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Michelle St. Romain
Michelle St. Romain is the co-author of two poetry collections, Promised Fruit and Water’s Edge, and her debut novel, Song of Belonging, will be released in April 2026 by She Writes Press
St. Romain earned a B.A. in English from Loyola University, in New Orleans and an M.A. in English/Creative Writing from California State University, Sacramento. She completed a fellowship for the Bookgardan women’s writing program and was a writer-in-residence at Craigardan in the Adirondacks in the fall of 2023. Her work has been featured in the Poetry Phone Line Project of Oregon Humanities, The Rapids literary magazine, The Stanford Challenge 2026 Anthology (Wild Poets Press), and on Jefferson Public Radio and Ashland Community Radio.
She leads creative writing workshops for women and has taught English and creative writing to children and teens in California, Hawai’i, and Oregon
Michelle St. Romain currently lives in Oregon with her family.
Ed Battistella: Congratulations on the release of Song of Belonging. How did the story come about?
Michelle St. Romain: The story is inspired by my French Louisiana family. My roots on both sides of my family go back many generations in Louisiana, and a majority of my ancestors are French. I grew up listening to older family members speak French, and I was especially interested in the stories my grandmothers, great-grandmother, aunts, and great-aunts shared. When I was seven, my great-grandmother on my mother’s side passed away and she left me a green jewelry box. I think the story began in that moment. When I opened the jewelry box, I felt as if there was a story behind it. I’ve kept it on my bookshelf every place I’ve lived, and several years ago I decided to start writing about this novel and the green jewelry box was a natural opening for the story.
EB: The novel is set, in part, in the fictional town of Richarme, Louisiana. What’s your connection with Louisiana?
MStR: I grew up in Lake Charles, which is in the Southwest part of the state. My father’s family lived in that area, and my mother’s family ended up in the New Orleans area, and on both sides they have lived there for many generations. I went to college at Loyola in New Orleans. My great-grandmother’s maiden name was Richarme and she and her two sisters are the inspiration behind the three sisters in the 1934 story (even though they lived much earlier). I decided to name the town Richarme as a tribute to her family.
EB: It seems to me that two of the book’s themes are connections with our ancestors and connections with the natural world. Is there a sense in which those connections are the same?
MStR: I do think so. One thing that has always intrigued me is the fact that we all come from ancestors who were very connected to the Earth and nature. Some of us may have to go back a bit farther in time to find that connection, but it’s there. I truly believe that returning to those roots – in a very real way – of the wisdom of our ancestors and nature, will help us find our way in this complex world. I think of the story as my love letter to the Earth and our ancestors. I hope it inspires others to reconnect with their own cultural stories and wisdom and with the wisdom of their ancestors.
EB: Do you see some of yourself in Alice, the great-granddaughter of the family. Have you ever had the kind of mystical experiences she has?
MStR: Great question. The big answer is yes, I do feel a connection with Alice and I have had the kinds of experiences she has. She has a different personality, though, as she is driven by her career from a young age and she is afraid to take risks and veer from the path that she thinks will lead her to the career success she seeks. I had much more curiosity and willingness to follow paths that led me off the beaten path when I was in my 20s and 30s. I will say that I’ve had the kinds of mystical experiences Alice has from a very young age, and in part I wrote this book to share a reality where they can exist and a person can live a very “normal” life, often not letting others know about what they are experiencing. I hope that people who do experience these kinds of things feel a sense of connection to Alice and to others who have similar experiences.
EB: Can you say a bit about the meaning of the title: Song of Belonging.
MsStR: Titles come to me in the way poetry does. I just hear them singing in my mind until I finally sit down and write whatever is coming through. That is what happened here. I began writing the story and the prologue was the first thing that came to me. I wasn’t sure where it would take the story, but singing was a very important motiff there, and it began to show up in many scenes. The story is about the idea that we all belong here, at this time and in whatever place we live. That is what I truly believe. The title captured my attention as I wrote the story and I do hope it draws readers in, along with the way both songs and the idea of finding where we belong are woven through the story.
EB: Alice’s, great-great-great-grandmother Mamou is a healer who represses her gifts after the deaths of Samuel and of her husband Antoine. Do you feel that we often block our own gifts and awareness because of trauma?
