An Interview with Virginia Poet ShelbyLynn Pursley
- Breelyn Lester
- May 11
- 10 min read
ShelbyLynn Pursley is a published poet based in Richmond, Virginia whose deep connection to poetry was sparked by a 4th grade assignment to recite a poem by Shel Silverstein. She couldn't pick just one, much to her teacher's irritation, because in these poems, she'd found a piece of herself- one she didn't yet understand. Her own journal entry revealed hidden artistry and from there, she wrote knowing a name for this- poetry. It became a focal source of healing in her life.
Her first published work, This Beautiful Life, is a compilation of poetry that was written over the span of several years and details the pain, heartache, and growth of a girl who went through the unimaginable. It’s a reminder to all that even when you feel as though you can’t continue, and the world is getting you down, there will always still be hope and a future to look toward.
BL: Can you introduce yourself to us?
SP: My name is ShelbyLynn Pursley. I am a 27 year old poet originally from Texas but have been living in Virginia for the last 3 years. I am also a woman with a disability. When I am asked to describe myself, I often use the phrase ‘survivor’ as an all encompassing term for the things I have been through and how I have made it to the other side.
BL: Tell us about your earliest memories of poetry. How old were you? Are they positive memories? What do you wish was your earliest memory of poetry?
SP: My earliest memory of interacting with poetry came in fourth grade when we were assigned to memorize, study, and recite a Shel Silverstein poem. I selected the poem ‘Smart’. And then I selected the poem ‘One Inch Tall’. And then I selected the poem ‘Sick’. In total I ended up selecting and studying fifteen poems, all of which I was able to see myself in various parts of. My fourth grade teacher was annoyed at my inability to pick just one, but I was enchanted by the poems I was reading and discovering. I felt like I’d found a piece of myself that I didn’t yet understand.
My earliest memory of writing poetry was a year later and it was essentially word vomit. I had had a very hard day and I found myself spewing whatever felt right into my journal. When I reread the writing later that week, I realized that the thing I had written was much more poem than journal entry which led to an exploration of poetry as a form of healing expression for myself. I honestly love my journey to discovering poetry and if there were one thing I would change it would be to discover it sooner though I don’t know that I would have understood it in the same way had I discovered it sooner.
BL: After you found poetry for yourself, you eventually chose to share it with others. What was that process like for you?
SP: I made the choice to start sharing my poetry with others when I was a junior in High School. During a stay in a residential facility, I had written my poem, Beauty. Part of our assignment was that we were required to share with others and so I stood and read the poem aloud. When I finished reading, almost half of the other young women in the room had tears in their eyes. It was in that moment that I finally realized that there is a certain power to realizing you aren’t alone in your experience through written word and shared humanity. The following year I ended up making a website to share my poetry and that same poem ended up winning a state wide award for poetry.
My interactions with people having read my poetry tends to be one that I honestly struggle to respond to because more often than not, it is people sharing that my poems made them see themselves or their circumstances differently. I try my best to just give space to those moments and to sit in those often difficult feelings with whomever is sharing the moment.
BL: We’ve had a couple of conversations over the past few months about your experience with poetry-specific writing groups and organizations. I remember that one encounter was full of people who claimed that “freeverse wasn’t poetry,” an opinion that neither you nor I share. For us, it isn’t about what poetry isn’t it’s about what poetry is. What is poetry for you?
SP: For me, there is no set in stone ‘thing’ for what is or isn’t poetry. I have written poems as short as a sentence or two and as long as thirteen pages. For me, poetry is simply the process of feeling and exploring the world around us through written word. Some poems rhyme, some are best as a performance, and others still need very few words to sit heavily on the soul.
BL: Despite not often making use of formal poetry structures, you do have a robust understanding of them. Do you explore that in your work now?
SP: I have a tendency to explore a large variety of styles and formats of poems. During National Poetry Month, I have made a point to explore new formats like dueling couplets, tankas, pantoum, and sonnets. I also am a big fan of learning the ‘rules’ of a certain poem or style, and then finding meaningful and intentional ways of breaking those rules.
BL: What does the poetry writing process look like for you? Do you draft and revise? One and done?
SP: A lot of the time, the things that I post on my social media are one and dones. That being said, everything receives a revision before being included on my website, sent off for competition, or entered into a collection.
BL: Where does poetry start for you? An idea, a line, a concept, a point to prove, etc.
SP: Most of my poetry starts with some form of prompt, be it feelings that are sitting with me or lingering, a prompt I resonated with that I saw online, or a situation that I feel needs to be brought to light.
BL: What has poetry brought to your life?
SP: The biggest thing poetry has brought into my life is a deep sense of connection. When you endure the unthinkable, you are commonly left feeling isolated in a way that most words can't describe and few people experience. Though poetry, connections have been built that show the greatest parts of humanity even when having endured the worst.
BL: What emotion do you find to be the most difficult to elicit in readers?
SP: I find it most difficult to elicit joy or happiness in readers. For me personally having lived a lot of my life with depression, it is an emotion that I find it difficult to experience a lot of the time and that certainly comes through in the emotions I try to elicit most often through my poems.
BL: Despite not often making use of formal poetry structures, you do have a robust understanding of them. Do you explore that in your work now?
SP: I have a tendency to explore a large variety of styles and formats of poems. During National Poetry Month, I have made a point to explore new formats like dueling couplets, tankas, pantoum, and sonnets. I also am a big fan of learning the ‘rules’ of a certain poem or style, and then finding meaningful and intentional ways of breaking those rules.
