Nichole Almeda Morton is a feeler of feelings. She writes stuff. She comes from a lineage of storytellers. She can also run backwards unusually quickly. She is a very cautious pedestrian. For the 2019 Dreyfest Poetry Jam, she’s collaborating with Wanda Morales and Ben Bishop, who will read from Morton’s work.
Who are your (literary/spiritual/personal) influences? Alternatively: Who are your ideal adoptive parents?
Literary: Rosario Castellanos, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Mary Oliver, Alice Walker, Sterling HolyWhiteMountain, Spiritual: Jesus, Mary, Kuan Yin, Brigitte, Baba Yaga, Thomas Merton, Mr Rogers. Ideal adoptive parents: Arther and Molly Weasley
Describe your psychic shielding—what, exactly, keeps you from succumbing to the forces of evil?
I don’t believe in it. Humans are beautiful and brutal and most of us just do the best we can.
Do you think the world is ending? Why or why not?
I don’t know about the world ending, but human existence, perhaps.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Coffee, the sun, and my alarm.
Who is your desert island poet? Why?
If it has to be a desert Island then Renaldo Arenas. He survived Castro and the Mariel Boat Lift.
Describe an irrational fear or superstition you just can't shake.
Snakes under my bed
Catch Morton in performance during Dreyfest Poetry Jam, starting at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9 at Craft Local, 2413 Montana Ave.
