NOVEMBER 2025 (INTERVIEW): Claire Westerman

"I figured it was worth the risk of putting it out there, and I'm glad I trusted that instinct."

This November is a busy month for Artists from Maryland! After finishing up our high school creative writing contest with Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, we have decided on three winners and one runner up! We are featuring the first winner, Claire Westerman! Below is our interview with them, and you can read their pieces here!

Claire Westerman (they/them) is a Maryland-based poet and writer who dives into pain, love, identity, and all the messy parts of being human. Their poetry gives voice to the things most people don’t say out loud. And they are the author of Poet’s Soul Whisper, a chapbook on Amazon. When not writing, Claire is probably reading, listening to music, making art, or working on puzzles.

ALDRIN: Hello Claire! I'm glad we got to read your work for this contest. I actually had the chance to read "Hollow Throne Fraying Flag" last year when we were curating last school year's Poly Journal. It's one of my favorites of your packet.

"They steal the child from mother's arms,
lock the father in a cage,
call it justice, call it law,
as grief turns into silent rage." (“Hollow Throne Fraying Flag”)

You employ a simple rhyme scheme in these stanzas, but your diction works to elevate it, as opposed to weaken it (which can be a common pitfall with rhymed poetry). All this to ask: What is your writing process like as a writer? If you may, please go into depth about the process of writing "Hollow Throne Fraying Flag.”

CLAIRE: My writing process usually begins when an emotion takes over to the point where I cannot think about anything else until I write it out. Whenever I am overwhelmed, whether it is grief, anger or even something quieter but just as powerful, poetry becomes the way I can make sense of it. It is the form that allows me to express myself most honestly. With “Hollow Throne Fraying Flag,” it was much the same. The state of the world and the way the government and justice are handled often feels deeply unfair, and I wanted to find words that carried not just my feelings but also the shared frustration I had been discussing with friends. Writing the poem was my way of turning all that into something that felt like my own voice rather than just repeating what I had heard. And at first I wasn’t sure about the piece, it went through several drafts before I reached a version I felt was strong enough to share. Having submitted to the Poly Journal the year before, I figured it was worth the risk of putting it out there, and I’m glad I trusted that instinct.

ALDRIN: "Born Last" is the longest poem in this packet, and its length is very much earned.

"I was not born soft.
I came in screaming;
a fist of noise in a house
already tired of the sound." (“Born Last”)

Claire, this introduction is GENIUS! Every stanza in this poem starts so beautifully. What inspires you to create such captivating lines? That is to also ask, what has inspired you as a writer?

CLAIRE: Firstly, thank you so much! When writing poems, I start when a line or an idea hits me so hard I have to write it down, or it won’t leave me alone. The first lines are the ones that stick with me most, and I try to make them count because they set everything in motion. Sometimes they come fully formed and other times I have to wrestle with them until they feel right. What inspires me is mostly feelings I can’t ignore, anything that overwhelms me or makes me think too much becomes fuel for a poem. Life, people, conversations and even anger or sadness all find their way in.

With “Born Last,” I wanted to capture what it feels like to grow up in a house that is already tired and full, and still try to be seen inside of it. It is about survival, about giving and giving while feeling invisible, and about the quiet ways children try to earn love, especially how I tried to earn love. That first line came to me almost immediately, it felt right, and the rest of the poem built itself around that feeling of being loud in hope, then folding myself smaller and smaller. Almost all of my poems are tied to me, but this one is probably one of my more personal poems because it comes straight from that part of me that still wants to be heard.

ALDRIN: Throughout your packet, you made proper nouns out of words that generally aren't, such as:

"But sure, let's call this Great." ("Hollow Throne Fraying Flag")

"Spoonfuls of Pain force-fed to me." ("Savior")

But I noticed that this technique is most used in "Reason(s) to Stay." In fact, every line is capitalized in this poem. To me, that's what makes it so strong! So, what inspired the form in this poem? What made you choose a capitalization scheme similar to more classical poetry?

CLAIRE: For “Reason(s) to Stay,” I wanted every line to feel heavy and important, almost like each one could stand on its own. Capitalizing every line gave it that weight, like every thought mattered enough to be declared instead of just said. I was not trying to copy classical poetry, but I do think that kind of capitalization makes the poem feel bigger and more timeless. It worked well with what I was writing about because “Reason(s) to Stay” is one of the most vulnerable poems I have written. It felt right to give every line the same emphasis, like each one was just as strong as the last. This poem connects to another piece I wrote called “Ending,” which was meant to be a goodbye. “Reason(s) to Stay” became the opposite, it became a decision to hold on because of the people around me who make me feel real, welcomed, and like I belong. Their presence gave me reasons to stay, and I wanted the poem’s form to give each of those reasons the same importance.

ALDRIN: You are a senior, meaning you'll graduate high school this year. What has your writing journey looked like since you arrived at the front doors of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute? What (if anything) in terms of creative writing do you want to take with you as you go into the future?

CLAIRE: I have been writing long before I came to Poly, but I joined a creative writing class in my junior year, which helped me challenge myself and go outside of my comfort zone of poetry into some other forms of writing, and occasionally I went to a writing club when I could make it, though the bus schedule made that hard. Writing has always been my way to express myself and speak when I didn’t have the words. At Poly, my writing journey has been about putting myself and my work out into the world more. I’ve started submitting to the Poly journal and contests, sharing my poems and now my work is being recognized. That has been huge for me, showing me the value of trusting my voice and my stories. As I move forward, I want to take my writing with me everywhere. I love writing, and it will always be a part of who I am. It's more than a hobby or a class, it’s how I understand myself and connect with the world.

ALDRIN: How (if at all) does being from Maryland impact your creative writing?

CLAIRE: Honestly, being from Maryland hasn’t shaped my writing. I usually write from feelings and experiences rather than place. That said, I can see how a location could influence a writer, through its people, culture or environment, but for me, it’s something I focus on.

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