Teresa H. Janssen

Teresa H. Janssen’s essays and short fiction have appeared in Zyzzyva, Catamaran, Parabola, Chautauqua, Eastern Iowa Review, Los Angeles Review and elsewhere; and in the anthology, Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis. Her writing has twice been designated notable in Best American Essays. Her debut novel, The Ways of Water, inspired by her grandmother’s early life, is forthcoming November 2023 from She Writes Press. She lives with her husband in Port Townsend, WA.

Facebook: @teresahjanssen

Instagram: @teresahjanssen

Favorite non-reading activity?

My favorite non-reading activities are walking and hiking. Part of these joys come from simply taking a pause, leaving the house (and keyboard), and immersing myself in nature. Being outdoors clears my head and awakens my senses. When I hike up a hill or mountainside, the views from above bring me perspective. My home and my worries shrink in size. Though I hike less often, I try to walk every day, often the same route down my driveway, past a wetland, and on a path through a valley edged by Doug fir, alder, wild rose and snowberry. By walking the same course, I notice change: bare bushes in winter, spring buds and blooms, late summer berries, autumn cones; the newts and worms crossing after a rain; mist on my cheeks, the nip of an icy breeze on my nose. During the walk, I turn things over in my mind—be it a problem that’s interfering with my writing or a puzzle in a plotline. I don’t always come up with a solution but usually return with more vigor for the work ahead.

Is there a work of art that you love. Why? Have you ever visited it in person?

I have always been drawn to paintings of the Annunciation—when the angel Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her that she will have a child. Interpretations of the Annunciation by painters, sculptors, musicians and writers date back to the third century, and after the nativity, it’s one of the most widely depicted subjects of Christian art. Artists depict the various stages of Mary’s experience. Annunciation paintings that I’ve especially enjoyed are Matthias Grünewald’s at the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar, France (showing her wonder and confusion) and one painted nearly four hundred years later by Canadian artist Mary Alexandra Bell Eastlake in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (depicting Mary’s curiosity and reflection).

I’m fascinated by accounts of individuals who have received missives that brought inspiration and sometimes a turning point their lives. Perhaps I’m drawn to this subject because in my writing and in my life, I, too, seek the muse. The topic of annunciation grabs me because I want to be open to opportunities for wonder, deep listening, reflection…and if I am fortunate, epiphany and transformation.

Vacation druthers… City or Rural destination? Why?

I live in a rural area of Washington state, a two-hour trip to Seattle across bridges and ferryboats. Given the time I spend in nature near home, when I travel, I like to visit cities. Favorites are San Francisco, Dublin, Lisbon, Krakow, Istanbul, Kyoto, and Cuenca, Ecuador. I love to walk the streets, see the cafés, parks, places of worship, monuments and ruins, and visit museums. A history geek, history museums stimulate me with their layered narratives of migration, empire, and resistance. I often discover inspiring, yet nearly forgotten stories of individuals who persevered during harrowing times. Art museums influence my writing, too. Paintings and sculpture kindle new ideas and connections that I note, reflect on, and sometimes develop after I return home.

What’s the difference (at least for you!) between being a writer and an author? How do you shift gears between the two?

Being a writer is freeing. It encompasses doodling, jotting phrases on napkins or the margin of a book or newspaper, filling journals with musings or research notes, making lists, and picking up half-finished poems, snippets of essays or short stories and tangling with them. It’s finding words to describe whatever emotion or topic titillates me, regardless of what some might think ‘publishable’. It’s sharing with other writers. I think of being an author as further along the process—after the development and birthing, a later stage of creativity. It’s about the editing and polishing needed when the concept has been worked out, and the other activities involved in publishing…connection with writing communities and readers, social media, publicity, and marketing.

Do you speak a second language? Do you think differently in that language? Does it influence your writing?

I have always been interested in language. I have a B.A. in French and an M.A. in Linguistics and have studied several languages, including Lushootseed, an Indian language of Puget Sound. I am intrigued by the many ways that one’s language reflects and influences conceptual understandings. Learning other languages has taught me that there are many different ways to think about and express things, and if you find difficulty down one path, there may be another way. I try to employ linguistic creativity in my writing.