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?
My first book, Familial Hungers, showed me it was possible to be a writer. Previously, being a published writer seemed like a childhood dream, an impossibility in the face of economic realities and what I perceived to be my capabilities as a poet. Committing to and completing the work (and receiving support—practical, emotional, and financial) was eye-opening and life-changing for me, to see that it was possible. My current work feels both like a continuation of my first book and also something completely different—it takes a wider lens to childhood/adolescence, life and death, faith and disillusionment.
2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
I actually came to fiction first! When I was 16 I was convinced I wanted to write novels, because that’s what I primarily read. When I started studying creative writing at the University of Victoria I quickly realized I didn’t have the patience for fiction while also falling in love with poetry.
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
My overall writing process is quite slow. I spend most of this time (weeks, months) mulling over thoughts and feelings before committing something to the page. Once the first lines of a poem appear in my head, the rest of the poem follows quite quickly and poems usually emerge pretty close to their final form.
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?
A poem begins with a single thought or emotion that I will jot down on an index card. So far, I’ve mostly worked on book-length projects, I think because I get caught on an idea and want to explore it to its fullest before letting it go.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I love doing public readings and see it as the other side of the “work” – connecting with others and filling my social well. I’m often inspired to keep going when I hear others read from their work but ultimately my creative process requires a lot of unstructured time and solitude.
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?
Something I wrestled with a lot when writing Familial Hungers was how to write about the effects of colonialism with the language of the colonizer (i.e. English). Audre Lorde’s quote about ‘the Master’s tools’ comes to mind here, although perhaps I’m thinking about it in too limited a way. Language shapes thought and culture in such foundational ways and I’m always thinking about the way the English language shapes my work despite efforts toward resistance. I’m interested in both working with and against the limitations of language.
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?
There are so many possible roles for writers I’m not sure there’s any one answer to this question. I’d like to think that among the possibilities are the ways writers can notice/witness and point out what might be otherwise missed in our busy capitalist societies.
8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
Working with a good editor is absolutely essential—someone else’s eye can always offer new insight and growth to the work.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
“I keep saying it doesn’t matter, just write something down. Eventually things will distill themselves into something that behaves like poetry.” – Elizabeth Bachinsky
10 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
My writing routine has more seasonal rhythms than daily rhythms, although I do tend to start each day the same way—with a warm beverage and a book. Throughout the day as ‘poem thoughts’ come to mind I will jot them down onto an index card and eventually these index cards become the starting point for full poems.
11 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
I try not to agonize over stalled writing, although that’s easier said than done. I’m always reading, and often the magic of inspiration comes from writers I admire.
12 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Onions and garlic in the wok, ginger scallion oil, instant ramen broth.
13 - 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?
Often literal dreams—a number of poems have been direct translations f dreams that have haunted me upon waking.
14 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
Gillian Sze, Jane Wong, Victoria Chang, Grace Lau, Chen Chen, Ocean Vuong, Kayla Czaga, Sharon Olds. Sue Sinclair whose work I studied 20 years ago and later supervised my master’s thesis that became the book Familial Hungers. Phoebe Wang whose work I read while writing my first book who later became my editor for said book.
15 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
I would like to make a chapbook! I was so determined to write a full-length collection I completely bypassed this rite of passage.
16 - 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?
Writing is actually my third career! Previously, I was a campus minister and then a librarian. I’d probably still be a librarian if I had the capacity to do more.
17 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
Writing has always been my primary way of wrestling with my thoughts and feelings. I simply can’t imagine functioning without it. Even when I wasn’t professionally writing, I was journalling everyday in an attempt to ‘find out what I [was] thinking’ (a la Joan Didion).
18 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
To Place a Rabbit by Madhur Anand. I can’t remember the last film I watched!
19 - What are you currently working on?
A collection of poetry about leaving the evangelical Church and losing my late father, and the ways these two experiences intersect with and complicate one another.
No comments:
Post a Comment