ATHENS, Ohio — Two Southeast Ohio writers have come together to share literature produced during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
“Stronger When We Touch” by former Athens poet laureate Wendy McVicker and Meigs County resident Cathy Cultice Lentes — both childhood educators — features letter poems the two poets exchanged in the spring and summer of 2021.
Samples provided to the Independent show poetry rich with introspection and reflection upon the landscapes, life and nature of southeast Ohio. The two writers learned about each other and shared their intimate life stories through the poetry, swapping thoughts and feelings on current events and life histories.
The book draws its title from an instance years ago when a local environmental official informed McVicker that trees grow better together. “Trees do better when they touch,” McVicker said. “And I immediately thought, ‘Oh, just like people.’”
McVicker said the two writers traded titles inspired by the instance until Cultice Lentes suggested “we” instead of “they.” “At one point, I said, ‘Stronger When They Touch’ and Cathy was like, ‘But it’s us?’” McVicker said. “The more I think about that title, the more I like it, actually.”
The two met at an epistolary — or letter — poetry class in February 2021 taught by former poet laureate of Cincinnati Pauletta Hansel. “We were fortunate enough to be paired as partners to write letter poems to each other,” McVicker said.
“Our collection is actually kind of unusual in that the conversation that was done in letter poems continues actually on the page,” Cultice Lentes said. “Many poets will do a conversation with another poet, but they don’t publish them together.”
“As the class was nearing its end I just felt like I wasn’t done. And I reached out to Wendy to see if maybe she wasn’t done either,” Cultice Lentes said. “And we both kind of felt the same way that we were just getting started, it was just starting to get interesting.”
The two did not write their letters with a book in mind.
“We were enjoying the exchange going back and forth in those uncertain months. And even though we were already friends, we were learning so much more about each other,” Cultice Lentes said. “And we were conversing about things going on in the world. And, you know, kind of going into our history, it became very interesting.”
For McVicker, the inability to gather in person allowed the pair to “dive deep.”
“I think lots of people felt this was a time of really looking deep at what was going on in the world and what was going on in ourselves,” McVicker said. “Because Cathy had this great idea that we should keep going, we just, we did, and keep going and not repeating the same thing over and over. But turning over the soil at a deeper and deeper level. It felt very rich.”
The pair wrote from the spring of 2021 and began analyzing the poems for a book later that summer. While theyedited their poems, they felt it was important to maintain the spontaneity of the letters, Cultice Lentes said.
“We felt that was so important, because we had been writing with no expectation of publication — other eyes than our own — and I think because of that, I think it allowed us a freedom that we might not have felt if we had gone into it with the thought that we’re not just writing as a friend,” Cultice Lentes said. “We did consider a greater audience when we decided there was something there that went beyond our personal lives and kind of touched on the universal.”
And because the pair wrote and exchanged the poems (up to three per week) over several months, “There’s actually kind of a story arc,” Cultice Lentes said. McVicker said the poems reflect life in Southeast Ohio via descriptions of landscapes — both McVicker’s urban experience in Athens and Cultice Lentes’ rural experience in Meigs County.
“I think that we’re both poets that, in general, are very in touch with our natural world and those are important topics that we tend to write about — especially during that time, we were so much more aware of where we were, and what was around us,” Cultice Lentes said.
Their work was also inspired by current events and seeing their own privileges. For Cultice Lentes, the project is unique — McVicker described it as “fun and challenging.”
“We’re able to end in a different place than we began,” Cultice Lentes said. “I think if you read the whole collection, we see not only growth in our friendships, but growth in our lives as poets and also citizens in the world.”
The book also includes letters to readers — an introductory letter from McVicker and a closing letter from Cultice Lentes. The book also includes photographs that touch on themes from the book, specifically childhood — drawing from the writers’ own childhoods, and their work as educators.
There will be a book launch for “Stronger When We Touch” at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024 at the Athens Public Library, 30 Home St. It is also available for purchase via Ohio-based publisher The Orchard Street Press.
