#41 Maria Hardin, poet & artist

'I am obsessed with semi-obsolete gadgets as writing devices'

Maria Hardin is a Swedish-American artist and bilingual poet based in Stockholm. Her debut poetry collection, Cute Girls Watch When I Eat Aether, was published by Action Books in April. Maria’s work has been exhibited across Scandinavia and her writing has appeared in American Chordata, Burning House Press, Denver Quarterly, Fanzine, Gutter, LIGEIA Magazine, SLFFCK, Spam Zine, Spectra Poetry, Wigleaf, and elsewhere. She can be found at mariaology.com.

Where do you write?
Everywhere. Most of the poems in my book began in the notes app. They were written in bed, at the rheumatologist’s office, during infusions, at shows, etc. I think writing on a phone is more discrete than carrying around a notebook because it looks like I am just texting. However, that doesn’t really work for longer pieces so I almost always have a King Jim Pomera DM100 in my purse. I like writing places where there is a din of activity but it’s not too noisy. Some of my favorite writing spots are: by the windows overlooking Sergels Torg at Kulturbiblioteket, the back corner of A.B. Cafe, and ilcaffé Hornstull with my friend Anna. The only time I ever sit at a desk is when I am editing and want multiple screens.

What can we always find on your desk?
A cute mess and .38mm MUJI gel pens.

Morning writer or late-night words?
I fetishize the idea of having a writing routine. I have tried and failed so many times. I am just not a creature of habit. The only constant in my life is that late-night writing never happens. The writing part of my brain is useless after 4 p.m. In the late afternoon and evening, all I want to do is hang out and read. I love the kind of writing that happens upon first waking up. I have an AlphaSmart under my bed so that I can type when my eyes are still too sleepy to open. (I am obsessed with semi-obsolete gadgets as writing devices.)

Coffee, tea, nibbles?
Homemade cold brew in the morning, matcha or kombucha in afternoon and holy basil tea at night.

What's your most tempting distraction?
Rearranging my furniture, thinking about snacks, and looking for archival vintage on eBay.

What's that we hear on the speakers?
If I want to focus, then Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports” on repeat. If I am overstimulated, then Beach Side Property by Modest Mouse to calm down. If I need to do something tedious, then a Philip K Dick or William Gibson audiobook.

Have you got any pre-writing rituals?
Only if I am doing a session of automatic writing.

Perfect bookshop to hide on a rainy day?
Nord Books, in Stockholm, has the best curation of English books I have ever encountered. They carry so many hard to find books by small presses and are located in my favorite neighborhood. There is a bakery next door with hard bread sandwiches made from seeds and cranberries, a vegan gelato shop around the corner, an old school cafe with traditional Swedish pastries down the street, Drop Coffee (iykyk), and a ton of thrift stores. Stockholm is also filled with so many cool used bookstores. Their collections are mostly in Swedish, so maybe not that appealing to the readers of this newsletter. The best one is Rönnells.

What's your most treasured book?
“Hello, the Roses” by Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge. My mom wrote a letter to me on the first few pages before she died.

Favourite word?
Honeysuckle.

Dream writing location?
Anywhere there is a friend writing across from me.

Three writers (dead or alive) to have dinner with?
Poets: Hiromi Itō, Madeline Gins, and Yoko Ono. Novelists: Joy Williams, Clarice Lispector, and Fleur Jaeggy. Though, I kind of hate meeting people I admire.

One poem that has changed your life?
Alphabet by Inger Christensen. It is a book length poem based on the fibonacci sequence. Every section corresponds to a letter and a number of lines. 1 is A and one line. 6 is F and 13 lines. And so on, all the way to N.

1

apricot trees exist, apricot trees exist

2

bracken exists; and blackberries, blackberries;
bromine exists; and hydrogen, hydrogen

3

cicadas exist; chicory, chromium,
citrus trees; cicadas exist;
cicadas, cedars, cypresses, the cerebellum

5

early fall exists; aftertaste, afterthought;
seclusion and angels exist;
widows and elk exist; every
detail exists; memory, memory's light;
afterglow exists; oaks, elms,
junipers, sameness, loneliness exist;
eider ducks, spiders, and vinegar
exist, and the future, the future

(excerpt translated from Danish by Susanna Nied)