Epilogue is thrilled to host Katherine Indermaur in conversation with Mike Chitwood on Tuesday, February 7th at 5pm to discuss Katherine’s new book I|I. Her full-length debut, I|I is a serial lyric essay that was selected as the winner of the 2022 Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize by Kazim Ali.
About the book:
Katherine Indermaur’s full-length debut, I|I, is a serial lyric essay that explores the mirror’s many dimensions—philosophical, spiritual, scientific, mythological, historical—alongside the author’s own experiences. Anyone who has struggled with the disconnect between their outward appearance and their inner self knows how fraught and fragmentary it can be to behold one’s own reflection. Indermaur’s essay, however, does more than merely problematize the contested space where the face and the mirror meet. There is also affirmation to be found here. This is a book that thinks so keenly it breaks into song.
About Katherine Indermaur:
Katherine is the author of two chapbooks, Facing the Mirror: An Essay (Coast|noCoast, 2020) and Pulse (Ghost City Press, 2018). Tommy Pico selected her poem “Girl Descends Asunder” as the winner of the Black Warrior Review 2019 Poetry Contest. Her writing has appeared in Ecotone, Frontier Poetry, New Delta Review, the Normal School, Seneca Review, and elsewhere.
Currently, Katherine is an editor for Sugar House Review and a communications professional at Colorado State University (CSU). She earned her BA from UNC-Chapel Hill in English with honors, and her MFA from CSU in creative writing, where she was the managing editor for Colorado Review. She was also awarded the 2018 Academy of American Poets Prize while at CSU.
Previously, Katherine taught creative writing and worked as an editor for Alpinist magazine. She lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with her husband, daughter, and dog, where she can often be found rock climbing, hiking, camping, practicing yoga, or setting off her kitchen’s smoke alarm.
About Mike Chitwood:
Poet and essayist Michael Chitwood was born in Rocky Mount, Virginia. He earned a BA from Emory & Henry College and an MFA from the University of Virginia. In his work, Chitwood explores the Appalachian landscape of his youth and frequently draws on colloquial speech and themes. His many collections of poetry include Salt Works (1992), Whet (1995), The Weave Room (1998), Gospel Road Going (2002), which won the Roanoke-Chowan Prize for Poetry, From Whence (2007), Spill (2007), and Poor-Mouth Jubilee (2010).
His collections of essays include Hitting Below the Bible Belt: Baptist Voodoo, Blood Kin, Grandma’s Teeth, and Other Stories from the South (1998) and Finishing Touches (2006). A freelance writer, Chitwood is also a lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.