Chats with Creatives (Part 4)
(The one with poet Lyndsay Rush)
Lyndsay Rush is a comedy writer, cofounder of the branding agency Obedient, and the poet behind the popular Instagram account Mary Oliver’s Drunk Cousin. Her debut book of poems, A Bit Much, was an Instant USA Today Bestseller, and her writing has been featured in Reductress, McSweeney’s, New York Magazine, and The New York Times. Originally from Chicago, she now lives with her husband and son in Nashville.
How did you start writing poetry? Has it always been something you've dabbled with?
So, I’ve been a lifelong writer—with comedy as my throughline. And as a kid I loved writing rhyming poetry and carried that into my teens/young adulthood as mostly a fun party trick or a toast or gift for friends, but didn’t dabble with the form “seriously” until the tail end of the pandemic. I found myself with a lot of feelings (and spare time!) and not a lot of places to put them, so I basically took jokes I’d written and expounded on them. I believe that humor allows us to communicate truth in an approachable way. So I just made up the rules as I went and then started sharing them online in a dedicated account right at the end of 2021.
Can you tell us the origin story of the Mary Oliver's Drunk Cousin account?
After sharing some of my poems on my personal account here and there for a few months, I ultimately felt like I would feel more free and exciting to share more regularly if I had separation from my personal account and following (allowing myself to worry less about my real life friends/family reading/"judging"/not understanding the work). I guess you could say the goal of Mary Oliver’s Drunk Cousin was simply to have a low-pressure, fun place to play around with the form and experiment with my style.
I feel like the signature style of your poetry is irreverent with a gut punch. Did you have to tinker with your style, or did it come naturally?
I think since the heart of all of my early work spawned from existing jokes or satire headlines I had written, the style came to life pretty distinctly and clearly for me right away. In the 4 years since starting writing poetry seriously I’ve certainly (hopefully haha) honed my craft and in a lot of ways my editor of the book helped me to identify bad habits or unnecessary fluff or insecure hedging ( I had a tendency to over-explaining jokes/references out of fear that someone wouldn’t “get the joke” or misunderstand me in some way. Something I realize now is unavoidable and a strangely beautiful quality of how poetry is open for interpretation.
Can you tell me about your path to becoming a published author? Did you approach Joanna, or did she seek you out?
The entire thing was bonkers. After my poem, “She’s a Bit Much” went viral, I started getting DMs from agents and publishers. It was like a dream or how the movies portray authors getting book deals haha. Joanna messaged me and as soon as we talked on the phone the first time I knew she was the one for me.
Do you have any favorite poets or places you draw inspiration from?
I adore Catherine Cohen, Harry Baker, Chen Chen, and Andrea Gibson. There are so many more I could list!
You famously dedicated A Bit Much to Michelle Pfeiffer after she reposted one of your poems. What do you consider to be her best role? (Apart from being the #1 hype woman for Mary Oliver's Drunk Cousin)
This is the best question I’ve ever been asked. Everything she does is flawless, but I have a special place in my heart for One Fine Day.
On a scale of one to ten, how annoying was it that I sent you photos of sardines every time I saw one? In all seriousness, can you tell us about the process for designing your iconic cover?
Hahahah I'm still in awe of the accidentally-perfect timing of the tinned fish resurgence and my book cover creation. RIP my DMs because everyone did exactly what you did. Which never annoyed me; it made me smile so much. My first desire was a typographic-only book cover—letting the words play around only and no images. My publisher gave me a polite “no,” lol, and taught me a valuable lesson about marketing and the microscopic amount of seconds you have to communicate your book’s ethos to a potential reader. Once I accepted that I had to be a little more overt about what “a bit much” was all about (namely that the phrase is being re-claimed as a positive), I wanted an image that was surprising, weird, and unexpected. We played around with a million things (a cactus popsicle and disco ball slug come to mind as cutting room floor ideas), but ultimately this was the winner.
What are a few things that are considered "A Bit Much" that you think are underrated?
Vanity Plates
Skipping
Funny stationery
Table pancakes (the brunch version of “fries for the table.”)
Drinking iced coffee in the winter
Having phone chargers in every room
Fancy condiments
You have a series on your Substack where you write poems based on headlines. Can you tell us more about the process of writing them? How do you choose headlines?
Every DM I get that isn’t sardine merch is a ridiculous news headline. I think because I used old satire headlines from my time at Reductress as poetry prompts for myself in the early days, this sort of came easily. But initially, it was just a writing exercise. Then, they became some of my favorites. I have so, so many insane headlines saved and every week I just scroll and see what leaps out at me and then write it for the newsletter. I think 3 of them made it into the book!
What is your idea of a perfect day?
All I know is I would have 3 or more beverages on hand at all times.
What are you currently working on?
We are hoping to pitch a children’s picture book for little girls based on “She’s a Bit Much,” and I’m on the prowl for the hero poem or concept to build book #2 around :)
Anything else you'd like to share? Where can readers find you?
On Instagram and Threads and Tiktok as @MaryOliversDrunkCousin
On Substack as Mary Oliver’s Drunk Substack
Thank you, Lyndsay!
Fun interview! I enjoyed learning more about her process and story!