Poet Barbara Hagerty wants to take you to her 'Guest House'

Barbara G.S. Hagerty is no newbie when it comes to having her writing published. Her first published work was presented in The Charleston Evening Post when she was a mere 7 years old. It's safe to say that her writing skills have only become more colorful and impressive since then.

Since her debut, Hagerty's various writings have been published in about 40 publications including The Los Angeles Times, The Ladies' Home Journal, Town & Country and more.

Preview got a chance to catch up with Hagerty and talk about her successes.

Q: Tell me about your writing career.

A: I've worked as a freelance journalist, essayist and columnist; I've also always been something of closet poet. For the past two years, I've focused on poetry and am a member of The Long Table Poets, a workshop lead by the extraordinary poet and teacher, Richard Garcia.

Q: Your newest chapbook is due to be released March 27. Tell me about it.

A: The chapbook is entitled "The Guest House," after a favorite poem by Jalaluddin Rumi, the 13th-century Sufi mystic poet.

Rumi compares the human psyche and its variety of moods to the array of visitors to a guest house: joy, a dark thought, malice, awareness, a crowd of sorrows.

Q: Where did the inspiration for the theme of "The Guest House" stem from?

A: When I had amassed a substantial body of work, I set out to discover its themes. I spread all my recent poems on the floor — I'm a low-tech person — and began to scrutinize them for recurrent patterns and ideas. Over and over, I saw myself returning to the notion of the fluidity of identity.

Q: I understand that you wrote two books on handbags.

A: The books grew out of two columns I wrote for SKIRT! where I had a monthly gig for the magazine's first five years. The project began with the observation that the purse is an extension of persona, and evolved into a full-blown examination of the themes, metaphors and cultural meanings inherent in the bags we carry.

Q: Finally, what advice would you offer amateur writers in the area?

A: Read omnivorously, attend public readings, take a class, connect with other writers. Join a workshop where participants meet regularly to critique each other's work. Analyze publication outlets, both traditional and Internet. Begin to assemble a body of published work, and never dismiss any publication opportunity as too small or unworthy.

Hagerty's two books, "Handbags: A Peek Inside a Woman's Most Trusted Accessory" and "Purse Universe," can be found locally at Blue Bicycle Books or online through Amazon.com.

Watch for "The Guest House" after March 27 at Blue Bicycle Books, Amazon.com or at www.finishinglinepress.com.