Here at VoiceCatcher, we are thrilled to have a team of creative and passionate editors who allow us to share the powerful voices of our writers and poets. With the start of our 2021 season, we’re kicking off a new blog series called Meet the Editors Monday where we’ll introduce two of our editorial team members each week. We would like for you to get to know us a little bit better—what we do, where we come from, and what we’re excited about!
Managing Editor: Erin R Lund
Erin R Lund is an editor, author, poet, and spoken-word artist living in Vancouver, Washington, with her two sons and more books than she can read in this lifetime. Under her pen name, Erin Aurelia, she has composed two poetry collections and is working on a third. She is a well-known spoken-word performer in Vancouver’s open-mic circuit and is an avid supporter of local poets, musicians, and bands. Currently, she is recording a spoken-word EP and authoring a book about her spiritual practice. Erin is also owner of Sunshine Editorial Services, where she specializes in editing memoir, creative nonfiction, and mysteries. Find her at sunshineeditorialservices.com.
What is your favorite name and why?
My favorite name is Aurelia because the root of the name is aurum, the Latin for “gold.” So I gave myself the name as my pen name because my poetry feels to me like buried treasure brought up from the dark depths of traumatic experience. It also reminds me of the Japanese art of kintsugi in which molten gold is used to repair broken pottery so that the repaired form is even more beautiful than it was before it was broken. I love thinking that we can stitch ourselves beautiful and whole after surviving difficulties.
What is your favorite word and why?
My favorite word is onomatopoeia because the word’s only meaning is sound, to describe a word whose meaning is the sound of the word itself. It reminds me of music and how feelings and emotions can be described in musicality.
What were you almost named?
My mother told me she almost named me Jane because she loved the book Jane Eyre. But then she worked a crossword puzzle with the clue “the poetic name for Ireland” and fell in love with that instead, so she named me Erin.
Poetry Editor: Joann Boswell
Joann Renee Boswell is the author of Cosmic Pockets (Fernwood Press, 2020), a full-length collection of poetry and photography. Joann is a teacher, mother, photographer, and poet currently living in Camas, Washington, with her partner and three children. She loves rainy days filled with coffee, books, handholding, moody music, and sci-fi shows. Joann has been published in more than a dozen journals and is the current poetry editor for Untold Volumes. Read more at joannrenee.com.
What were you almost named?
I was almost named Sarah. My mom changed her mind on the way to the hospital. She decided to give me her middle name, a tradition, as my mother is named after her mother’s middle name as well. And now, I have a daughter with my middle name. But there’s zero pressure for her to continue the tradition, especially because she’s six years old.
What were you like in high school?
I was my high school mascot. I liked to do things in unexpected, creative ways when possible. For instance, I worked as a courtesy clerk at the local Safeway in Roseburg, Oregon, and while sorting soda cans, I collected pop tabs, sanitized them thoroughly, then used clear thread to create a woven overlay to go over the winter formal dress my mom made me. I also got straight A’s, sang in choirs, acted in plays, and was involved in student council.
What is your favorite word and why?
My favorite word is pandemonium. I love to say it out loud, slowly. It has a really good mouthfeel.