Interview with the creator of the Women's Art project.

Women's Art project logo - Reworking of Ana Mendieta's work

The creator of the Women's Art project, internationally well-known and massively followed on social media, likes to stay anonymous - the project was never about her but about a lack of global and historic female representation. She comes from a background of  'DIY' (do it yourself) ethics and activism....which means tackling problem that often authorities ignore. This can mean working individually or in small communities to combat social problems or injustices. In terms of art, she felt that the mainstream gallery systems are too male centric and also too white and too Western in their promotions. Her idea was to start an online gallery to combat this elitism and Twitter is a suitable platform. Social media also is very accessible to a range of people unlike museums which can alienate some. Now, the interview! (here's the link to the interview in Spanish).

1. The Women’s Art project works as an online gallery that aims to combat the Western, androcentric elitism in art History. How did you first come to the realization that it was a necessity to create such an art project, and how has the public reacted to Women’s Art online platform? What’ve you learnt through the years of uploading the Women’s Art project social media, regarding both art History and the contemporary art scene?

In my academic life I discovered very early on that the art history I was being educated on was being defined as Western, white and male. Despite attempts to look at aspects of this bias, art by anyone else, including half the global population - women, was being treated as a minority subject. In my own time I began researching the subject. The idea to share it via social media seemed like a way to create a framework and resource for the research and to share it. I soon found that there was an audience who were interested, perhaps involving many who weren’t necessarily into tradition galleries, but just curious-which is great. What I’ve learnt is that people seem very ready for some fresh perspectives and also that women’s creative talents are boundless, innovative and often courageous.

2. When it comes to women artists, being women is not always the only source of invisibility and silencing. Multiply marginalized women artists are often used to seeing their rage and general emotionality met with an invalidating mix of misogyny and racism, ableism or transphobia. How do you think projects such as Women’s Art can help uplift the voices and artistic creations of those who can even feel alienated from mainstream feminism and the feminist art scene? Which are the specific issues multiply marginalized women artists might be facing regarding their artistic creation and subjectivities?

I start from the premise that all women are marginalised because of the fact of being women, and all have an equally valid story regarding their art and their womanhood. Within that, of course multi-layered marginalisation exists. The idea has been to represent a broad spectrum of art and ideas which in turn may indicate cultural or historic or personal meaning on the artist’s own terms. But interestingly, this has also uncovered many threads that bind women together, whether experientially or biologically, in globally shared themes and subject matter. I think social media can act as an amazingly accessible platform for many people who feel alienated from all areas of mainstream culture - if used positively. Being given space to have a voice is one of the main issues all marginalised people face.

3. You come from a background of ‘Do It Yourself’ ethics and activism. How do you think person-to-person actions and political organization in small, marginalized communities that are often portrayed as powerless or uneducated by mainstream media can fight systemic violence such as the patriarchy or white supremacy? How does this kind of political organization relate to the art scene, to you?

I think small scale activism is extremely important, so much comes out of humble beginnings. I don’t think you can change the world over night, but you can improve your own little bit of it. In terms of art it can translate into a million actions and ideas. I’ve personally been involved in creating arts events highlighting women’s art and music, multicultural arts groups, zines, banner making, refugees’ groups, girl’s music workshops, skill sharing etc…the possibilities are endless. The point is to do something if you can, rather than not. When we look at US feminist and African American artists from the 1970’s for example, people who were excluded from mainstream arts scene created their own studios, exhibitions and publicity. Well-known artists such as Faith Ringgold, Judy Chicago and Louise Bourgeois all came from that background.

4. In the last few years, we have witnessed the highlighting of past women artists such as Frida Kahlo both by feminist movements and the women’s art scene and even by mainstream media (i.e. companies, worldwide fashion brands, etc). I hesitate to call this “empowering” in the sense that there is often an alienation of the public regarding the polarized portrayals of such women artists, whose political ideas and artistic journey are to me even emptied of their deep contradictions and radicalness. How do you feel towards such a growing trend of uplifting History’s overlooked women artists, and do you think there is a way for feminists today to pay respect to their more honest memory meanwhile spreading knowledge about their artwork?

