{"id":1793,"date":"2025-03-05T13:30:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T18:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/?page_id=1793"},"modified":"2025-03-05T17:40:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T22:40:07","slug":"jonathan-fletcher-interview","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/submissions\/jonathan-fletcher-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan Fletcher Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pictured, a younger Jonathan with his adoptive mother.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"ACE<\/p>\n

Issue 8\u2019s Featured Writer and winner of Alphabet Box\u2019s Ana\u00efs <\/span> Nin & Henry Miller Prize is Jonathan Fletcher. After reading his five-poem submission, I had to return to them again and again, a rarity in my years of reading, editing and judging writing. In addition to reading his poetry featured here<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> I found him to be unflinching and transparent in his writing and this interview. He may *seem* egotistical, but he\u2019s not. He was also willing to <\/em>patiently and politely answer my probably run-of-the-mill (and sometimes silly) questions. To his credit, he\u2019s no longer shy about intimately revealing himself and what motivates him to write poetry.
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know him or his writing, until he submitted to Alphabet Box. I didn\u2019t know he was born in South America and now resides in the United States. I didn\u2019t know he was adopted. And, I didn\u2019t know of his journey to gender-identity, until he answered my final questions\u2026 by asking one.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Now that I know him better and have read his new chapbook \u2014 This Is My Body <\/a><\/span>\u2014 one thing seems certain. There\u2019s no question about a successful and poetic present and future for Jonathan Fletcher that needs to be answered.\u00a0 <\/em><\/span>\u2014\u00a0 Stephen FitzGerald, Alphabet Box editor.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Growing up<\/span><\/h3>\n

Your earliest memory?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At a little under a year, I moved with my adoptive mother to Memphis, Tennessee. Though I did spend a couple years there, I remember hardly anything about that period in my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember the cathedral ceiling in our first house in San Antonio.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never lived somewhere with as high a ceiling, and I do miss the way you could look up and feel as if you were gazing at the heavens.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nYour primary school life? Good student or not? Sociable or not?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Though I was noticeably shy in primary school, I did make friends mostly easily.\u00a0 In terms of academics, I struggled during my earliest years.\u00a0 In fact, I was held back in first grade.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong>What did you want to be when you grew up?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to be a screenwriter.\u00a0 In fact, I remember this being included in my yearbook profile.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nDescribe your teen years and interests.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

During my adolescence, I ran cross-country and track and participated in a number of clubs, such as National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nYour favorite type of reading or entertainment outside of school?
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Usually, I hung out with friends and watched films.\u00a0 With regard to reading, I read mostly novels, sometimes, comic books or graphic novels.\u00a0 Though I did read on a regular basis as a youth, I didn\u2019t read as avidly as now.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nWhat was your first paying job?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A junior camp counselor at the academy I attended and from which I would eventually graduate.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nWhy did you decide to go to college and where did you attend?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For me, college really wasn\u2019t optional. My adoptive mother holds a Ph.D. in special education. She expected<\/em> me to go.\u00a0 Not that she needed to push; I wanted to attend college.\u00a0 Though I did not finish there \u2014 instead graduating from a local liberal arts university \u2014 I started at the University of Chicago.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nHow did your college classmates or roommate(s) describe you socially and\/or academically?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I hate to think how my former classmates and roommates described me academically. Not that I was a partier, but I struggled severely in that context.<\/span><\/p>\n

I do think they liked me.\u00a0 After I left the school, my mother shared with me that one of my classmates told her that the room always lit up when I walked into it.\u00a0 Though I haven\u2019t talked to him in years, I hope he forgives me for being a less-than-ideal roommate and friend.<\/span><\/p>\n

