Arvilla Fee lives in Dayton, Ohio, teaches English for Clark State College, and is the lead poetry editor for October Hill Magazine and the founding editor of Soul Poetry, Prose & Arts Magazine. She has published poetry, photography, and short stories in over 100 presses and has three published poetry books, The Human Side, This is Life, and Mosaic: A Million Little Pieces. Arvilla loves writing, photography, and traveling. And she never leaves home without a snack and water (just in case of an apocalypse). Arvilla’s favorite quote in the whole word by Henry David Thoreau: “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
What past event do you often reflect upon, and how did that event change you?
There are two events that shattered our family. The first came in 2014 when we got the call that my husband’s sister had died of a drug overdose. At just 37-years-old, she left behind three children and a gaping hole in our hearts that we just didn’t know how to fill. The other event happened in 2016 when we got another gut-wrenching phone call telling us that my brother-in-law had been killed instantly by a hit-and-run drunk driver. I had never seen my sister –– my rock, my person, my hero –– so utterly devastated. She walked around as if in a fog for two years, grieving, asking God why, going to court to see if the system would bring justice for her loss. It did not. Both of these events spurred years of furious, intense, therapeutic writing which resulted in hundreds of poems and three published books.
How does your work add to the quality of your life?
Writing helps me make sense of my world and the world around me. I write to give voice to both grief and joy. I write to give others a voice when they can’t seem to find their own. I cannot imagine a life without writing. Words certainly have the power to destroy, but the right words also have the power to heal wounds, bridge gaps, and create a place of peace.
Tell us a story you would like to share with the world.
When I was teaching English to my tenth graders in Virginia, I had a student tell me the night of open house that he couldn’t write. I just smiled and told him we’d work on that. When I assigned my students their first essay, I honestly didn’t expect much from this student, based on his declaration. However, going strictly by the rubric, he received high marks in each area and got an A. I put a bright red A at the top of his paper with a smiley face and these words: “And you told me you couldn’t write!” The look on his face when I handed back his paper was absolutely priceless! You would have thought I’d given him a million dollars. He excelled in my class all year! I have carried that moment with me through my 24+ years of teaching, a reminder that one little act of genuine praise can turn an ordinary student into a superstar! Every student needs at least one person to believe in him or her!
Author photo: Courtesy of author
Side bar image: Pixabay/Edar