I see the capitalist fetishization of certain women artists certainly, like Frida Kahlo. There’s also a contemporary trend towards revisionism, to mould historical figures dishonestly to suit modern ideas and ideologies. Both are robbing people of their true legacy. While it is extremely important to highlight those who have had their histories supressed, I think we have to act with great respect to the known facts and context.

5. When it comes to the contemporary women art scene, in which ways do you think the art world and business have gotten better for us and in which ways does it still have to radically improve and evolve?

Capitalism can commodify anything and ‘women artists’ as a fashionable product is no different. I would like to say that all is fine for women now, but many of the specific oppressive conditions women have faced in the artworld and beyond, still exist.  I do see attempts to address certain issues such as gallery representation for example, but still so far to go. I think things need to improve in the whole of society, as art isn’t separate from the rest of culture, obviously. Women, however, are continuing to create amazing artworks, never the less.

6. Do you feel like there have been any major changes in what’s more often represented and the ways in which it is represented when it comes to contemporary women’s art in comparison to more traditional women’s artwork? Is there a kind of trans-historical alliance linking such diverse artist through their different backgrounds, cultural upbringings and time lapses?

Yes, in Western terms, the scope of women’s artwork has widened as women’s roles have evolved and expanded. There are still genres to which women are more or less connected. There are still recurring themes relating to women’s lives, in the private realm while the public realm still struggles to offer female artistic recognition. As I said earlier, I do find definite links between the work of women globally and historically which conveys a certain shared experience unique to women.

7. Finally, I would like to ask you about your personal favorites – who are the women artists who have more profoundly shaped your approach to womanhood, feminist resistance, art consumption and creation?

I’m inspired by too many women to mention, not just the famous ones, but often women who just want to be creative in whatever way they can and whatever way is accessible to them. The resourceful ones, the fighters, those who don’t take no for no answer…I have much respect for them all.

I hope that answers your questions.

Interview with Priya-Alika Elias, writer and cultural critic living in India

This is the English version of the interview with Priya-Alika Elias (here's the link to the interview in Spanish).

Priya-Alika Elias (Twitter) is a writer and cultural critic who lives in India. She is interested in finding new ways to think about feminism, race, and social justice. What do we owe to each other? What is wrong with romantic relationships today? How can men be better, and how can brown women get free? These are some of the things she finds most important. A former defense lawyer, Priya is deeply concerned with the nature of inequality in the world - in all shapes and sizes.

1. I have been following you on social media for years and I've always thought that your insight on romantic relationships and men's -especially white men's- entitlement and general behaviour was a really necessary one, since naming the main issue going wrong in our love lives -which is to me patriarchal socialization- allows us to move forward and start changing what we take for granted and what we've been educated to just accept. Regarding this, what do you think women and men ought to change in order for our romantic relationships to be healthier for both of us, but especially for us women? What do you think is the main issue when it comes to men's ways of relating to the women in their lives and how they treat their romantic partners?

The main issue that men seem to have in relationships stems from the patriarchy – they don’t seem to think of women as people. They don’t support women enough, they don’t listen, they don’t accept that women are just as complex and needy as men. Instead, they treat their girlfriends and partners as free therapists/caregivers. “My girlfriend is always there for me, that’s what I love most about her” – well, your love shouldn’t be based on what she can do for you!

Men and women both have to change. Women must challenge the assumption that their purpose is to find a romantic relationship (so they can stop settling), and men have to unlearn the toxic messages they have been fed about women, (so they can treat their partners better).

2. As I already said, I think patriarchal socialization is at the core of most of the unhealthy and oppressive dynamics at play when it comes to romantic relationships. I'm especially interested in understanding the ways in which men internalize behaviour patterns and values in a patriarchal society - in what ways do you think most men grow up to become more entitled, selfish and careless than their partners?

