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

Tiny Spoon: What kindles your creativity?

Jessica Lee McMillan: Some quiet time outside or in my corner bookshelf nook + other artists and poets, music, nature and science!

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

Jessica Lee McMillan: I look up to so many living poets. To share with them at a reading, in community or in an issue is really all I ever wanted.

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

Jessica Lee McMillan: I am very observant about whether I am starting something new or letting something go according to moon phase. Very occasionally, I pull out my Rider-Waite deck, which is storytelling that follows rhythms of life and death we still have trouble understanding.

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?

Jessica Lee McMillan: A poem comes differently each time. The one in this issue was an ars poetica/research journey into the number 72 as there was a period of time when all my poems were 72 words.

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

Jessica Lee McMillan: I’ve started a poetry collection about the physics of light.

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

Jessica Lee McMillan: Right now, I am reading Japanese Death Poems, written by Zen Monks (Tuttle). While I am enjoying the new Horrors album, my little has been listening to lots of ABBA and I would always recommend that.

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

Jessica Lee McMillan: jessicaleemcmillan.com