On writing<\/span><\/h3>\n

At what age did you take a serious interest in writing?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Probably, I only took a serious interest in writing at the age of 14, when I matriculated at North East School of the Arts (NESA), a magnet high school in San Antonio.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nDid you begin with writing poetry or did it come later?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Though I did dabble in other forms, I focused on poetry.\u00a0 Though we didn\u2019t have to declare a concentration in order to apply to the program, we did have to choose a form in which to mostly work and from which we would develop a thesis project.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nDo you remember the first poem you wrote?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, it was entitled, \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d In my third-grade class, we had recently studied a unit about it.\u00a0 I certainly wouldn\u2019t write a piece like that now \u2014 as the piece, my \"Aattempt to write from the perspective of a runaway slave, would read problematic today. It was an exercise in empathy, and I do appreciate that about the poem, even if I grimace at other aspects of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I didn\u2019t share the piece with others, it got published, unbeknownst to me. My teacher was so impressed by the poem that she submitted it to a children\u2019s literary magazine that accepted it for publication.\u00a0 How many people can say that they had work published in third grade? Some, I\u2019m sure, but not many.\u00a0 I\u2019m one of them.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nDo you have a writing routine? Time, place or other circumstances?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Though I should have a more established writing routine, I don\u2019t.\u00a0 Whenever I get an idea for a poem or a line strikes me, I try to stop what I\u2019m doing and write down as much as I can. I try to write whenever I feel a poem forming and rising in me.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nHave you taken breaks from writing? What was the longest?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My longest break from creative writing was probably during my first years at college.\u00a0 Though I hadn\u2019t completely given up on writing, I was struggling academically, so everything was focused on how to break through my severe writer\u2019s block in order to complete my overdue assignments, pass the many classes for which I received \u201cincompletes,\u201d and not be asked to leave the school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pictured
Jonathan meets Professor Vijay Seshadri<\/span><\/a>, the 2014 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Poetry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\nAs a writer, the best advice you\u2019ve ever received?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The best advice on writing I\u2019ve ever received was more of a caution. As I prepared to depart for New Your City, where I was to study creative writing on the graduate level, a friend of mine who had recently completed an MFA in Creative Writing told me that whatever else happened, I should not let the program change my voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though I immensely enjoyed my time at Columbia, I know that not everyone in my program had a good experience. Yes, one should learn and take in all the feedback they get\u2026 but not necessarily apply it. However, no one should ever make you change your voice as a writer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Grow, yes, but don\u2019t lose your voice. If I could only give one bit of advice to aspiring writers, that would be it.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nYou\u2019re on Bluesky, Facebook and X. Which do you think is better for interacting with other writers?\"The<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Personally, I like Bluesky<\/a><\/span>; I find the community there more inviting and warm.\u00a0 Though I\u2019m still on X, a lot of my writer friends have defected.\u00a0 At some point, I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll follow suit.<\/span><\/p>\n

On your new book<\/span><\/h3>\n

Your first poetry chapbook came out a few weeks ago, titled This Is My Body. Why did you choose this title?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When compiling the manuscript, I was struck by some of the religious themes throughout the collection, and though I\u2019m not particularly religious, I was raised Catholic and still consider myself one culturally.\u00a0 All that to say, I think the title \u2014 This is My Body \u2014 an allusion to the phrase recited during the Eucharist. It refers to the consecrated bread, a symbol of the body of Christ, and encapsulates the idea of a sacred embodiment, whether affirming or painful, whether religious or secular.\"The<\/span><\/p>\n


\nIt\u2019s a very intimate collection of poems. Was this intentional from the start? When you decided to write it, were you writing for an audience of one, you, or beyond<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

From the start, that was intentional. Primarily, I was writing it for my adoptive mother.\u00a0 The chapbook being largely confessional in content, there were things I felt were best said, or at least communicated, to her through poetry.<\/span><\/p>\n

I ultimately broadened the manuscript thematically to appeal to a general audience, but I had my mother in mind from the beginning.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nYou dedicate or introduce the book as being \u201cfor my mother.\u201d After reading Mummy, may I ask which mother? And why?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I had intended the dedication primarily for my adoptive mother, but as you correctly pointed out, I do allude to my biological mother, and I do think that subconsciously, I did have the latter in mind when deciding upon the dedication.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the case of my biological mother, I am grateful to her for giving me the chance at a better life, and in the case of my adoptive mother, I am grateful for her making that opportunity a reality.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nIn a few days, on March 13th, you\u2019re the evening\u2019s featured author at The Twig Book Shop<\/span><\/a> in San Antonio, Texas. Is this your first such event? Yes or no, how are you feeling in advance of it?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My reading at The Twig is not actually my first author event. My first one was with the current Poet Laureate of San Antonio, held at the San Antonio Public Library last month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though I am excited, I\u2019m also kind of nervous. I\u2019m thinking about which poems I would like to read, as I\u2019m trying to read a different set of pieces for every reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alphabet Box poems<\/span><\/h3>\n