Men (especially in the S. Asian context I come from) are coddled from birth. Even as they grow older, they are protected from the consequences of their actions (‘boys will be boys’). They are encouraged to be selfish and to prioritise their careers (when was the last time a man was asked how he balanced career and family?)

When you’re raised to be selfish, and taught that the world owes you respect, that naturally manifests in your relationships. I find that straight men are so unwilling to sacrifice for their women. They expect their partners to change to accommodate them, but are unwilling to put in any work beyond the bare minimum of domestic work & splitting the bills. And of course, they undervalue women’s work around the house/childrearing. They have not been made aware how difficult it can be to be a housewife, or to be a mother!

Life Size (2000).

3. But gender and patriarchal socialization are far from the only thing keeping people from living more fulfilling and healthier lives, especially when it comes to romantic relationships. Like you said, how can brown women get free? If, in Audre Lorde's own words, "I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own", what is the key for a truly intersectional, collective fight for liberation from patriarchy and white supremacy, as in what do you think are the crucial needs for brown women's liberation nowadays and how do you think white people, both men and women, can support you?

As an Indian woman, I am very tired of white people’s faux concern about Indian women. Brown women know our own lives, our own struggles and shackles. We must be free to speak on them, without white people trying to play savior. As always, a good white ally is one who listens and who asks ‘How can I support you? Let me use my resources to amplify your voice."

How can brown women get free? We must be freed of the weight of other people’s expectations. Brown women must not endure abuse, rape, domestic violence, and harassment in silence. Brown women are not the gatekeepers of the family’s honour!

Every day, young boys and girls are taught that brown women must be XYZ. That burden is deadly, and that burden must be erased. The only way forward that I can see is to educate. Educate our girl children so they can free themselves.

4. Then, as a lesbian, it worries me to witness the way such key discussions of romantic relationships and love life in today's society are so often heteronormative at best. I too am concerned with inequality in the world in all shapes and sizes - do you think mainstream feminism today leaves out the issues marginalized women can face, such as racialized misogyny, lesbophobia or biphobia...? Why, and how can we better our own movements in order for all oppressed women to truly feel welcome in organizations and mobilizations?

Yes, this is a concern of mine as well. I’m guilty of this too, sadly. We are deeply bound by mainstream feminism, and often forget that it does not fit everybody. Straight white women wearing pink pussy hats should not and must not be the face of the movement. (It is interesting that the names associated with the #MeToo movement are women like Rose McGowan and Asia Argento, instead of the black woman who founded it, Tarana Burke.)

I’m tired of what seems to be endless discussions about “unequal division emotional labour in cishet relationships.” Those concerns are real, yes, but they are not the only – or even the most pressing- ones!

We have to make space for marginalized people within our feminism. We have to remember that lesbians are also oppressed by men. Just because they don’t date men, doesn’t mean that they are free of men’s bullshit! I think we need to talk more about non-romantic relationships, and how misogyny manifests in those. More importantly, we need to let other people speak instead of taking up too much room ourselves.

5. When it comes to the portrayal of Indian society and culture in mainstream media, the way imperialist nations often display images and news about alarming rape statistics there can feel patronizing to me - it doesn't feel like a call for action to organize as women everywhere, it doesn't feel like raising awareness on violence against women anywhere, but it does sometimes feel like carrying on racist, imperialist stereotypes of "violent brown men" in "uncivilized societies" assaulting women who "need saving". Which do you think are the key issues women and men need to work through in Indian society in order to thrive and unlearn patriarchal violences, and how do you think we can call for solidarity everywhere without slipping into colonial portrayals of such society?

India has a rape problem, but I am often hesitant to say so because – as you point out – it feels like I’m feeding into a global, racist stereotype about brown men. The truth is that everywhere has a rape problem, doesn’t it? One might say that in India, it is particularly bad because of social frameworks (not because of brown men being more disposed to rape). White people can express solidarity with us without patronizing or infantilizing us. Support Indian women without speaking over them, and don’t ask racist questions about why Indian men are so beastly. (The West has its own particular rape culture – take sexual violence at frat parties, for instance.)

