1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
Writing this book helped me channel my climate anxiety and doomism into work that can communicate with and educate others. I learned that I needed to process the climate crisis in terms of the tangible, and that eventually led me to dig into concepts of economics and colonialism. Anxiety comes from uncertainty, but there is still so much certainty when it comes to the structures and processes that propel the crisis. Shadow Price gave me an intellectual and emotional foundation for my recent work, which aims to bring economics and individual stories to the forefront.
2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
Poetry was attractive to me because it’s concise and conceptually precise. I came to it through a haiku in the second grade in one of those summer workbooks you would complete to get ahead in school. As I continued to write, it always seemed much easier to write about ideas than characters, and I was lucky to be rewarded for my efforts through school/class contests. When I stumbled upon spoken word on Youtube in high school, specifically Safia Elhillo’s “Alien Suite”, Maya Mayor’s “Perfect”, and “Somewhere in America” by Belissa Escobedo, Rhiannon McGavin, and Zariya Allen, I was amazed to see what poetry could do. I was also continuously inspired by other teens writing on the internet, such as my peers in The Adroit Mentorship Program.
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?
There are typically two origins for my work: freewrites and research. I freewrite frequently, and those passages often appear fairly close to the final draft. I also collect research and observations in that same large writing document, so for poems that are explicitly about a concept (such as shadow prices), I have to wait until I have a few key phrases/ideas that would help me approach the topic. This method can take years, but I don’t mind because my interests don’t and haven’t changed for years (which is how long it took me to write Shadow Price).
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?
Poems come from uncertainty – I write to understand myself, the world, and my place in it. I’ll stumble upon something in the world that I’m curious about, and write until I reach a conclusion. Since I’ve only written one book, I feel like it was a combined process – I was writing and collecting shorter pieces for years, and also wrote long poems specifically for the book.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I like participating in and attending readings, but find that I’m more of a visual reader than an aural one. I find it easier to spend time with a poem on the page, so I guess I’m more traditional that way. Readings don’t significantly add or take away from my creative process.
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?
My work is concerned with how we are living at this point in time – specifically during the climate crisis – and what we value. At the end of the day, people are struggling to live in late-stage capitalism because economic priorities have taken precedence over ethical ones, and that has led us to devaluing the earth, which provides everything we need. Questions I’m always pursuing in my work include: What are we paying attention to? What has led us here? And where are we going if we continue down this path?
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?
The role of the writer is to tell the whole, exact truth, as unpopular as it may be.
8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
I’ve had my writer friends always point out what I can’t see because I’m too close to the work, and my editor from House of Anansi, Kevin Connolly, always made me reconsider what I was previously too proud to let go of. It was essential (and a little difficult) but you have to let go of your ego to achieve your goals in any field.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
Jess Rizkallah tweeted out probably 8 years ago: Figure out what you want to say and write it down. I’ve found that this helps bring a poem back to its emotional, truthful centre when it gets lost during revision.
10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to non-fiction)? What do you see as the appeal?
Non-fiction is hard because you can’t hide, even a little. I suppose that’s why I write it so infrequently – I’d say I’m a relatively private person.
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 tend to write at night, when my mind’s tired enough to be imaginative. It’s important for me to make a cup of tea that I will forget about and reheat at irregular intervals. When I’m revising or have a goal for the session, I first read work in the tone/style that I’m trying to achieve (lyrical, authoritative, etc.), then get to work. Revision usually takes many nights of rewriting.
12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
I’ve more or less given up on trying to write during creative blocks – the best poems that come about during those times are about writer’s block itself. I’m trying to accept my creative cycle – months of block, idea germination, revision – so I'm trying to lean in during each period. I’m always jotting down observations and research though, anything that I read and find interesting.
13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
This is where I admit my bad sense of smell. I’m going to be cliche but honest here and say my mother’s cooking.
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?
I’m heavily inspired by nature, science, economics, architecture – processes that we can see and touch and affect our everyday lives. So you’ll see me write more about labour than space, for example. Visual art interests me most when it’s as precise as a poem.
15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
Currently, Solmaz Sharif, Aria Aber, Daniel Borzutzky, Natalie Diaz, Fargo Nissim Tbakhi, and Mai Der Vang. While I was writing the book: Jenny Odell, Andri Snaer Magnason, Craig Santos Perez, as well as all of the other authors I note in the acknowledgments of Shadow Price.
16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
I’d like to write a novel, a song, a short story, and a screenplay. And make a short film and curate an art exhibition and decorate a really beautiful cake. I'd like to try everything.
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 would try to be a forest ranger or an ornithologist, though I’m pretty sure an outdoorsy job wouldn’t suit me. I’d love to experience nature every day – it makes me feel so alive.
18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
Writing is my main tool of reflection and intellectual exploration. It’s a compulsion, like breathing. I feel strange when I haven’t written in a while, full of pent-up energy.
19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
Young Woman Book Job by Emma Healey and Joan Didion: The Centre Will Not Hold.
20 - What are you currently working on?
My second poetry collection, which will have the same themes but hopefully focus on economics.
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