L.I. Henley is the winner of the 2016 Pangaea Prize. She is the author of Starshine Road which won the 2017 Perugia Press Prize. She is also the author of two chapbooks, Desert with a Cabin View, and The Finding (Orange Monkey Publishing).

Go to our website for the entire interview.
Here is an excerpt:

I think I just realized that with poetry I had to be willing to explore my own distances, get out of a comfort zone that was only “comfortable” because I told myself it was. I had to be able to open the doors that I was once content to leave locked forever. I had to be devoted to the pursuit rather than to the “right ending.” The poet, upon opening one door and seeing there are infinite doors ahead, says, “Yes! This is exactly what I want to do with my time—open doors that lead to more doors.”