.WRITERS.ON.WRITING..Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
.W.o.W. #20
Keshni Naicker Washington
Who is your greatest writing influence?
My primary school English teacher, Mrs. K. Pillay. She believed in me and my writing when I was only a child and long before I believed in myself. She undoubtedly nourished seeds that would have otherwise wasted away inside me.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
One day, someone will read my stories and feel less alone or less sad. I will be able to pay forward the gift that so many authors gave to me.
How did you first publish your writing and what was it?
This is my debut publication and I am so grateful to Yellow Arrow Publishing for this very meaningful moment in any writer’s life.
Keshni’s writings are influenced by her upbringing in South Africa as well as the city she currently calls home, Washington, D.C. Both locations play a prominent role within “Alien” from Yellow Arrow Journal’s (Re)Formation issue as well as in our A Reformative (Re)Formation Reading. You can find out more about her at keshniwashington.com or on Instagram @knwauthor. Keshni also has a podcast, The Signal Fire Series, and runs the @immigrantsofthedmv Instagram initiative for KAMA DC.
.Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
.W.o.W. #19
Chris Biles
What period of your life do you find you write about most often?
The here and the now, both the real and the imagined—but our pasts also come back to us in the present, so I frequently write of those memories that still stick. Rarely if ever do I write of the future.
Who is your greatest writing influence?
Allen Ginsberg. I can’t help but be inspired when I read his words, they move like an unrelenting train and have a similar way of plowing through you when you stand on the tracks.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
That the fact I’m hearing voices from within may or may not be a problem . . .
You can find Chris Biles’ “Fearless” in Yellow Arrow Journal’s (Re)Formation issue (Vol. V, No. 3), as well as in our prerecorded A Reformative (Re)Formation Reading. Visit her blog chrisbiles03.com to find more incredible poems, prose, stories, musical compositions, and artwork. You can also find Chris on Instagram @marks.in.the.sand.
.Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
.W.o.W. #18
Sarah Smith
What is the toughest writing decision you have made?
One resolution I made to myself was that I would not pass up an opportunity to read in public. Not in an arrogant way, I don’t run on stage and tackle anyone, but if I am somewhere and there’s an open mic, I sign up. I try. I am still nervous, my heart races every time, and I am far better than I was if I had not made that commitment to developing.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
Continue. Even if I don’t share it with anyone, even if it never makes it out of a journal, even if it is just what’s going on while I drink a cup of coffee in the morning, writing brings me incomparable joy.
When I get to the point where I feel like I’m mopping words around on the page, not really getting anywhere, the voice also tells me that it’s okay to move on. In the moment, it’s tough to set something to the side. With time, though, I can revise with a clearer head.
What word do you find yourself using most often in your writing?
Grateful.
Sarah Smith contributed her poem “Hickory” to Yellow Arrow Journal’s issue HOME (Vol. V, No. 2). You can find out more about Sarah from her blog hampdenunicorn.com or by following her on Instagram @hampdenunicorn.
.Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
.W.o.W. #17
Kashaf Ghumman
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
To be honest to what I feel about myself and the position I occupy in this world.
If you didn’t write, what would you do?
I am a medical doctor, so I would continue down that path, albeit a lot sadder and more stressed without the relief of writing.
What is a book you wish someone would write?
A book on my female ancestors.
Kashaf, from Lahore, Pakistan, is one of our incredible authors from Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. V, No. 2 issue HOME. Learn more about Kashaf in her HOME poem “The Mehndi on My Feet.”
.Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
.W.o.W. #16
J.L. Lapinel
What period of your life do you find you write about most often?
I feel compelled to write about my adolescence and early 20s. I was born and raised in Manhattan but spent weekends and summers on a small family farm [Blackamora, described in HOME]. I am only now aware of the strange ingredients of my amalgamated upbringing. There is enough distance from it now to explore the landscape and harvest new understanding.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
It tells me to quiet down, listen, and take notes.
What word do you find yourself using most often in your writing?
There are certainly cycles when a word will continue to present itself in more than one work. More than words, however, are dominant images. Feet are in a lot of my poems. They are often a physical manifestation of choices, particularly those leading to change or a new direction.
Explore Blackamora with J.L. in Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. V, No. 2 issue HOME and dive into “A Wolverine Hiding Ribbons Under the Bed,” published in Issue 18 (June 2020) of Rabid Oak.
J.L., a Latinx writer, educator, and MFA candidate at UMass Amherst, can be found on Twitter.