In India, brown women (especially those who are less privileged) are actually shamed for having been raped. This is why so many women who have been raped hang themselves. The shame and the stigma that is routinely deployed against Indian women – why were you out late, you must have been asking for it, were you a virgin beforehand- is a powerful tool of silencing women. Indian men need to condemn victim blaming mindsets whenever they encounter it (men will listen to other men before they listen to women.)

As for Indian women, I think mothers are quite often guilty of letting their sons get away with harassment and worse. That needs to stop, immediately. Don’t raise your sons with double standards.

The best and most effective long-term solution to end patriarchal violence within Indian society would be to raise boy and girl children together. Teach men from an early age that women are just the same as them – women are not objects for you to offload your sexual desire or frustrated entitlement on to.

Wounded Deer - Frida Kahlo (1946).

6. You're both a writer and a cultural critic - I'm guessing you're familiar both with mainstream media's biased portrayals of marginalized communities and with more recent cultural displays of alternative representation for marginalized communities in media. When it comes to new shows, movies or makeup and fashion brands providing more diverse representation and sometimes even anti-racist, feminist, LGTBI-friendly messages, why do you think we're witnessing such a change in advertising and cultural politics? And what do you think we should ask for when it comes to media portrayals of marginalized communities now that it seems that it's in enough to actually listen to us?

I joke that companies have figured out that it’s cool to be woke. I do think that’s true, though. For instance, Hollywood producers will drop Scarlett Johansson from a role where she plays a POC – if enough people talk about boycotting the movie on social media.

For the first time, these powerful corporations are being exposed to the voices of the masses. Well, not for the first time, but social media has certainly caused a huge uptick in their exposure to popular opinion. They know to release more shades in their makeup range, so that more brown and black women will buy it.

But I think that’s not enough! We need to keep holding them accountable, and make sure they put their money where their mouth is. If a clothing company says they’re making plus sizes, we have to ask ‘How many?’ Because adding a measly two sizes to their existing line won’t cut it. If a movie touts its diverse cast, we need to ask ‘Well, why is it the only one?’ We can’t stop pushing for representation just yet.

Take Crazy Rich Asians – so many people have praised that movie for being the first of its kind. But how many people does it actually represent?

7. Finally - I'd love to know more about your writing journey! How did you first start writing, and why do you think you've kept doing it? Who are the people that inspire you the most when it comes to creativity and culture? And what would your advice be for younger writers out there?

I guess I’ve always been a writer! I was scribbling stories and poems in my parents’ office notebooks as soon as I learned to write. But I never thought I could actually BE a writer fulltime- writing was something I did on the side, whether it was blogging or simply writing a funny Facebook status. It’s like an itch- impossible to cure really.

I didn’t write professionally until Twitter. Through Twitter, I met editors who wanted to publish my pieces, and that’s when I realized – hey, I might actually be able to do this for a living. Living the dream!

The people who inspire me the most – gosh, there are so many. I really admire anyone who has a strong voice, a voice that comes through clearly in their art. Like Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who is so good at writing sardonic, dark women. I love creators like Michaela Coel, who is screamingly funny and so completely original on shows like Chewing Gum. Anybody who’s out there writing honest, unrepentant, complicated women is inspiring to me.

The best piece of advice I can give to young writers is to keep trying out different things. Keep pushing yourself and get the word on the page – an idea is useless until you have a draft. Every single writer that you admire has tons of awful drafts in their desk drawers! It will take you some time to get to where you want to be, so try and cultivate a thick skin and a bulldozer work ethic.

(Oh, and PS- number your drafts. Trust me on this.)

Interviewing Resistance: Ambivalently Yours

As some of you already know, I'm currently interviewing artists, activists and mostly, both. This week I'm posting an interview with the feminist artist Ambivalently Yours (Tumblr: ambivalentlyyours.tumblr.com / Instagram: instagram.com/ambivalentlyyours). She defines her project as "feminist rants / questionable advice / too much pink".

