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Erin Keane likes to poke around in the space between interior and exterior lives, between subcultures and the dominant culture, where rules, expectations and desires butt up against one another.
 
The Louisville writer wears numerous hats. Keane has published two books of poetry as well as a chapbook. She previously wrote about the arts and culture for Velocity, the Courier-Journal and LEO, and now reports on arts and humanities for WFPL radio. Keane also teaches creative writing in the MFA program at National University, an accredited, nonprofit institute. 
 
“If I could make a living as a poet, I would,” she says.  But few poets are able to do so, and Keane appreciates her degree, an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University, for providing an opportunity to employ her craft as well as critical thinking skills.
 
A fifth-grade writing assignment inspired Keane’s first poem. “It was a ridiculous poem about springtime and bunnies,” she says. However, the poem found an appreciative audience and inspired her to keep writing.  At home, she found support for her work. “I grew up hearing poetry in my house. It didn’t seem foreign to me,” she says. Her mother read poetry aloud from a children’s collection, including the poems “Little Orphant Annie” by James Whitcomb Riley, and the more grim “The Dead Dolly” by Margaret Vandergrift. Her mother also read works less commonly shared with children, including T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Man” and “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” Keane’s grandfather, a former military man, had a passion for the works of Rudyard Kipling, and frequently recited poems from memory. 
 
Keane learned that poetry is something to be enjoyed, something to have in one’s life. The author also loves the performing arts, and many of her books reflect that passion. “One-Hit Wonders” (2006) is a collection of poems about rock and roll;“The Gravity Soundtrack” (2007) explores pop culture and music; and “Death-Defying Acts” (2010) features persona poems in the voices of various circus performers, including an aerialist, a lion tamer, a tattooed lady and a bizarre clown. “He’s awful. He’s terrible,” she says of her imagined clown. “It was fun to indulge in that.”
 
Some of her favorite musicians, including Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, have inspired her work, as have movies and television. “Creative writing is an effective way to examine things that can’t be left unexamined,” she says. “I’m sometimes struck by an image or idea, and try to make sense of that through art. I like to make connections between the brain and the heart.” Keane advises aspiring poets to be specific. “The more specific you are in a poem, the more universal appeal it will have. If people can make a connection, they can empathize.”
 
Keane enjoys the work of other writers, including Alan Michael Parker, Kim Addonizio and Molly Peacock, and has high praise for the local literary scene. “We’re really lucky to have a crazy rich literary scene here,” she says, citing theInKY Reading Series, which Keane helped launch, the Sarabande 21C series, the new online magazine The HillVille, begun by local writers Beth Newberry and Niki King, and a Typecast Publishing series slated for this summer. “It’s a great time to be a writer in Kentucky right now.”  
 
Interested readers can find Keane’s books locally at Carmichael’s bookstores and online at Amazon.com. Her books can also be bought at a discount at WordFarm.net. Keane’s website is www.sensilla.com.