Katie Farris: faith & fierce questioning

If you’re reading this somewhere other than Substack, these notes will be abridged and photos will not appear. Join the Ask the Poet Substack (kathrynpetruccelli.substack.com) for complete show notes with images, correct poetry formatting, and regular notices of new episodes.Katie Farris’s recent poems & translations appear in Granta, Poetry, and The New York Times. Her book, Standing in the Forest of Being Alive (Alice James, 2023) was shortlisted for the 2023 TS Eliot Prize.The Brain — is wider than the Sky —For — put them side by side —The one the other will containWith ease — and You — beside —The Brain is deeper than the sea —For — hold them — Blue to Blue —The one the other will absorb —As Sponges — Buckets — do —The Brain is just the weight of God —For — Heft them — Pound for Pound —And they will differ — if they do —As Syllable from Sound —Finishing Emily Dickinson, First Deacon in William Blake’s Church of the Marriage of Heaven and Hell, in the Oncologist’s Waiting RoomKatie FarrisOh, Emily, goodbye!We met in February and parted in July—I meetyour sweet velocity in every thing that flies—in moteand star and sphere—in bird and phosphorus of God!Oblique, you preached obliquity—your body, steeple for the Church of Mystery— your bell rings on, beyond.Concepts mentioned in the interview with Katie:“The Houghton” is the Houghton Library at Harvard which houses many original Dickinson materials – both poetic and from the Homestead“The ‘Daisy’ part of Dickinson” – Dickinson sometimes wrote about herself in a way that show her as small or submissive. For example, she references herself in her Master Letters as “Daisy” and, for example, says of Daisy “who bends her smaller life to his.” The Master Letters are three likely unsent letters of intense ardor to an unknown “Master.”“those two photographs (of Dickinson) and that’s it” – Besides the one authenticated photograph that everyone will have seen – a 16-year-old Emily, a second photograph surfaced some years back. You can see both and read about them here.Ballad meterArs poetica“‘undashed’ versions of the poems” – The first books published of Dickinson’s work were edited to exclude her unique punctuation. Those versions sometimes still surface.Other Dickinson poems mentioned:A narrow Fellow in the GrassThe Popular Heart is a Cannon first—It came at last but prompter Death (which includes the line “And his metallic Peace—”)People mentioned:Cristanne Miller (who edited the newest complete works of Dickinson’s that Katie read in full. Miller’s book is titled, Emily Dickinson’s Poems As She Preserved Them.)Annie DillardEdgar Allan PoeSylvia PlathWilliam Blake and his book, The Marriage of Heaven and HellBrenda Shaughnessy and her book, The Octopus GardenGertrude SteinAni DiFranco and her song “Fuel”Hélène Cixous, Three Steps on the Ladder of WritingClarice LispectorFanny BurneyRecorded in November 2025. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kathrynpetruccelli.substack.com/subscribe