“I’m a Baby Boomer. I think we had more cultural restrictions than women do now. I realized it's never too late to do whatever makes your heart sing, regardless of what my culture has said that a woman of my age should do.”

I recently got to interview Morgan Golladay, writer and artist, who published her first book, The Song of North Mountain, in May. The path of a person coming fully into their creative life at a later age is rarely linear and usually filled with interesting stories. Morgan is no exception.

Growing up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Morgan was in the shadow of North Mountain, and developed a “long-term relationship with nature”. She goes on to say, “North Mountain and the Blue Ridge all seemed old, worn, unassuming, and very quiet. My poetry mirrors the languidity and quiet solitude of these mountains…My poems are about paying attention and listening.”

Q: This book highlights your creative talents in both art and poetry. Can you talk a little about which came first and how they grew as a part of your life?

A: One of the activities we did in grade school was memorization of poetry. Our teacher had 32 students, and taught all subjects, by herself. Quiet activities, such as art, reading, writing essays, were important to her, as well as to us (in varying degrees). I still remember verses from several poems we memorized in 7th grade. Later, as a high school student, our literature included reading and memorizing stanzas of poetry. Shakespeare, Beowulf, the Restoration Poets, were foundations for creativity, and I started writing my own.

My parents’ attitude was that their children should focus on activities that could be used to support ourselves and our families. Art was less important than being able to write cohesively and succinctly, so I didn’t really engage in art until I was in my late 50s. I took lessons and workshops in various media, and found I respond best to pen and ink, acrylic collage, and watercolor journaling. I became a member of an Art League, and found a huge bunch of kindred souls, as well as support and creative ideas.

In late 2018 I joined a writers’ critique group, and shared the poetry I had written, mostly in the last five years. Their support and encouragement allowed me to share even further, and I began submitting to journals and anthologies.

Q: How has your creative life impacted your world?

A: I keep many scraps of paper with phrases I’ve heard or read, things I’ve seen, conversations I’ve overheard. I’m intrigued with light --how it plays with shade or affects colors can influence my own thoughts. As a result of noticing the small things, I’ve become more attentive. The act of creating, whether in the kitchen, at the keyboard, or in the garden, enlivens me and gives me joy. That an idea I’ve had has already occurred to someone else really doesn’t bother me. I still feel that spark of joy when I see it in action, knowing my reaction to it has come from somewhere deep within me – a call and response to the world around me.

Q: Can you talk a little about your creative process, for both art and writing?

A: My writing schedule is disorganized, to say the least. In another life, I would have set times to write, to eat, to sleep, to do just about everything. My life would have been controlled and more rigid. As I’ve become older, I understand Eliot’s J Alfred Prufrock’s measuring out his life in coffee spoons. As I age, I have fewer spoons of energy, ability, time. There are things I cannot do, nor want to do any more. That allows me (finally) the permission to say “no.” And while my schedule is scattered, I can break out time slots to actually write, or take my sketchbook out to paint and draw.

The ideas for my writing – poetry, short stories, novels – come from my collection of scraps of paper. My most current art projects have been illustrations for an anthology, Solstice 3, and my first book of poetry, The Song of North Mountain. The drawings and covers required specific sizes and tones (color only on the covers; black, white, and grey tones on the interior sketches). Within those guidelines, I looked at the material in the book and tried to have the art inform the writing, rather than the reverse. The books, after all, were collections of written works, not art!

One of the major things I’ve realized is that editing is not something negative. When I first started sharing my poetry with my critique group, I was faced with the daunting task of removing dead wood – words that simply got in the way of the message of the poem. Even the word “the” was a land mine – overusing it bored the reader! (And me, too.) The the the the the the. I discovered ways to change a sentence or phrase that still maintained the integrity of the thought. What I found was a tighter line, a shorter poem, and a richness of ideas that conveyed what I wanted to say in a much more interesting way.

“The creative journey I’ve been on has been gradually allowing me to say yes and no according to what I want for myself. That ‘freedom’ can be rather heady at times, but it is a journey of joy.”

Q: Can you share a little about your journey to this being your first published book, and do you have any advice for an older adult just starting their creative journey?

A: I think we all face restrictions in our lives. As I’ve aged, one thing has become apparent: I have greater freedom to create myself. I’m a Baby Boomer (yes, one of those). And I think we had more cultural restrictions than women do now. I realized it’s never too late to do whatever makes my heart sing, regardless of what my culture has said that a woman of my age should do.

The creative journey I’ve been on has been gradually allowing me to say yes and no according to what I want for myself. That ‘freedom’ can be rather heady at times, but it is a journey of joy. We all live with fear, and my struggle has been with what other people will think about what I’ve done, or what I’m doing. But when I decided to follow my heart, I found more peace and joy, as well as a renewed respect for my Dictionary.

“Just do it. In five weeks, five months, five years, will it matter if I failed, succeeded, or just learned something new. It will matter only to me, if I even remember the struggle at all.”

Check out The Song of North Mountain by Morgan Golladay.

Journey of Joy: Coming to Writing Later in Life. An Interview with Writer/Artist Morgan Golladay

Interview with Christene Seda, Writer’s Assistant with the TV show “Poppa’s House.”

Guest Writer Christie Bates: The Answer is in the Question