“Listening in Deep Space”: Six Questions for Diane Thiel
Diane Thiel was born in 1967 in Florida. She received her undergraduate degree and graduate degrees from Brown University. Currently a Regents’ Professor at the University of New Mexico and Associate Chair of the Department of English, Thiel has been teaching English and creative writing for over twenty-five years in a wide variety of settings such as the NSF program, Ecology for Urban Students, and for the Miami Book Fair’s Poet in the Schools program. She has also received several awards, including the PEN Translation Award, the Robert Frost Award, the Robinson Jeffers Prize, and the Nicholas Roerich Award, in addition to being a Fulbright Scholar. Thiel has published twelve poetry, nonfiction, and creative writing pedagogy books, including Questions from Outer Space, Echolocations, Resistance Fantasies, and The White Horse: A Colombian Journey. Her poetry has been reprinted in over sixty major anthologies, including Best American Poetry for which her poems “The Minefield” and “Listening in Deep Space” were selected. In addition to her work in education and literature, Thiel has traveled and lived in Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia, working on literary and environmental projects.
When searching for a poem in the vast collections of Best American Poetry, I was immediately drawn to Thiel’s poem, “Listening in Deep Space.” The topic of space and the universe is extremely interesting, and I do not often see poetry on the subject. As such, I was quite intrigued to see what Thiel would choose to say on the topic. When diving into the poem, I found Thiel’s emphasis on humanity’s desire and search for connection fascinating. Typically, when examining humanity’s reach out into the depths of space, authors tend to focus on humanity’s hubris and its need to constantly push forward for the sake of its own pride and greed. This made Thiel’s focus on the emotional factor behind such expansion all the more interesting. Later in the poem, she mentions “the history at home” which only drew me in further as I take an even greater interest in history than space. In addition to this, while researching her, I found that she has extensive travel experience all over the world. This exposure to such a wide variety of places and cultures, paired with her references to our history, made me think it would be quite interesting to interview her and gain a deeper understanding of her work.
What would you say inspired you the most to take such a great focus on space and the significance of our place in this universe?
I have been inspired by a number of things, perhaps seemingly unrelated. I live in New Mexico and the clear night skies offer some significant stargazing. I often find myself outside at night, watching for a shooting star. I have also always been a fan of science fiction and the questions that books and film evoke about space. Some of the poems in my latest book, Questions from Outer Space, take the perspective of an alien, and it has been a useful vehicle for examining some of the absurdities of our era. It has also allowed me to add some humor to such observations.
Halfway through your poem “Listening in Deep Space” you describe “Rovers with spirit and perseverance”, an interesting personification I noticed. What significance do you believe such technologies have in humanity’s expansion into the stars?
Rovers do reflect the technologies (including the Mars rovers named Spirit and Perseverance), but in the poem, they also suggest humans’ innate desire to explore. Aside from the information such technologies allow us to access, they often perform beyond our expectations. We will depend much more on technology to explore space than we have needed to travel the Earth. The poem references the VLA (Very Large Array) that we have here in New Mexico. It also refers to the Voyager probe sent out in 1977. The Voyager reference allowed for a touch of humor in the poem, in the items chosen to represent humans and Earth and how these things (like Stravinsky and whale song) might be interpreted by aliens.
In “Listening in Deep Space” you call us to think about “what one seeker has done to another”. Is there a specific event that led you to express this concern? If so, did it have any impact on the rest of the poem or your other works?
I was thinking of the never-ending conflicts throughout history and the facts that sometimes actions or movements may have good intentions, but they still might wreak unintended havoc. People bring their notions and beliefs with them when they explore and when encountering others with different beliefs, there is almost inevitably conflict. I think my choice of the word “seeker” speaks to this idea in particular, and the heinous things that have been done across history, sometimes in the name of progress or societal advancement. By including “in houses” alongside “across continents”, I am also commenting on relationships and difficulties between individuals as well as nations.
I read in your bio that you have extensive travel experience. Is there one place in particular that has significantly influenced your works and writing, or is it a culmination of these experiences that have impacted your ideas?
I have, indeed, traveled a great deal, almost always with a project I am working on. I do think I am influenced by a culmination of these experiences. I have met many different individuals and encountered a multitude of cultures. I traveled by campervan throughout Europe, which offered opportunities to interact on a more personal level. I also wrote a memoir about work and travel I did in Latin America. And I traveled throughout Australia in recent years. One poem, “Outback”, in the latest book refers to watching the sky while traveling in the Southern Hemisphere and ends with the words:
“Though you might have known this scientifically,
sometimes you have to go to the other side of the world,
travel through the outback, feeling small again
and far away, before you discover the moon
waxes and wanes somewhere else
in the opposite way.”
You decide to end “Listening in Deep Space” with a question (“what will we do when we find each other?”). Do you have an intended conclusion you wish your reader to make or do you wish to prompt your audience to think further about the topic and your ideas in general?
I phrased it as a question because it offers a sense of hope that our future is not a foregone conclusion, even given humanhistory of conflict. In another poem in the book, “The Farthest Side” (which plays on Gary Larson’s Far Side comics), I end the poem with the idea of appreciating art that “would resist any quick interpretation/ and just get people talking.” I think my intent is to get people to think and discuss instead of providing a precise answer within the poem.