BL: What does the poetry writing process look like for you? Do you draft and revise? One and done?
SP: A lot of the time, the things that I post on my social media are one and dones. That being said, everything receives a revision before being included on my website, sent off for competition, or entered into a collection.
BL: Where does poetry start for you? An idea, a line, a concept, a point to prove, etc.
SP: Most of my poetry starts with some form of prompt, be it feelings that are sitting with me or lingering, a prompt I resonated with that I saw online, or a situation that I feel needs to be brought to light.
BL: What has poetry brought to your life?
SP: The biggest thing poetry has brought into my life is a deep sense of connection. When you endure the unthinkable, you are commonly left feeling isolated in a way that most words can't describe and few people experience. Though poetry, connections have been built that show the greatest parts of humanity even when having endured the worst.
BL: What emotion do you find to be the most difficult to elicit in readers?
SP: I find it most difficult to elicit joy or happiness in readers. For me personally having lived a lot of my life with depression, it is an emotion that I find it difficult to experience a lot of the time and that certainly comes through in the emotions I try to elicit most often through my poems.
BL: What advice do you give to others that you wish you would take yourself?
SP: Just write. It doesn’t matter if it’s ‘good’ or if it’s ‘right’, the most important thing is that it’s you. There is so much healing to be found in writing regardless of if it’s just word vomiting in a journal, writing a novel, or creating poetry. Write, and do it for yourself.
BL: What does it mean to be a poet? What is the role of the poet in society?
SP: For me, being a poet means sharing the deepest, and often darkest, parts of myself in a way that allows connection and healing both for myself and for the reader. Many of my poems involve themes of abuse, depression, grief, and healing, because those are the things that I have lived. I think in society it is the job of any writer to shine light on different areas of the world, be it through writing authentic representation into fantasy, or sharing stories that would otherwise be untold, or exploring themes that allow readers to broaden their perspectives. For poets this often goes a bit deeper by being a means of holding up a mirror to the world and circumstances we are living in.
BL: Do you use external resources like a thesaurus? Do you keep a list like "weird words to put in a poem one day?" (I do).
SP: I use rhymezone a lot. While that isn’t necessarily a thesaurus, it is helpful for finding words to rhyme. I do have a note in my phone of random things that felt like poetry. A lot of the things in that note are short phrases, photos of moments that felt poetic, or sets of words alliterated words that just felt right. Many of these never end up as a poem, but they are a source of inspiration when my own brain feels too loud with a poem that doesn’t seem to want to come out.
BL: Do you like to write at any specific place in Virginia? What in Richmond, VA inspires you?
SP: The beach has been a place of peace and comfort for me for most of my life and I often find myself in a very reflective state when I am at the beach which lends to writing poetry through a broader lens. I think the thing that has inspired me most in Richmond is the people. Everyday we interact with countless people either intentionally or just in passing and when we sit in that sense of wonder and interconnection, it opens the mind to a beautiful sense of understanding and patience.
BL: Tell us about some of your favorite poets and their work. What stood out to you?
SP: One of my favorite modern poets is Amanda Lovelace. Her work shines a light on what it is to be a woman and to endure the various facets of womanhood including bodily standards, sexism, abuse, and more. Her poems felt like learning myself and finding the same solace of being seen that I try to give to my own readers.
The above five covers are from poetry collections by Amanda Lovelace.
Another favorite modern poet is Shane Koyczan. I discovered his poetry at a very pivotal point in my life and my journey with mental health and I will always say that his poem ‘To This Day’ saved my life.
Shane Koyczan has spoken word performances available for streaming on platforms like Spotify and SoundCloud, listed under the artist name “Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long.” Here, you can listen to poems mentioned by the interviewee, such as “To This Day.” which ShelbyLynn credits with saving her life, and “How to Be a Person” which she named as the poem she would make required reading in Richmond, VA, if given the power.
My all time favorite poet over the years has consistently been Emily Dickinson. Her work has always felt to me like seeing the world through a different lens, one of both joy and hardship. It is because of this view that I eventually developed my own joy mindset which has gotten me through some of the hardest times in my own life.
BL: If you could require one poem to be read by all Richmond, VA residents, which would you choose? (Feel free to share why!)
SP: I genuinely feel that every person, regardless of who they are or where they live, should listen to Shane Koyczan’s ‘How To Be A Person’. It is a poem that reminds us of our humanity and the impact that we have on others while giving hope for a world that can be better. Through respect, kindness, and patience for others, and a shared understanding of humanity and the way that we are all part of this world, we can make the world a better place.
BL: What would you say to someone wanting to get into writing poetry?
SP: The only rules for poetry are those you choose to follow. You are allowed to make your own rules and to break every single one. The beauty of poetry is that it can be whatever you want it to be. You are allowed to write in whatever way or about whatever feels best to you. Take the strongest emotion in your body and put it on a page in whatever form it comes out and acknowledge the beauty in sitting with that and giving it words.
You can read ShelbyLynn’s more recent work and follow along her journey on her Instagram page, @poetry_on_wheels, where she shares snippets of poetry and moments from her own life on screen.
This interview was conducted via email correspondence. If you are a published author (indie or trad) interested in being interviewed, please fill out this form. If you are a writer (any genre) interested in being interviewed, please fill out this form.
Comments