Ruminations: In conversation with Courtney Leigh on her new debut poetry collection
a visceral, surreal, & multi-sensory descent into the hazy thresholds of consciousness
Today, Courtney Leigh’s poetry debut, Courtney & the Haunted Bong, is out for preorder. And what a book it is. As some readers may know, Courtney edited and published my book, SAINT OF (through White Stag Publishing), so it’s an honor to interview her about her work. This poetry collection feels downright oracular. It is unexpected and visceral and deeply vulnerable, all through its haze of green, mythic smoke.
Courtney, tell us everything about the book.
Courtney & The Haunted Bong is a visceral, surreal, & multisensory descent into the hazy thresholds of consciousness, where the veil between dimensions is as thin as smoke. This euphoric poetry collection follows Courtney as a seeker, stoner, & vessel who embarks on a kaleidoscopic odyssey sparked by the mysterious relic she inherits: a mercurial glass bong, etched with sigils & vibrating with ghostly presence. When I wrote this book, I was coming out of a transformative period in my life.
Each poem is like hindsight, harkening to the banished memories & the ones I’ve embraced. In the process of unwinding my tale, I came to realize that I was embarking on a psychotropic journey that was surreal & exciting, even in its most heartbreaking moments. I wanted to take readers on a similar, evocative journey that would stick with them—skin to blood, bone to spirit.
You can summon the spirit of your work by throwing three objects into the fire. What are they?
Haunted Bong
Blood Lemons
Astral Sea
As part of Ruminations, I always want to know what writers are obsessing on—literary or otherwise. What is influencing, inspiring, or driving you to create, to think, to feel?
Recently, I’ve been inspired by psychedelic experiences that dissolve ego & perception, opening portals to new ways of seeing the world. I also draw creative fuel from horror films led by complex female protagonists who challenge traditional gender roles not because they "act like men," but because they break the mold entirely, embodying power, tenderness, intuition, & rebellion in equal measure. That intersection between altered states and subverted archetypes is what inspired a lot in the creation of this book.
I am interested in how writers are showing up to themselves, the world, or their communities. How does your writing intersect with, critique, or reflect current realities and the cultural landscape?
I like to think of my work as an act of reclamation & rebellion, a way to untangle generational trauma & name what has gone unnamed. I search for the patterns within me, the systems around me, & the strange, aching beauty that lives between them. I write a ceremony for truth, transformation, & liberation. I write to imagine better worlds, to evoke feelings where numbness has settled, to remind someone they are not alone (sometimes, to remind myself that I am not alone).
These poems, at their core, are about resistance against erasure, authoritarian control, & the slow violence of conformity.
“So, to me, poetry has always been about breaking the rules, not adhering to someone else's whiskey-induced academic epiphany.” — Courtney Leigh
I would love to hear your thoughts on the barriers or challenges of the writing life: Are there experiences you've had that make writing harder? Or, do you have a perspective on writing and publishing that doesn’t get much airtime?
I think being an editor sometimes makes it difficult to write because I am always focusing on other writing & editing books & by the time I get to my own writing, I feel drained. To combat this, I find other creative outlets or build rituals to create space for writing. Inspiration is also something that, when it comes to me, it nags at me until I act on it. I literally cannot ignore the call.
I would also like to mention the box that poetry tends to put us all in via academia, theory, rule-making, etc. This book was about breaking those norms or expectations in poetry. I went through all the "traditional" academic routes of Poetry, getting a BA in Poetry & my MFA in Poetry, but I am anything but a traditional writer & editor. I built an entire press around this idea because I was sick of tired, traditional methods of writing & means of publishing. In my undergrad, Sean Nevin gave us a list of "what-not-to-dos" in poetry, then told us to break all those rules. So, to me, poetry has always been about breaking the rules, not adhering to someone else's whiskey-induced academic epiphany.
Academia is another conditioning I had to break from. After my MFA, I read something Donald Dunbar said on the lines of unlearning all that you learned in your MFA—to learn those things is to learn how to break the mold of tradition & theory. That stuck with me too. I will always be a rule breaker, a poetic rebel with such a cause.
So what are you reading right now?
I've been reading a lot of fiction recently, so here are three recent books that took a piece of me with them & left something behind: I Who Have Never Known Men, The Last Unicorn, & Wicked.
As I ask everyone, what’s your sun sign, and how does it show up in your writing life?
I think being a cancer, I am constantly processing emotions, so a lot of times I am working them out in my writing by deconstructing certain feelings or experiences in order for me to—in turn—learn something new about myself. That’s why a lot of my writing seems dramatic or deeply felt—because it is a deconstruction process of the emotional body, & that can be hella messy.
Readers can get a glimpse into Courtney’s work by reading “Girl Dinner” at Villain Era Lit. Also, preorder a copy of Courtney & the Haunted Bong. You can also pick up a “Sing along with the Green Chorus,” soy wax candle (made by Marvel + Moon). It blends bright, citrusy bergamot with earthy hemp, evoking the astral hazes of Courtney & the Haunted Bong.
Courtney Leigh is Editor at White Stag Publishing & the author of the chapbook the unrequited <3<3 of red riding hood & her lycan lover from Dancing Girl Press. Her favorite revenge stories are the fuck around & find out kind, like Becky or Ready or Not. If she’s not head to toe covered in blood at the end, it’s not revenge enough.