I've also posted the interview in Spanish so you can all read it in both languages. I'm not a professional translator, but I tried my best!

1. You draw and write a lot about feelings, ambivalence, vulnerability. Through a feminist lens, i often get the feeling that it's men who should become more emotional, while women should toughen up like them. I, however, believe that all of us should allow ourselves to show our true emotions and become the vulnerable human beings that we truly are. What are your thoughts on this? How do you think vulnerability and emotionality can empower women?

For me, Feminism is not trying to tell men to be sensitive and women to be tough, what feminism and gender studies are trying to do is break down the binaries of gender identity. Looking at gender as men vs. women, ignores all the complex genders in-between and thinking of emotions in terms of male/female binaries ignores human complexities by telling half the population to be one way and the other half to be another. Patriarchal society has trained us to think that men should be stoic and women are emotional (or in other words fragile). These ideas were built to give more power to men, but in practice they are harmful to everyone. Since these rules are so present, many people believe them as truths and try to embody them at any cost. This results in men who are unable to express their emotions without feeling emasculated and women who apologise every time they feel something because they think it makes them appear too weak. In truth, humans feel emotions, whether we want to or not, and it takes a lot of strength and emotional maturity to be able to express ourselves openly. I believe that learning to understand and embrace our vulnerability and emotionality empowers all people because it helps us communicate and connect with one another more clearly and honestly.

2. You're not a professional, but you certainly are someone people come to in search of advice and understanding. You've helped and supported (and continue to help and support) so many people all around the world, many of them women. What've you learnt from them? How does this help you grow as a person and empowers you as a feminist the same way you help them grow and empower themselves?

I’m not a professional therapist, nor do I try to be, I’m an artist, and I communicate with people best through creative means. I always see the work I do as a form of collaboration. The interactions I have with people online help me as much (if not more) than they help those I respond to. The process encourages me to think about issues that I have faced and try to translate them into words and drawings that others will be able to relate to. It is a process of learning to expand my ability to feel empathy for others while also learning to understand the limits of empathy. There are some life experiences and emotions that I will never be able to relate to because of my life experience and all of the privileges I have or don’t have. This process has helped me approach my feminist convictions and life choices with a more critical eye.

3. You're an unapologetic feminist. Which should be, in your opinion, the goals and praxis of the feminist movements at the current time in order to stay radical and intersectional?

Intersectional Feminism is a very tricky concept, that often gets oversimplified in the media because feminism is “on trend” right now. While I think that it’s wonderful that more and more people are identifying as feminists, we have to be careful not to allow our ideas to get diluted and homogenised by the mainstream. Capitalist culture benefits from marketing Feminism as this one thing (often a traditionally pretty girl with her hands on her hips looking tough and wearing a quirky slogan tee), but for Feminism to be intersectional, we have to allow multiple versions of feminism to coexist. We have to listen to more narratives than just our own, and resist the impulse to only support those whose ideas are exactly the same as ours. Building feminist communities can be fun and fulfilling but it is never going to be easy. The movement always has to keep growing, evolving and redefining itself in order to avoid becoming exclusionary or meaningless.

4. You're also an artist, undoubtfully. Many people already know your art thanks to the Internet. But, in your artist statement, I got to read about anonymous notes left in public spaces. Can you tell us more about this project?

My work as Ambivalently Yours started out as a project where I left notes in public places to the things and/or places that made me feel ambivalent, then I wrote a blog post about it. It was my way to start thinking about ambivalence and how it affects my everyday life. I also invited other people to do the same and share their experience with me. (You can read it here: http://ambivalently-yours.blogspot.ca/)

5. Finally, I'm sure we'd all love to get to know you a little bit more. Which are the things that shine a light on your life, that give you hope, that make you happy and help you keep going in your hardest days in such a harsh world? Sport, spirituality, art in all its forms (both as a creator and as a consumer), activism, bonding with other people, similar or different to you... Tell us about it all!

