Juliane Okot Bitek [photo credit: Colleen Butler] writes poetry in Vancouver.
She is writing her dissertation on forgetting and citizenship. Juliane is the
author of 100 Days (University of
Alberta Press 2016). She lives and loves in Vancouver.
1 - How did
your first book change your life?
First book. What a relative term. First
professionally published book being 100 Days allows me to watch work taking on
its own personality, making new friends and sometimes inviting me to come
along.
How does your
most recent work compare to your previous?
Like kids. Each one is different. Idk. 100 Days
is very, very headstrong. Not much else to add to that except to say also that
my other pieces have done well in their distribution by finding homes in
anthologies, on youtube, once on stage, and various places.
How does it
feel different?
2 - How did
you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
I never came to poetry. Poetry came to me but
not even first, but just most definitively. It has been the practice that is
kindest and most accessible to me but I've always enjoyed getting lost in
fiction or any good prose. But fiction and creative non-fiction are more
demanding masters and don't come so naturally.
3 - How long
does it take to start any particular writing project?
It doesn't. It just appears.
Does your
writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process?
Sometimes instantaneous but sometimes painfully
slow. One of the projects I'm working on comes in bits and spurts but it has
taken longer than a year and is still working itself out. The other one is
playful and joyful and looks good in everything.
Do first
drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of
copious notes?
Most work appears close to final shape but
there is this one that is an unwieldy thing. It moves like an enormous mass and
I've recently taken to polishing it from various corners that I can reach
instead of moulding it all at the same time. That seems to work.
4 - Where does
a poem or work of prose usually begin for you?
Usually from a phrase, a photo, a line that
shows up and won't relent until I've worked on it.
Are you an
author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you
working on a "book" from the very beginning?
Both.
5 - Are public
readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of
writer who enjoys doing readings?
Sigh.
I enjoy doing readings and attending readings.
I don't know if I've ever connected it tot the writing process but often as I
read I'll edit at the microphone, knowing that the published piece could've
still used one more bit of editing, but I don't angst over that.
6 - Do you
have any theoretical concerns behind your writing?
Nope.
What kinds of
questions are you trying to answer with your work?
Oh, dear. Different life stages, different
things/ideas, right? For a long time I've thought about exile, diaspora and
identity. Now I mostly think about how we're the stories we belong to.
What do you
even think the current questions are?
Oh, god. Who even knows? Not me.
7 – What do
you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture?
I was just reading about a pediatrician surgeon
turned politician and was thinking about the role of politicians in society.
I'm sure there's a grand role somewhere but I don't know that the writer's work
is different from the artist's work which is the most likely entry point into
that question.
Does s/he even
have one?
Or two? Or a bunch? Idk. But as part of the
artistic community as one who uses writing as a medium, most definitely, yes.
What do you
think the role of the writer should be?
The work of the artist is to keep society
attuned to the sensitivities that remind us of who we are. In recent days, the
fallout from #Canlit reminds me that there's too much expectation placed on the
writer to be a better/brighter/more sensitive human. Maybe not.
8 - Do you
find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or
both)?
Absolutely essential.
9 - What is
the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
The best piece of writing is the one that's
already written.
10 - How easy
has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to fiction to critical
prose)? What do you see as the appeal?
I enjoy reading all those genres but some of it
is much harder to come by. I'm my best self as a reader.
11 - What kind
of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one?
Nope. No writing routine. A schedule, yes. Does
it work? No.
How does a
typical day (for you) begin?
No such day as a typical day.
12 - When your
writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better
word) inspiration?
I wait. I read or do something else and remind
myself that the energy spent on worrying about it is probably wasted energy.
13 - What
fragrance reminds you of home?
Bread baking.
14 - David W.
McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms
that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
Everything. I'd deeply inspired by the work of
visual and performance artists. I wish I could write with the power of abstract
art. I'm working on it.
15 - What
other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life
outside of your work?
Toni Morrison, Dionne Brand. Nourbese Philip,
Claudia Rankine, Mahmoud Darwish and a bunch of other writers but these are my
go-to folks when I need reminding of why I do what I do.
16 - What
would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Visit Petra in Jordan.
17 - If you
could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be?
I'd have loved to be a visual artist or a
fashion designer but I can't paint to save my life and I'm lucky to be
appropriately dressed at any given time.
Or,
alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a
writer?
I'm good. I love teaching. I think my perfect
life is teaching and writing.
18 - What made
you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I sucked/suck at everything else.
19 - What was
the last great book you read?
What was the
last great film?
Great is a word I avoid studiously but I did
answer the last question quite easily so it must mean something. Let me see. I
watch a lot of movies but the word great scares me. Movies that I'll not forget
in a long while, maybe? I loved the idea of Inception.
I loved Apocalypse Now and Apocalypse Redux. Beloved for sure is unforgettable. Fruitvale Station blew my mind.
Beasts of the Southern Wild. Now that's a fantastic movie. Left me quiet
inside.
20 - What are
you currently working on?
A doctoral dissertation, a creative non-fiction
book and almost done a collection of poetry.
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