Fifty Years of Herstory
An Interview with Linda Varsell Smith by Anaïs Godard
Get the 50th anniversary issue of CALYX Journal here
Linda Varsell-Smith served on the CALYX Poetry Editorial Collective for more than three decades, helping shape the journal’s poetic voice through years of rigorous, collaborative decision-making. As an editor, poet, and teacher, she was part of the intense, often passionate conversations that defined CALYX from the inside.
In this interview, Smith reflects on collective editorial life, her friendship with Margarita Donnelly, and what it meant to build a feminist poetry space where women’s work could no longer be ignored.
Women artists emerged. The quality could not be ignored.
Q1. You sat on the Poetry Editorial Collective for decades. What did collective decision-making actually feel like? More choir, wrestling match, or something else entirely?
Sometimes it felt like fighting for a poem until we finally accepted it. We were deeply committed to the work, and we didn’t always agree. That was exciting. You win some and you lose some. But being part of CALYX for thirty-four years was wonderful.
Q2. You were close to Margarita Donnelly. What do you carry from that friendship, as an editor, a poet, and someone who helped shape the journal’s poetic voice?
Margarita exposed me to the very best, which allowed me to grow as an editor, a poet, and a teacher of poetry and fiction at Linn-Benton. I learned so much from her. I loved going to book fairs with her and traveling to the places CALYX took us. Those experiences shaped my writing life in ways I’m still grateful for.
Q3. From your vantage point, what did CALYX contribute to the poetry landscape that other journals weren’t offering?
We opened the door for women to share their work. Women artists emerged. The quality of that work was undeniable—it could not be ignored.
Q4. If you had to name one thing this moment in history demands from feminist publishing, what would it be?
It reminds me of the early years of a wonderful experiment.
Q5. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
It was an honor to serve as an editor. Such an exciting time.
Anaïs Godard is a Franco-American writer based in Los Angeles, CA, and former television producer who spent a decade interviewing celebrities. She is the 2025 Mike Resnick Memorial Award winner and a Letter Review Prize recipient. Her work has been published in McSweeney’s, Hobart, Fractured Lit, and elsewhere.