I’ve been communicating with a lot of young people online for the last 6 years or so and it gives me hope to see them grow into complex feminist individuals with the ability to think critically while also understanding that there are something that we will always have mixed feelings about. On a more personal level, since last summer I have been trying to be kinder to myself and to care for myself more by exercising more, weeding out negative people from my life, and going to therapy on a regular basis. I’ve started to learn that you can’t do it all on your own, and that there is so much value in finding your people.

Interviewing Resistance: Lydia Havens

As some of you already know, I'm currently interviewing artists, activists and mostly, both. This week I'm posting an interview with the poet Lydia Havens (Twitter: @lizardhavens / Instagram: @lizardhavens). You can get their full-length collection, Survive Like the Water, here!

I'll also post the interview in Spanish so you can all read it in both languages. I'm not a professional translator, but I tried my best!

___________________________________________

1. My favourite poetry line of yours says: "Men call me sexy the same way they tell me when my nose is bleeding". This makes me think a lot about misogyny, (hyper)sexualization & dehumanization. Which is, to you, the core of the issue of the way men treat women in a patriarchal world? Which is to you the key to building relationships, both sexual & romantic, in which compassion & respect are the key instead of violence & power?

In my personal experience (this is not to say this is the case for everybody), the biggest issue has been all the ways I can be undermined by men. My skills and abilities are often undermined by men when it comes to my work. My experiences and emotions are under often undermined by men when it comes to my being a trauma survivor (and when it comes to my just being a younger femme-identifying and presenting person). This can be annoying and infuriating if I'm lucky, and outright dangerous if I'm not. I've been threatened for being overly ambitious, and I've been threatened for being overly emotional. So, perhaps my biggest issue has actually been that no matter how I present myself, I usually do not feel safe. I think compassion is usually the "easy" solution—many men in my life did not or still do not associate compassion with masculinity or "being a man", which I think is a great contributor to misogyny. 


2. Which influences, which issues have shaped your approach to both feminism & womanhood?


I actually recently came out and started publicly identifying as non-binary, so I don't think I can really talk about what womanhood has come to mean to me. But my biggest influences in my feminism and my femme-ness are the women who raised me, and my community. My mother raised my sister and me completely on her own for about 5 years, all while working full-time as a public defender. My grandmother was an English professor for 40 years, and now volunteers her time as a mentor for children in foster care. I've grown up on stories about all that they've overcome, both in the workplace and their personal lives. Right now I work as the Communications & Events Manager for a literary non-profit that is run mostly by women and non-binary folx. Before that, I worked for another literary non-profit that did a lot of incredibly necessary activism work, whether or not it had to do with poetry. It's been that kind of work that's influenced me the most as a feminist and an activist, and the people behind them. If it's ok, I want to name a few names: Sarah Gonzales, Teré Fowler-Chapman, Tara Lzicar, Cheryl Maddalena, Kate Lange. 


I think my feminism is directly linked to my identity: I'm a mentally ill, queer trauma survivor, and that's definitely influenced me, but so have the more privileged parts of my identity. I'm white, I'm able-bodied, I've fluctuated between class standings a couple times in my life, and even though I'm non-binary, a majority of the time I still publicly "pass" as a cis woman. I don't want to just fight for the rights of people who look like me—I want to fight for the rights of everybody who still needs rights.

3. In your poem "Girl is the Warmest Color", we encounter the line: "two girls kissing in Paris, ignoring the politics in this". This makes me think of wether we can find some balance between admessing that all art is political & we musn't pretend otherwise, & finding a place of comfort where we can just exist without fighting any more than we already do just by existing. What are your thoughts on this? Is it possible to achieve this balance?

