“The question”
Collaborators’ Q&A
What inspired you to bring your work to Broadsided?
Poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet: I published a poem (“Certain, Impossible, Likely”) with Broadsided many years ago and have followed the project ever since. I have a soft spot for anything that sets poems free out in the world, where anything can happen.
What drew you to create a visual response to this poem, in particular?
Artist Jennifer Van: I was drawn to the poem’s honesty about vulnerability and self-awareness. It spoke to how we move through the world being seen or unseen and how that experience can shape who we are. My practice centers on reflection, both of the self and of our surroundings, and this poem invited that same quiet looking inward and outward.
How did this poem come to be?
Poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet: I was thinking about the whole phenomenon of “would you rather” questions, the kind where your answer is supposed to reveal something deep about who you are as a person. And for the poem’s speaker, a heightened version of my younger self, I guess it does.
How did this image come to be?
Artist Jennifer Van: This image was made on one of those rare stormy California days. The sun kept pushing through the clouds, creating a sense of renewal within the gloom. For me, it became a moment to pause and reflect on cycles of change and hope.
What did you think an artist would pick up on from your poem? Does the artist’s response make you see the poem differently?
Poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet: I had no idea—maybe superheroes, or mirrors? The sky that makes up most of the image feels just right—uncannily like the sky that haunts the poem, but is never mentioned. And is that the speaker’s hand, or someone else’s? Is it bracing or shielding? Holding up or pushing down?
Did anything shift for you or come into new light as you began working on your visual response?
Artist Jennifer Van: When I respond to a poem, I focus on the visuals that rise from the language itself. Words like flight, sunlight, and soaring stay with me. They begin to form images in my mind that guide how I see and what I create. I want the final image to not only complement the poem but also open a space for further contemplation.
What question would you like to ask your collaborator? (we will print your answers, too!)
Poet to Artist: Which line or phrase in the poem most surprised you? What led you toward this image?
Artist Jennifer Van: The ending spoke to me: “soaring, wouldn’t think /to shoot you down? Oh honey, / I say. Look at yourself.” I was drawn to the contrast between the idea of soaring and the pull of self-reflection. It made me think about all the possibilities that exist for us, but also how we can sometimes feel held down or stop noticing what’s ahead of us. That balance between reaching and reflecting really shaped how I started to imagine the imagery for the broadside.
Artist to Poet: When you wrote this poem, were you thinking about how the self is perceived by others or how we learn to perceive ourselves?
Poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet: Great question—both, of course. So much of how we initially perceive ourselves is framed by how others perceive us early on. The speaker in this poem is starting to realize how those initial perceptions bind us, but she’s got a ways to go before she begins actively throwing them off.
When you consider the full folio of work from this issue (see the “related broadsides” links on the left), what questions, observations, or connections arise for you?
Poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet: There’s so much duality and complexity—poems that move back and forth across the horizon of languages, species, alternate presents, and possible futures.
Artist Jennifer Van: I feel a theme of transformation and connection throughout the folio. There’s a sense of movement within the self, yet also a grounding in place and experience. Each collaboration holds both change and stillness, offering space to reflect on what it means to endure.
Describe your ideal “Vectorization”—where, in your wildest dreams, would you most like to see this broadside posted in the world?
Poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet: I’ve spent the last year in motion, traveling through North America and Europe with my husband and son. When this issue of Broadsided comes out, we’ll be back in Mexico City. I’m planning to post a copy at my favorite café there.
Artist Jennifer Van: As a photography instructor, I would love to see this broadside displayed across college campuses, especially near art departments, where students could experience it as an example of how collaboration between artists can create something powerful. I imagine it placed outdoors or in a shared courtyard, where the light shifts throughout the day, and the poem and image can exist together as part of the environment.
If this Broadsided collaboration were a type of weather, what would it be?
Poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet: Back to that sky: massed clouds and brightness, beauty and foreboding, the edge of constant change.
Artist Jennifer Van: A sun-kissed afternoon after a stormy day. A day that is left with hope.
Do you have a favorite, generative prompt for artists or writers you’d like to share?
Poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet: Between the lines. Write in between the lines of an existing poem (yours or another’s). I mean this literally: Copy out lines or section of a poem, leaving space after each. Now go through and write a line (or more) in response to each one of the copied lines. Finally, pull away the scaffolding and see what remains. The roots of a new poem? A new direction for your old poem? Get to work.
Artist Jennifer Van: My best advice is to create from personal experience. Begin in a space where you feel most yourself, without expectation or judgment, and let the work grow from there. Pay attention to moments in time, because those small moments often hold the most meaning and have the power to connect with others.
Read any good books lately?
Poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet: I’m reading two right now, Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House and Richard Siken’s I Do Know Some Things, both from writers whose previous work sits close to my heart, with characters or speakers in midlife transition. Life’s beaten us up a little bit and the world seems both richer and more unstable than ever. Now what?
Artist Jennifer Van: I tend to look at more art books. Here are a few artists whose work I’ve been exploring lately: Carrie Mae Weems, Laura Aguilar, Judy Fiskin, Mercedes Dorame, Cindy Sherman, and many more.
Seen any good art lately?
Poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet: I’ve recently discovered the work of artist and printmaker Amador Montes. I especially love the series that includes this image, Un dibujo y un poema.
Artist Jennifer Van: I live in Los Angeles, so there are always incredible exhibitions to see. Recently, I visited The Getty’s exhibition on Artemisia Gentileschi, a 17th-century Italian Baroque painter known for her depictions of powerful women. Her ability to convey emotion through gesture and narrative continues to inspire me. I highly recommend seeing her work in person.
Anything else? (Here, we invite the collaborators to invent a question, add a comment, or otherwise speak to what the questions so far have not tapped about their Broadsided experience).
Artist Jennifer Van: Thank you to Broadsided for creating such an amazing opportunity for both poets and visual artists. This project offers a wonderful way to bring different perspectives together and celebrate collaboration.