A Conversation with Perugia’s Intern: Tierney Boyle
Tierney Boyle recently completed a spring internship at Perugia Press, in collaboration with the Westfield State University (WSU) English Department’s Internship Program. English majors are required to complete an internship during their time at WSU, for which they receive course credit. This is the third semester Perugia has been able to offer an internship as a partnership between our press and WSU. Jean Blakeman, Perugia Press board president, conducted an interview with Tierney about her experience as a Perugia intern and as a poet.
Q: What first brought you to poetry?
A: In fourth grade, a local poet visited my class and taught us the basics of poetry. That experience stuck with me, and since then I have engaged with poetry through music and my college courses.
Q: How did you first encounter Perugia Press?
A: I first encountered Perugia Press when I was searching for local publishing internship opportunities. The Westfield State University English Department maintains a list of local writing internships and Perugia happened to be on there. I then found their website and Editor/Director Rebecca Olander’s connection to WSU, so I decided to reach out!
Q: What have you been involved with at the press?
A: Rebecca has exposed me to a lot of great opportunities in this internship. I started the internship by reading for the Perugia Press Prize, which was such a fulfilling experience. I also created social media graphics for Instagram using Canva. These ranged from writing prompts, which I brainstormed after reading a couple of Perugia collections such as Kettle Bottom by Diane Gilliam and Through a Red Place by Rebecca Pelky. I also designed a series of posts for AWP, which I am particularly proud of! Toward the end of the semester, I conducted grant research and created data organization templates that can be used by the press in the future. My final project was a personal essay I wrote in response to the poetry collections I was reading throughout the duration of the internship. It was published as a guest blog post on the Perugia Press website and has two Instagram reels accompanying it.
Q: What are some things that stay with you from the books you’ve been working with?
A: I was assigned to read Kettle Bottom by Diane Gilliam and was amazed by the creative choices Gilliam made to tell the story of a specific historic moment. I think people get the impression that poetry always has to be focused on the “self,” but this book utilizes mostly fictional characters to tell an important true story rooted in the past. Poetry is an expansive form of writing, and as a writer myself, these books have taught me various approaches I can take when exploring multiple perspectives. Other books like Daughter of Three Gone Kingdoms by Joan Kwon Glass or Through a Red Place by Rebecca Pelky also spoke to me as someone who has recently experienced grief. Through a Red Place specifically inspired me to think about my own connection to cemeteries and the past.
Q: Other than being Perugia’s intern, tell us a bit about yourself.
A: I am pursuing a second bachelor’s degree in English at WSU! I like to call myself a late bloomer since I have always loved to write and read, but never saw it as a big part of my identity until after I completed my first degree in Business of Creative Enterprise from Emerson College. Aside from that, I was born and raised in Western Mass and have a deep love for cats, iced coffee, and Taylor Swift. After I graduate, I hope to move to NYC, work in publishing, and publish a novel of my own.
Q: Do you have a favorite poet? Or a favorite poet of the moment?
A: My favorite poet at the moment has to be Sylvia Plath. She is just so whimsical and pessimistic in her writing. I had just read Sylvia Plath’s complete poetry collection when I started this internship, so I feel like the stars aligned to have me spending this semester in the company of the work of women poets.
Q: Perugia’s work centers on highlighting the work of women writers, with our latest publication by Korean diasporic poet Joan Kwon Glass. Does the mission of the press and the work represented by our latest title connect to the work you do as a student at Westfield State?
A: The mission of the press definitely connects to my work as a WSU student. A core part of my education is learning about the history of literature, and the writers that were foundational in the past were primarily men. Thankfully, the English professors at WSU have made an effort to include women writers in their syllabi so that these important perspectives are also celebrated. There is also an effort to have students submit their work for publication in the campus literary magazine Persona and other journals. As someone who works on Persona, I have become more impassioned to include diverse writers in our yearly issue because of my experience at Perugia Press.
Q: How do you see poetry fitting into your life as you move forward?
A: Poetry is never going to leave me. I will always be an avid reader and writer of poetry. It is a form that has spoken to me since I was a child and has allowed me to feel more connected to the local creative community. It makes me feel at home.
Editor’s note: It was such a pleasure to work with Tierney Boyle this spring – a great match was made between Tierney, Westfield State University, and Perugia Press! Thanks to Jean Blakeman for conducting this interview, to the WSU English Department and Professor Michael Filas for facilitating the internship, and to Tierney for your thoughful, creative, and engaged work this past semester.