Carla Sarett
Current City, State, Country
Birth City, State, Country
Biography
Carla Sarett is a poet and fiction writer based in San Francisco. Her poetry collection, She Has Visions, was published by Main Street Rag Press in 2022. Sarett’s work has been nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize (for her poem “post abortion interview”), 2022 Best of Net (for her poem, “My family was like a Russian novel, everyone says”) and Best American Essays (for her essay, “Sam’s Will.”) Her work has appeared in Pithead Chapel, Overheard Lit, Dust Poetry, Naugatuck River Review, San Pedro River Review, Prole, ONE ART, Neologism, One Hand Clapping and elsewhere. Carla has PhD from University of Pennsylvania, and has worked in market research, television and film.
What is the relationship between Judaism and/or Jewish culture and your poetry?
Jewish identity pops up in many of my short stories and poems. For example, “Subway Searchers,” “Yom Kippur Remotely,” and “Tiny Grandmothers” both address Holocaust imagery, because so much of my family did die in the camps. At other times, I am concerned with Yiddish and the lost identity of Yiddish-speakers — as in the poem, “Nebach.” I grew up hearing Yiddish, and I still miss hearing it in everyday life. In the poem, “Disraeli Bedtime Story,” I deal with my mother’s obsession with all Jewish historical figures — in this case, the famous Prime Minister who was a Sephardic Jew. But I think more generally, the themes of loss and cultural memory (which are part of a post-Holocaust identity, in my view) permeate all my work.
Published Works
Poetry
My Family Was Like a Russian Novel (Plan B Press, 2023)
She Has Visions (Main Street Rag Press, 2022)
Fiction
A Closet Feminist (Unsolicited Press, 2022)
The Looking Glass (Propertius Press, 2021)
Author Site
Links to Sample Works
Video Reading
Education
New College, B.A.
University of Pennsylvania, PhD