\nThree of your five Featured Writer poems are clearly extrospective, in contrast to the other two and the poems in This Is My Body. Do you see more similarities than I do?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Although I don\u2019t see more similarities than you\u2019ve identified, I did want to mention that I\u2019m currently working on a chapbook-length manuscript in which I\u2019m trying to witness to contemporary issues of social justice, as opposed to writing from the interior. I\u2019m not sure how it\u2019s going to turn out, but I\u2019m excited to work with a different approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Getting personal<\/span><\/h3>\n

What toppings are on your pizza?<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Mushrooms, definitely, and probably nothing else.\u00a0 What can I say? I\u2019m a man of simple tastes.\"Jonathan\"Jonathan<\/span><\/p>\n


\nYour favorite meal and why?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Pasta. Partly, I think, because I was raised by an Italian-American mother who cooked a lot of dishes from the Old Country, but also because I just like the texture and flavor. In terms of cuisine, as most other things, I really lucked out in the adoption.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nDo you have a hobby or passion, besides writing and reading?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For the past several months, I\u2019ve been skating at the local roller rink and try to go at least once a week. I am admittedly one of the older skaters. I really do enjoy it. Besides, it\u2019s good physical activity, and as someone who only runs on occasion these days, I need it.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nWho are you reading for pleasure?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I am reading Erich Maria Remarque\u2019s famous anti-war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. My students chose that for the book club which I facilitate. I\u2019m glad we\u2019re reading it, as I\u2019ve wanted to delve into that novel for a while.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nIf you could live anywhere else or have a second home, where?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

New York. Though I do love my hometown of San Antonio \u2014 it\u2019s why I moved back \u2014 I\u2019ve never lived in a more exciting city than New York. Admittedly overwhelming at times, it\u2019s such a neat place to live. Name almost anything, and you can probably find it there.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nWhat three living or deceased non-writers<\/em> inspire you the most?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My adoptive mother, Bertrand Russell and one of my former professors, who is a queer theologian, Dr. Jane Grovijahn.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jonathan
Jonathan at Tanner’s graduation from obedience school.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\nHave you ever taken the Myers-Briggs personality test?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As strange as it might sound, I\u2019ve never taken it. Now, I think I will.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nMy final questions\u2026 If you were interviewing yourself, what personal question would you ask? And your answer?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Are you dating anyone at the moment? No, I\u2019m not, but I would eventually like to settle down with someone. I\u2019m asexual or an ace, not an aro. While open to dating an allosexual, I\u2019d prefer to date another ace, as I\u2019ve heard too many horror stories about aces getting manipulated by allos; no shade to the latter as a whole, though!<\/span><\/p>\n


\nThat’s our interview. Thank you for your poetry and time, Jonathan.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n


\nJonathan Fletcher holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Columbia University School of the Arts. His work has been featured in numerous journals and magazines, and he has won or placed in various literary contests. A Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction nominee, he won Northwestern University Press\u2019s Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize contest in 2023, for which his debut chapbook, This is My Body<\/a><\/span> was published in 2025. He serves as a Zoeglossia Fellow and resides in San Antonio, Texas.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Click to read his Anais Nin & Henry Miller Prize-winning poems on Alphabet Box.<\/a><\/span> We also invite you to follow Jonathan’s posts on Bluesky @jmfletcher15.bsky.social<\/span><\/a> and learn more about his educational and community engagement on h<\/em>is Facebook page<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pictured, a younger Jonathan with his adoptive mother. Issue 8\u2019s Featured Writer and winner of Alphabet Box\u2019s Ana\u00efs Nin & Henry Miller Prize is Jonathan Fletcher. After reading his five-poem submission, I had to return to them again and again, a rarity in my years of reading, editing and judging writing. In addition to reading […]<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1736,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1793","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/submissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/submissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/submissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/submissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/submissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1793"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/submissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1837,"href":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/submissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1793\/revisions\/1837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/submissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alphabetbox.com\/submissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}