Welcome to the latest installment of the Witches Save the World Micro-Interviews! In honor of the upcoming Halloween/Samhain holiday, and in celebration of the release of Witches Save the World, Forests Haunted By Holiness will be featuring a series of interviews with the contributors throughout October.
Witches Save the World was a labor of love. Across these two volumes you will find poems, short stories, and essays celebrating the witch and their role as wisdom keeper, protector of nature, avenger of the forgotten, and defender of the oppressed. Individual poems and stories range from historical fantasy to contemporary horror to science fiction, with many questioning the nature and cost of honor, integrity, and freedom.
In concert with these interviews, one physical copy of Witches Save the World — either Hags, Harridans, and Hexes Gone Right or Covens, Cauldrons, and Curses Gone Right— will be given away at the end of the month! Two books, two winners! To enter the drawing, just comment below and share the interview on your favorite social media platform.
Ready? Let’s get started!
Forests Haunted By Holiness: What is the title of your poem and can you give us a spoiler-free summary?
Joe Coy: The title of my poem is “Ragecraft” and basically it’s about a witch’s belief in her ability to effect change in the world and hold those in power to account when they do wrong.
FHBH: How did you go about writing your poem? Lot of research? Or did you just wing it?
JC: The “rage” in the title was my own based on my reaction to current events and everything else just flowed from there. That’s how I typically write my poems, just start with the feeling and see what comes out, then go back and make little adjustments for style, rhythm, readability, etc.
FHBH: What draws you to the character and theme of “the witch”? What do you find so compelling about it?
JC: The witch is a being of power, connected to the ebbs and flows of the natural world. Neither good nor evil, they are wild and free, living on the outskirts. When those who want to control everything realize they can’t control the witch, they brand them as evil. The same story plays out again and again in our modern society. Control and freedom. Good and evil. Hero and villain. The powerful and the downtrodden. But witches don’t take kindly to being taken advantage of or for granted, and they can quickly turn those labels on their heads. No matter how they are oppressed, they have never lost their independence, their sense of justice, or their power.
