Tiny Talks is an interview series with Tiny Spoon’s talented contributors. This week we spoke with Nikoletta Nousiopoulos from our thirteenth issue.

Tiny Spoon: What kindles your creativity?

Nikoletta Nousiopoulos: My creativity is kindled by reading old texts such as the Bible, the Odyssey, The Iliad, and The Divine Comedy, and through conversations with my students. Poetry podcasts, specifically Kevin Young on The New Yorker Poetry Podcast and the Ode and Psyche podcast hosted by Vermont poet laureate Bianca Stone, also inspire me. Additionally, spending time in nature, particularly by the ocean or near flowers, initiates my creative urge.

Tiny Spoon: Are there any artists/ heroines/ idols/ friends that you look up to?

Nikoletta Nousiopoulos: My husband, fiction writer Daniel Giovinazzo, is my biggest inspiration. His daily writing practice and standards for excellence mirror what I hope to achieve in my work ethic. I also deeply admire the work of Anne Carson, Rainer Maria Rilke, Alice Notley, Clarice Lispector, Louise Glück, Anne Sexton, Dorothea Lasky, and Maggie Nelson. I am drawn to work that centers gender, the body, astrology, the occult, surrealism, spirituality, and experimental/avant-garde literary forms.

Tiny Spoon: Do you have specific superstitions or divinatory practices that you adhere to?

Nikoletta Nousiopoulos: From birth, I was raised in the Greek Orthodox faith and exposed to various rituals and practices, such as burning incense, chanting, icons, scripture readings, and fasting. These experiences fostered an early onset of existential thoughts concerning life and death. My paternal grandparents, Greek immigrants from Korifi, a small village in the province of Kozani, were religious and superstitious. For example, they believed in the sanctity of the church while simultaneously holding beliefs in the power of hexes and reading fortunes in the remains of Greek coffee grains. Their beliefs blended these traditions in my childhood and upbringing. Today, these rituals manifest in my home through the presence of icons and an altar dedicated to deceased loved ones. Tarot is a daily practice for me, used as a tool for setting intentions or freewrites. While I do not always adhere to some doctrines of the church, I feel able to access the Divine and a feeling of holiness through reading the Bible and other religious scriptures. Additionally, I engage with astrology by reading current transits and considering their relationship to my natal chart. Since 2020, I have kept an astrological log of major transits and events that have occurred in my life.

Tiny Spoon: We love insight into the creative process. Could you share what it is like for you, either with your work that appears in Tiny Spoon or in general?

Nikoletta Nousiopoulos: “How to Talk to the Dead” originated in a lyric essay workshop offered by Muse Writing, an organization founded by the poet, essayist, and scholar Joanna Penn Cooper. I participated in the workshop to experiment with prose writing. It was in this workshop that I encountered Maggie Nelson’s Bluets, a book that fundamentally shifted my understanding of lyrical prose. My creative process is a bit like research, in that reading and inquiry take up more time than writing. While I wish I was more generative and could write every day, what is more typical of my pattern is sudden bursts of creativity, moments when I feel called to the page in a way that is energized and spontaneous. These generative moments will last two to three months and eventually decrease until I am only able to notetake and journal. During this time I conduct research, read new books, journal throughout the day, keep a commonplace book, and revise old work. All of my work is handwritten in a notebook, then transferred to a computer.

Tiny Spoon: Do you have any current or future projects that you are working on that you would like to share?

Nikoletta Nousiopoulos: My second poetry manuscript, Penelope’s Dream Almanac, is complete and currently seeking a publisher. In these poems, I explore themes of the female body, pregnancy loss, dream interpretation, and the mystical landscape of Greece, using Penelope from Homer’s Odyssey as a lens for a contemporary understanding. My current prose projects include a collection of short stories, spanning fiction and non-fiction, and a non-fiction novella investigating the suicide of a high school friend in a prison cell. This novella is informed by intuitive connections to various books, music, and visual art, and it also employs major astrological transits to illuminate aspects of my friend’s character and the details surrounding his death.

Tiny Spoon: What book, artwork, music, etc., would you recommend to others?

Nikoletta Nousiopoulos: Having listened to the Ode & Psyche podcast episode from February 12, 2025, titled “It’s Raining in a Dead Language: The Fragments of Franz Wright, with Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright,” I began reading Franz Wright’s books. My favorite so far is F: Poems (2016), particularly because of my interest in longer and prose poems. Eventually, I hope to attempt an epic poem of my own.

Regarding novels, Rebecca Solnit’s The Faraway Nearby, with its blend of memoir, literary criticism, travelogue, and more, was an enjoyable read. Maggie Nelson’s Bluets and The Argonauts have been the most influential on my prose style, inspiring a similar collage or hybrid approach to Solnit’s book. I am curious about psychological associations during my writing process and intend to document them as these writers do.

Tiny Spoon: Is there anything else you would like others to know about you, your creations, or beyond?

Nikoletta Nousiopoulos: I am a mother of three young children, and I work as an educator and academic advisor for the Thames transition program at Mitchell College. For over 11 years, I have taught writing and literature at various institutions, including community and private colleges, a Catholic high school, and York Correctional Institute, the only women’s prison in Connecticut. My current professional project aims to broaden perspectives on the dynamics between neurodiversity and creativity, specifically by addressing bias and misunderstanding around talent and ability. Additionally, I helped establish The Thames Review, a literary journal showcasing the work of neurodiverse students within the Thames program at Mitchell College.

Tiny Spoon: Where can people learn more about what you do?

Nikoletta Nousiopoulos: My Instagram handle is @nikogiovinazzo, and additional information can be found on my website: https://nikolettapoet.my.canva.site/.