[FINISHED] Winter 2021 Awards

Interview with lee-hsuehting

BEST SHORT STORY

Dear Janelle

What or who inspired you to write Dear Janelle and its plot?

lgbt representation means a lot to me, so i wanted to include that within my writing. i had a close friend years ago who experienced the same experiences janelle did (minus any sort of cerise situation), and while she's safe and healthy today i found that time to be a learning experience for not only her, but for me and all of our other friends involved as well. it stays close to my heart and i wanted to immortalize it in writing. i know, unfortunately, that there are quite a few others who have experienced the same things, if not similar, and i also wanted "dear janelle" to be a piece that consoles them and reminds them that they are not alone and that they are strong.

What was the message you wanted to convey to readers?

be present for your friends--not just physically, but be emotionally checked-in as well. protect them. love them unconditionally. help each other through good and bad times. never take any experience for granted. 

What is your advice to other aspiring short story writers?

condensing entire worlds into such tiny limitations is no easy task. honestly, i don't even know if i've been able to get a good grip on it myself. don't let the limits scare you; remind yourself of the skills you possess to write a good story and continue with that. it doesn't matter the story's length--what matters is the blood, sweat, and tears you put into the makings of it. be proud of yourself and the art you create. you are unique. you are powerful. 

Why the letter/poetry style format?

since the experiences aurélie and janelle go through are so personal, i knew i wanted the story to be in letter format. having it in third- or even first-person felt too distant; i needed a way to immerse the reader in their world completely, like they are living it too. as for the lowercase, the much-less intellectual response for that would be that all of my poetry (to this day) is written in lowercase, so i wanted to keep that style consistent within my writing.

BEST POETRY

Dark Matter

Where do you get inspiration for your poetry and why did you settle for the space theme?

i write about the world around me. i try to observe every little thing my five senses can catch in my own day-to-day life. i internalize the advice i both give and receive and use memories and events as foundations. i write with no limits; i don't censor the human experience. as for the space theme, i had discovered an album created by ryan o'neal, also known as "sleeping at last", that includes a song for every planet, the sun, and the moon. i used the themes he created for some of the planets as themes for "dark matter". i highly recommend anyone reading this to give the album a listen, it is a masterpiece.

Each section of your book represents a certain theme of poetry with ten poems each. How did you come up with what each planet represents and how long did it take for you to complete the whole collection?

like i said above, "sleeping at last" was my biggest inspiration when it came to creating the themes and even coming up with the concept of having themes in the first place. some of them, like "sun", "mercury", "venus", and "pluto", were built off of the themes he illustrated in his songs, while others like "jupiter" and "uranus" were made up completely by me. i wanted to have a well-rounded anthology, so i included some different elements to achieve that. the anthology took just under a year to finish (one hundred poems!!!), only because i had gone on a hiatus around halfway through due to lost motivation and school stress. completing it has been one of the biggest milestones i've ever reached. 

What is your advice to other aspiring poets in creating poetry?

write about whatever you please. no one can tell you otherwise. you are the only person stopping you from doing it. success and beauty are relative; you are the judge. don't sell yourself short when it comes to creating, because your words are just as valuable as every successful poet and writer that has ever walked this earth. 

Fun Question: The dedications at the end are just as poetic as the poetry. Are there any poems in the collection that were directly inspired by someone on your dedication list and if so which ones?

oh man, there are so many but i'll shout out some! "sun: two" was written for my cousin, while "four" and "five" were written for some of my friends at school. the entirety of "venus" was written for an ex (sigh). "neptune: three" was written for one of my closest friends who i fell head over heels for the first year i met him (oops), while most of the rest of the section was a recollection of a relationship i had with an abusive person. "pluto" is dedicated to my parents, since they are my biggest inspirations and motivations to keep going every day. most importantly, there are many, many poems in "dark matter" that are written for myself. i was struggling with finding my worth for a large chunk of time i spent writing this anthology, and i wanted to include some affirmations for myself to read and remember as i continued my journey towards finishing it. overall, there is a poem for every occasion inside "dark matter", and while some of them are quite specific, they can all be shared with someone no matter who they are.