Margot Douaihy sat down with Mass Poetry to discuss her forthcoming collection with Clemson, Scranton Lace. She describes growing up in Scranton, PA and what compelled her to explore the Scranton Lace factory in her new book of poetry. “I have always been inspired by The Lace [factory] and fascinated by it,” Douaihy remarks. “I’ve also been afraid of it. It’s dangerous, with broken windows, debris, graffiti, balloons and needles, broken bottles, scraps of old lace, and ghosts. The Lace began to take shape in my mind as framework for understanding my own internalized homophobia—a structure I had erected in my youth as self-protection. I felt like an outsider as a young queer in an ‘All American’ town. I no longer need this protection mechanism, now, but, like The Lace itself, it is difficult to dismantle.” Read the full interview here.
