Loch Baillie
Biography
Originally from Worcester, Massachusetts, Loch Baillie (he/him) is a queer writer and editor now based in Quebec City. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks, ice, dove, parachute (Cactus Press) and Citronella (Anstruther Press), as well as the forthcoming collection River Running (icehouse poetry/Goose Lane Editions, 2026). Loch’s writing has appeared in magazines such as Maclean’s, yolk literary, and Pinhole Poetry. He is an associate poetry editor at Plenitude Magazine and a board director for the Quebec Writers’ Federation. An alumnus of Bishop’s University, Loch is currently pursuing his Master's in English literature at Université Laval. Find him everywhere @lochbaillie.
Micro-interview
I began reading poetry regularly in Grade 11 and was particularly drawn to work by Richard Siken and Louise Glück. I adored Siken's poem "Scheherazade"—I still do.
I started writing poetry around the same time that I started reading it, but it wasn't until Grade 12 that I began to take it seriously. My high school required its seniors to work on year-long projects to graduate (either community outreach, an academic capstone, or a creative masterwork). I chose to write my first poetry collection—a book called kaleidoscope—which was inspired by various Greek myths. I didn't start thinking of myself as a poet until one of my poems was published in a magazine about a couple years later.
I believe a poet's job is to be a truthteller.
I'd choose "The Raincoat" by Ada Limón. I think about the poem quite often, so I'm pleased to see it in the anthology.
