Ellen Chang-Richardson is an award-winning poet, writer, judicial assistant, and editor of Taiwanese and Chinese Cambodian descent. The author of Blood Belies (Wolsak & Wynn, 2024) and author/co-author of six poetry chapbooks, their multigenre work has appeared in Augur, the Ex-Puritan, Grain, Plenitude, Watch Your Head, and more.
1 - How did your first book or chapbook change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
It showed me that people cared to read what I am writing. My most recent work is less concrete than my previous—more “in the word” vs on the page.
2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or nonfiction?
I’ve always been drawn to how poets shine a spotlight on what others may not immediately notice. Poets are acutely attuned to the intricacies of the world and poetry brings those intricacies into sharp relief.
3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
It’s somewhere between the two. It usually takes me a while to land on a concept but once I get going, the writing becomes feverish. As for the difference between first and final shapes—I edit meticulously. A final shape may look like its draft, but it also may not. That process is usually intuition-based.
4 - Where does a poem usually begin for you? 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?
On my phone, I keep an ongoing document called “shit scripts” — which I add to nearly daily. When it comes to crafting a new poem, I will pluck from it and play with phrase/word placement. As for projects, all of my book projects have a concept from the very beginning that fills out through the process of writing it.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I love readings. There is so much to be gained from hearing a piece read out loud. A poem may start and finish on the page but it gains new life in the air.
6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
Memory. Collective ethics. How do we be the change we want to see while the world is literally falling apart around us?
7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
A writer is responsible for continuing to disrupt, to educate, and to inspire.
8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
Essential—the right editor will help elevate your writing to a place you didn’t even know it could go.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
“If you don’t see yourself in the literary landscape, then the landscape needs you more than anyone.” — Eden Robinson
10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to collaboration)? What do you see as the appeal?
Quite easy. There is so much knowledge, new ideas and elements of writerly craft, to be gained from working in different genres. Equally so when collaborating with peers. The mutual expansion of mind is what makes cross-genre experimentation and collaboration so appealing.
11 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
I hold down a full time job while also balancing my work for Riverbed and Room magazine. Honestly, I try to write at least three hours every Sunday morning but it doesn’t always pan out that way. I guess my writing routine has become a bit more fluid—I write when the urge hits and continue writing until the urge goes away—and that’s okay.
12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
I focus on living; spending time with friends, playing mahjong, playing video games, chatting with family, taking a walk, staring at the sky. It’s okay to not be writing all the time (a notion my dear collaborators in VII remind me of whenever I am close to despair).
13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Fresh linens.
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?
Contemporary art (particularly experiential installation, photography and film); experimental jazz/classical music; science; and anything a little esoteric (like the history of fabrics for instance).
15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
The Dada Reader: A Critical Anthology edited by Dawn Ades; Louise Bourgeois, Peter Zumthor: Steilneset Memorial from Forlaget Press; The Deep by Rivers Soloman; Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent by Liz Howard; Suture by Nic Brewer; Camera Geologica by Siobhan Angus.
16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Sky dive. And write for a few weeks in Bali.
17 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?
I am where I want to be.
18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
Writing gives me the avenue I need to express myself. Even when I am creating visual art, I always gravitate back to the written word.
19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
Last great film? Nomadland by Chloé Zhao.
Last great book? Reuniting with Strangers by Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio.
20 - What are you currently working on?
A new chapbook and, possibly, a speculative novella series. In terms of poetry though, I just completed my full-length collection of ekphrasis. Huzzah!
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