to prose,” McQuain, whose love for the form comes through in his One Book, One Philadelphia Selection Committee role, said. “I feel fortunate to have options in getting my ideas out there to generate talks and pick up more concepts for future endeavors.”
A two-time Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowship winner, the never-stagnant scribe cherishes chiding notions of what good writing entails and analyzes creativity’s boundless avenues by helming the literary salon Poetdelphia and serving as a professor at the Community College of Philadelphia.
“I want to dissolve barriers, especially among my students, whose ability to overcome humbling life experiences often comes through in work that just blows my mind,” McQuain, a 23-year employee at the facility, said.
That mindset includes an urge to have their output succeed on the page and the stage. Practicing what he preaches, the poet encourages taking advantage of “happy accidents” to solidify poetry as a methodical yet instinctive pursuit. While advocating for accepting random blessings in the quest for creative distinction, he is also enjoying designed bliss in the romantic realm, as he and partner John have built a 19-year union that will likely yield a winter wedding.
“He’s stuck by me despite my dragging him to poetry readings,” McQuain quipped. “He’s been such a supporter.”
In “Creation Myth,” a study of his family, McQuain posits “It’s a miracle every desire doesn’t drive us berserk.” One could counter by saying the revered writer has gained enviable sanity by going after and achieving so much.
“I have so much left to address,” he said. “Who knows how it will take shape? I’m curious to see.”
Visit kellymcquain.wordpress.com.
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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