“The Red House, Indiana”
Collaborators’ Q&A: Writer Renee K. Nelson: Perhaps because of the title and the shape of the poem, I figured the artist would focus on the red house and make it the center piece. Besides the house, though, I wasn’t sure how or if he/she would incorporate all of the images/traumas in the poem because there are so many of them. Artist Cheryl Gross: When I read the poem I envisioned the illustration immediately. First thing that came to mind was the snake wrapped around the barrel of the gun in the person’s mouth.
Artist Cheryl Gross has an MFA in New Forms from Pratt. Writer Renee K. Nelson recently received her M.F.A. in Creative writing from San Francisco State University.