Q1: When did you start writing and first influences?
Robin: As far as I can remember, I was always scribbling down some nonsense. It was more of a background passion or a thing that got me through the noise happening in my head.
My early influences were pretty typical, I think. I fell in love with graphic novels reading Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman series in the 90’s, which then turned me on to his novels. I got into the Beats, like everyone does for a time. Sylvia Plath. Vonnegut.
Q2: Who are your biggest influences today?
Robin: Probably Diana Goetsch. She is, in my opinion, the single greatest living poet. She somehow is also a master at crafting non-fiction. She’s just ridiculously skilled. I return to her work both when I’m reading for pleasure and also for study.
Q3: Any pivotal moment when you knew you wanted to be a writer/artist?
Robin: It was when I first saw Goetsch perform pieces from what was then my favorite book of poetry that changed things for me. It inspired a sense of focus in terms of what the craft and the artform of creative writing meant to me.
Q4: Who has helped you most with writing?
Robin: My partner isn’t a writer, but they provide immense emotional support and space for me to be creative. All of the workshops, classes, and time spent studying craft wouldn’t mean a thing if I didn’t have this amazing partner who takes my dedication to creating seriously. They also get me just the right amount of drunk before I have to go on stage
and read, ensuring I don’t have the jitters but also don’t slur all over myself.
Q5: Where did you grow up and how did that influence your writing & did any travels away from New Jersey influence your work?
Robin: I grew up in New Jersey and then lived in New York. My 2020 chapbook, Jeanette Killed Her Husband (And Buried Him Off of Shades of Death Road), is influenced heavily by
New Jersey folklore.
Q6: What do you consider your most meaningful work you’ve done creatively so far to you?
Robin: The work that seems to have resonated most with people is my first book, Letters To My Lover From Behind Asylum Walls. I supported it with a reading tour, which led to some
wonderful conversations about the book’s themes of identity, gender, and mental illness.
Q7: Favorite activities to relax?
Robin: I hang out with my partner. I drink bad wine or good whiskey. I love reading. I’m currently re-reading Sentimental Violence: Some Poems About Tonya Harding by Gabrielle Grace Hogan and A Safe Girl To Love by Casey Plett.
Q8: What is a favorite line/stanza from a poem/writing of yours or others?
Robin: I don’t know if I have a favorite, but a stanza that people seem to like at readings is:
Reason to live, they repeat like a pop song,
The bones of a beloved emperor, and I, the
motionless chariot
trying to drag them home with forced hope.
Which is from a poem called “The Chariot,” from my book Letters to My Lover From Behind Asylum Walls.
Q9: Any recent or forthcoming projects you’d like to promote?
Robin:
I’m currently trying to find the right home for a hybrid chapbook called Bridge Jumpers of the World, Unite, which is about living with suicidal ideation.
Folks interested in my work can find links to my published poetry, fiction, and nonfiction at RobinSinclairBooks.com, and anyone who’d like to support me can do so at
buymeacoffee.com/robinsinclair. Members get copies of my books as a perk.
Bio:
Robin Sinclair (they/them) is a queer, trans writer of poetry, fiction,
and nonfiction. Their debut full-length poetry collection, Letters To
My Lover From Behind Asylum Walls (Cosmographia Books, 2018),
discusses themes of identity, gender, and mental illness. Their
chapbook, Jeanette Killed Her Husband (And Buried Him Off Of
Shades of Death Road) (Ghost City Press, 2020), discusses
themes of revenge and local folklore.
Their poetry can be found in various journals, including Trampset,
Luna Luna Magazine, and Pidgeonholes. Their fiction and
nonfiction can be found in Black Telephone Magazine, The Daily
Drunk, and Across The Margin.
Find Robin at RobinSinclairBooks.com and on Twitter
@Ghost_Of_Mary
Fevers of the Mind 