photo by Monica Acosta
Managing Editor Lisa Ampleman: Although I’m not a birder myself, I admire the passion of those who are, so I’m glad our fall issue features CD Eskilson’s poem “Birdwatching.” “There’s flattery in scores of something watching, to have caught / their gaze,” it says. Eskilson’s own gaze is expansive and personal; I should disclose that I’m part of the acquisition team for poetry at Acre Books, which is publishing their forthcoming debut (Scream / Queen, out on March 15), and I’m grateful they were interested in sharing about their day job as part of this series for the CR:
How would you describe what you do for your day job?
I currently work as the communications manager for the Teaching and Learning Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. The Center provides information, services, and collaborative opportunities for the campus instructional community, to elevate teaching and support student success. Through my role, I create and organize the Center’s written communications as well as coordinate different digital outreach strategies.
What do you enjoy about that job, and what are some of its detractions?
Throughout my career, I have been equally interested in communications strategy as well as education best practices. I really love that this role allows me the unique opportunity to combine those interests to benefit our academic community. I also still teach my own writing workshops, and this position gives me real insight into applying pedagogical innovation to my own courses.
How, if at all, does your day job inform—or relate to—your writing life?
My work creating a unified outreach strategy composed of specific campaigns has certainly strengthened my literary project management skills. The organization and meticulousness I bring to this job has informed the way I approach larger poetry projects. I’ve started to think more broadly about the role of each poem I write within the context of a larger work. Additionally, this communications work helps me manage the promotional aspects of the writing life and plan my own outreach efforts.
What creative projects are you working on right now?
I am currently working on second poetry collection that interrogates the historical violences of white supremacy and settler colonialism across Southern California and the Upper South. These poems grapple with our collective implication within systems of displacement and erasure, as well as confront the contemporary manifestations of gentrification and ecological degradation.
CD Eskilson is a trans-nonbinary poet and translator. They are a recipient of the C.D. Wright / Academy of American Poets Prize, and their work appears in Kenyon Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, The Offing, Passages North, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and others. Their debut poetry collection, Scream / Queen, is forthcoming from Acre Books this spring. They were once in a punk band.
