“Fossil Record: Smilodon”
Collaborators Q&A:
Poet Brittney Corrigan is the author of the poetry collections Breaking, Navigation, and 40 Weeks. Daughters, a series of persona poems in the voices of daughters of various characters from folklore, mythology, and popular culture, is forthcoming from Airlie Press in September, 2021. Artist Michele L’Heureux is an artist and bird fanatic who works as a digital designer for a medical software company. After five decades in the Northeast, she recently relocated to Central Florida, where the birds are rocking her boat.
Artist Michele L’Heureux: I grew up taking road trips with my parents and three siblings, and we stopped a lot at roadside attractions, nature centers, and zoos. I responded right away to the vivid image of a coin-operated model of a saber-toothed tiger in the lobby of a natural history museum—Today, I absolutely love to spend time at natural history museums, so this poem resonates for me on many levels. Poet Brittney Corrigan: What was unexpected to me, and what I admire in L’Heureux’s work, is that the Smilodon in the collage is so multi-layered, complete with muzzle and fur. In stark contrast to the smooth statue in the museum, the saber-toothed cat on the broadside really comes alive.