“ Plainchant (or plainsong) is a sacred, monophonic chant with one melody, often based on psalms, and sung without accompaniment. ” — (listen to an example here)
Introduction
J.K. Balle McDole is a writer, poet, and editor from the Bay Area of California. They tell stories under the constant challenge presented in Marianne Moore's 1967 poem Poetry: striving to create "imaginary gardens with real toads in them."
Their writing process focuses on intricate worldbuilding, nuanced narrative structure, intricacies of memory, intimacies found at the intersections of language, heritage, and culture, and society versus the interiority of the individual. While they could list countless authors, poets, essayists, and artists they find impactful or inspiring, they rank the works and sentiments of Ursula K. LeGuin at the top of their writing inspirations.
A Chicana of Mexican and indigenous Guatemalan descent, they are queer, non-binary, and use they/them and she/her pronouns. Passionate about music despite almost a decade of advancing hearing loss, they have played trumpet—mostly jazz—for almost twenty-six years. Adjacent to fiction, they worked for seven years in non-creative writing fields as a process engineer, writing technical and scientific educational material.
When not writing, they edit. When they run out of stuff to edit, they read, hike, bird-watch, volunteer with local youth and public action groups, and spend time with their beloved family and friends.