MStR: I do. I believe that in Western traditions in particular, fear of hidden “gifts” has been around a long time. The ways women have been punished for showing or using what I consider to be gifts that whole communities can benefit from – working with plants to heal our bodies and emotions, using empathic intuition to help understand what a person needs emotionally, and connecting with those who have gone before – is deep in our collective memory. I hope this story helps people see these experiences as things that we should all celebrate and encourage. I have never seen them as being in opposition to the deep spiritual values of world religions. I have always seen them truly as gifts to be cherished and used for good.
EB: Secrets play a large role in the book. I’m curious why Alice doesn’t share the grandmothers’ secret with her sisters at the end?
MStR: That is another really great question. I allowed the character of Alice to lead her own story, meaning that I wrote what came naturally. I did have a trajectory planned, but I tried to feel her as a character very clearly then let her lead. And she didn’t want to share what she knew with her sisters. I’m still figuring out why, but I can say that the answer to that question is unraveling as I write the second novel, which is about the middle sister. Family secrets are deeply woven into this family, as they are in many Southern families. Readers will have to follow along to continue to learn more, as the secrets become known first to the characters themselves, then to the whole family. I’m really enjoying this part of writing as I allow the three sisters to take the lead. I get to follow along and learn their secrets and stories as I write.
EB: Which character – or characters – were most challenging to write?
MStR: Alice was definitely the most challenging. I think that Grace, her great-grandmother, came out so clearly because I listened to women in my family tell stories for decades before I started writing Song of Belonging. Grace’s voice came naturally and easily to me. Alice was more of a puzzle and mystery to me at first, and I spent much more time writing her story and revising it. I had a lot of help with the revision phases, and I’m very grateful to the people who helped me with that.
EB: Let me switch gears to ask about your process. What is your writing life like?
MStR: Right now, I’m not writing as much as I’d like because I am finding that I truly love this part of the literary life where I’m planning and doing events for Song of Belonging. The second novel is outlined and I’ve begun writing it, and it keeps pulling at my mind. Once I have more time and space to write it, I expect it will be similar to when I wrote Song of Belonging, where I set aside certain days and times to write, then longer stretches of weekends to go deeply into the writing process. Along the way I will plan ways to get others to give feedback and help with developmental editing. I’m really looking forward to getting back to writing. It is a very personal and inward experience, where the phase I’m in now with Song of Belonging of bringing it into the world is very outward, and the story is no longer mine alone. It now belongs to the readers who interact with it. I am actually enjoying the whole process.
EB: Along with your work as a writer, you also host writing workshops for women. What is the most important piece of advice you have for aspiring writers?
MStR: I don’t think I have one piece of advice for all writers, other than to keep writing, which is what everyone says. The reason I say that is because I believe we all have a creative urge inside of us, and I think it is essential to finding who we are and living the lives we are meant to live. That, in turn, is a gift to everyone around us, whether or not our “art” ever goes out into the world publicly. Every person I know who is drawn to write has either had this urge since they were young or they may have started feeling it later in life, but it has come as a strong urge. I try to live what I tell others – follow that creative urge and spark inside of you. It brings us alive and is a gift to others, no matter what we create or where it is shared. And keep following it if it leads you to exploring routes to publish. Let the creative urge lead. And get connected to other writers and artists. Having a community is important and it makes the whole process much more enjoyable.
EB: Who are some of your influences as a writer?
MStR: Toni Morrison, Amy Tan, Maya Angelou, Alice Hoffman, Anthony Doerr, Richard Powers, to name a few. I also love the Greek myths and ancient stories from around the world because I think they are timeless. I love a lot of newer authors as well, and poets Mary Oliver and David Whyte continue to be inspirations for me.
EB: Will you be doing some readings?
MStR: I am excited to have several readings and events planned. They are all listed on my author site, www.michellestromain.com. I will do a book launch in Southern Oregon on April 25 at The Copper Plank, and I have events planned with Rebel Heart Books (the Jacksonville Local Authors Fair), Bloomsbury Books, the Barnes and Noble stores in Medford and Chico, as well as Literary Arts and Broadway Books in Portland. I will be a featured author at the Northwest Book Fair and Media Fest in Vancouver, Washington and at the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley, and I will be on a panel at the She Writes Press author retreat in Palm Springs this fall. I will also have events in New Orleans and Lake Charles, Louisiana, with more things being planned. I am very excited that book clubs are now reaching out to me and I’m looking forward to visiting those when I can, either in person or virtually. Thank you so much for reading the novel and asking these great questions, Ed!
