IN LATE 2020, Barbara Kingsolver published How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons), her first poetry collection in almost twenty years. Many of these poems operate as spare and elegant suggestions for navigating the various ruptures, changes, remakings and accommodations of a life. Griffith Review is delighted to extract three here, along with some of Kingsolver’s thoughts on the potential of this form, the impetus for this new work, the year that was and what she’s doing next.

Ashley Hay: There’s a lovely combination of gentle instruction, sharp observation and humour in the ‘How to’ poems – what was the impetus for this series in particular?