We were lucky to catch up with Angela Coffin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Angela, thanks for joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I write. I write because I love words. I love that all the words in the world can be rearranged in a way that’s never been done before. I love rearranging them. I love piecing them together as a puzzle, linking them along in a melody. I love that my counterparts can do the same. I love that words build stories. I love that words build a bridge from one life to another. I love that words are that bridge.

I love that my words will outlive me. I can leave behind stories and poems and letters and with carefully crafted words, I will always be.

When I think about my legacy from a professional standpoint, I want to be remembered as a connecter. Words have power, which is not something I take lightly. Most of my writing– be it fiction, poetry, or nonfiction– is written with the hope that it makes someone feel seen and a little less alone. When sharing my personal story, my hope is that God is illuminated in every word and that others can draw nearer to Him– that my story ushers more and more people to the kingdom of Heaven.

From a personal standpoint, the legacy I want to leave is simple: She loved God. She loved her family. She loved others. And she did it all well.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve been writing for as long as I could put pencil to paper and string along a sentence, even if the spelling was wrong. I vividly remember writing poetry in 3rd grade and spending my recess days writing with a friend and sharing our works. My love of writing continued to embed into my DNA as I experienced more life. I had more and more to write about and when bad things would happen, I had an outlet.

I received a journalism scholarship and had planned to major in journalism until I realized that writing creatively was more my thing. I changed my major to creative writing and never looked back. For many years, I was an English teacher and I still tutor kids in ELA. However, now I work as an adjunct English and creative writing professor as well as a book editor and writer.

Lately, I’ve been working on both a novel and a memoir. Last year, I completed my poetry chapbook on infertility and motherhood. In the midst of all of this writing, I have also written several shorter pieces that have been published or are in the process of being published.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There have been so many times in my life where I’ve had to show resilience or when resilience became a part of my makeup, but most recently, I’ve been tested in a way where the only option was resilience.

At 30 weeks pregnant, I began having odd neurological symptoms that continued to worsen and eventually resulted in me delivering my baby 4 weeks early in an emergency C section– not because of the baby, but to figure out what was going on with me. A few short hours after giving birth to my daughter, I had an MRI that showed I have a brain tumor that was being fed by the pregnancy hormone progesterone. I probably had this tumor for awhile and likely all of the infertility treatments I had gone through weren’t helpful either as I was on many hormones, including progesterone. However, my pregnancy accelerated the growth of my tumor, causing my trigeminal and optical nerves to essentially “freak out,” which resulted in facial numbing, headaches, and severe double vision.

The only answer was resilience. I had to get better for my new daughter and for my 2 year old son at home. Admitting defeat was never an option. So began many medical appointments, homeopathic healing, optical exercises, and most importantly prayer. Now, almost 6 months later, my vision is almost completely restored and my facial numbing is completely gone.

This whole experience is now something I feel compelled to write about. The journey from when I thought I was dying to where I am now– knowing this tumor is benign and not life threatening– all while welcoming new life into this world– truly showcases life and death and birth and rebirth. It is a story of hope.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Before my tumor, my mission was giving a voice to infertility and sharing that part of my story. I am still very passionate about that, but now my mission is sharing my whole story. There’s so many layers and links to what I’ve encountered and I’m honestly still finding more of them. Whether you’ve gone through infertility or a daunting diagnosis or even just contemplated the brevity of this life and all of the moments that make it up, my writing is intentionally for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://angela-abbott.com/
• Instagram: @between_the_binding_
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-coffin-196937b/

Image Credits

Photography by Alyse