Morgan Nikola Wren | Poet

To start off, why don’t you tell us a bit about when and how you first started writing poetry.

Well, I wrote poetry briefly in high school–as does every awkward kid who can’t quite communicate what is going on in their life. Then I quit for years because I didn’t think I was very good. I toyed with starting again in college. I even enrolled in a creative writing class focused on poetry. But I only stayed in the class for a week, because the talent of all the other students scared the crap out of me.

When my personal life got especially messy/painful in my early 20s, I wasn’t ready to talk about it much. But I still needed to process. So I began writing poetry regularly, but I didn’t take it very seriously. I had always seen myself writing fiction, and oddly enough, it was that that kicked my poetry career off.

I was trying to cut down the word count on a novel I had written. By a lot. I thought poetry would be a good thing to practice daily. Because you are trying to say as much as you can with as few words as possible. I also started putting the poems online, to see how they were doing, and they gained a far more decent following than I ever thought they would. After enough time, I had enough poems to make several books, so I figured I should put together at least one. 

You were an Artist in Residence at Epiphany Space, back in the summer of 2019. How did that come about, and what was the experience like? Tell us about some of the work you created for Epiphany.

Oh my gosh, that was a blast and a sheer act of providence. I was teaching at the time, so I wanted to make sure that I maximized my summer. (Let’s demolish that myth that teachers get summers off. We don’t. But we do get more free time than during the school year.) I messaged Becky on Facebook on a whim. I had been familiar with Epiphany since its inception and had attended different events there. I loved how they met at the intersection of faith and art and I knew I wanted to spend more time with them. I knew they did residencies, so I thought I would check-in to see if they needed an artist in residence for that summer. I was thrilled when Becky wrote back with interest.

The summer was fantastic. I led several poetry workshops and released my book, Poems from the Attic (a collection of poems that I loved, but had to pull from previous books.) We had a release party at Epiphany Space where I read from the book. I was also lucky enough to be joined by fellow writers and people I had met through the workshops, who were kind enough to read their own work at the event. Funnily enough, I was so nervous, that I forgot to sign any of the books that were purchased. I had never had a release party before.

Where do you draw inspiration from? Who are some of the poets and artists that have influenced your work?

Oh, so many! Catherynne M. Valente and Neil Gaiman have been two of my favorite writers for well over a decade. I have too many favorite poets to count, but a few that come to mind first are Alysia Nicole Harris, Will Bortz, and Carrie Rudzinski. Of course, there are a ton of artists (particularly musicians and directors) who I feel influencing my work. Namely Tori Amos, Loreena McKennit, Florence Welch, Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron, and Julie Taymor. 

If someone wanted to better understand who you are as a person, what one poem of your own and one poem of someone else’s would you give them to read?

Okay, I agonized over this question for so long, and I know it’s not a poem, but the only answer I can give is The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, which, though a book, reads like an enormous poem. I just…nothing I have read has ever felt ripped straight from my soul like that book did. 

Tell us a bit about your book, Magic With Skin On. 

Magic with Skin On was the first book I released. Long story short, I had pulled together a lot of my favorite poems at the time that I knew I wanted to publish in a collection, but I was also going through some stuff. I felt like I was chasing a life I loved desperately, but that didn’t love me back. I started writing a short story about an artist and her neglectful/abusive muse, for obvious reasons, and I knew immediately I wanted to put it in the book. I split the story up into seven sections and followed each section with poems that were thematically appropriate. I was insanely lucky when that book was released. The reception it got was overwhelming. I was even fortunate enough to see it get a Goodreads Choice Nomination, among other honors. I still can’t believe that happened. 

Are you working on anything right now? What have you got coming up that you’d like to tell us about?

Well, ironically, since leaving L.A. for Milwaukee, I’ve thrown myself pretty hard into screenwriting, which has been a great deal of fun.

I’ve also been writing and mailing small, original poems to anyone who asks. I started doing so in 2020, as a means of connecting during the pandemic, calling it #PoemsOnPostcards, and have continued since. Right now, I’m at about 170 poems sent to 15 countries spanning five continents. I’m currently formatting a book that’s a collection of these poems and having a wonderful time creating digital art to put throughout. 

Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring poets and other artists?

Read all that you can. Read every day. And especially read the writers that scare you because they’re so amazing. The ones that make you question why you’re doing this in the first place. I read a quote by Ira Glass over a decade ago. It said “Your work won’t match up to the work or artists you love. Not by a long shot. And that means your taste is good. And the only thing that will close the gap between your work and the work you admire is continuing to make it.” I’ve never forgotten that.



Also, if it’s so true it scares you, then you should probably write it down. And by “probably,” I mean definitely. Even if you’re the only one who’s going to read it.