With that line in particular, I wasn't really thinking about how art can be political—I was thinking about how just existing can be seen as political. I remember after the Pulse shooting in Orlando, I was talking to someone I knew from my childhood about the action I believed they could take as a white cis straight person, and they replied, I just hate politics. I don't want to get involved in anything messier than my own life. That response was of course infuriating, but also sort of fascinating to me. As a queer person I've never thought of this as politics; I've always thought of it as my livelihood, and the livelihood of other folx in the LGBT+ community (and in the case of the Pulse shooting, it was about the livelihood of LGBT+ folx of color). 


So while LGBT+ rights are almost always directly linked to politics, I feel like my existence as a non-straight, non-cis person doesn't always have to be political. Most of the time, I'm literally just existing. 


4. How did you realize you weren't straight? What would you tell a younger folk who realizes the same thing, who feels alone, isolated...? How would you try to give them some hope, support, & even some will to fight this heteronormative world?

I realized I wasn't straight at a fairly early age—around 12 or so. I grew up around a few relatives and family friends who aren't straight, and were wonderful enough to take the time to answer a lot of questions I had about my own sexuality. I identified as 100% gay for quite a while, but realized about a year and a half ago that that wasn't necessarily true for me, so I've identified as bisexual since then. Coming out at such an early age while going to a pretty conservative middle school was not... the most pleasant experience. I faced a lot of really violent homophobia (which I won't get into here), but now I'm at a place in my life where I can, for the most part, be who I am without fear. That's a huge privilege I try not to take for granted. 


What I would tell younger folk who are facing similar struggles is: you do not owe anybody an explanation about who you are, and who you love, especially if that explanation puts you in danger. Don't feel obligated to come out, and remember you don't have to come out to everybody in your life. You will find ways to love who you are that are quiet and discreet, and those ways matter just as much as the loud and proud ones. You matter, and nobody can take that away from you. Hold onto your LGBT+ heroes, but find a hero in yourself, too.

5. One of my favourite quotes ever, by Dunya Mikhail, says: "I still feel that poetry is not medicine - it's an X-ray. It helps you see the wound & understand it." What does poetry mean to you, how does it help you keep breathing, stay alive in such a harsh, cruel world?

I actually just finished a project for a class that talks about exactly this! I started writing poetry at a time in my life that was incredibly dark and full of tragedy, as a means to try and understand those tragedies. Writing very quickly became a means to survive for me, too, and a way for me to feel heard. I've always had a voice, but poetry taught me how to use that voice. So now, as an adult, I've come to realize that I don't think I could survive without writing (or I could, but it'd just be absolutely miserable for me). Poetry is connected to so many of the good things present in my current life: I met all my best friends through poetry. When people ask my parents what their oldest child does, they say "She's a poet" with pride. I've found my greatest joys through poetry, and looking back, I'm honestly not sure if I'd still be alive if I hadn't started writing and performing poetry with such feverishness. Poetry found me when I absolutely needed it to, and it's helped me survive, but also live, ever since.

6. Finally, how does it feel to write poetry at this time, in a world fully dominated by men writers but that, at the same time, is witnessing the birthing of so much poetry written by marginalized women & women-aligned folks?

Haha, sometimes it can be a little frustrating if I'm being honest. There have been so many moments when men have been given credit for my successes as a poet (fellow poets who happen to be men, a few teachers/mentors—even my dad at some point, and my dad's not a writer of any sort), or I've worked on projects with male poets where they've ended up getting most of the credit and glory. But I've also been lucky enough to become a part of a really wonderful community of women/gender nonconforming/non-binary/femme poets, and even though a lot of the time we're just bonding over our frustrations and exhaustions about this shared struggle, I think we're doing really incredible work regardless. Some of the most spectacular poets I know aren't men, and they all happen to be some of the most underrated poets I know, too.

If it's ok, I'd like to end this conversation with a list of women/GNC/NB/femme poets I really adore (which is totally abridged, and if I could I'd just spend the next day naming names): Dorothy McGinnis, Linette Reeman, Alexa Lemoine, Faith Culhane, JohnQ, Sara Mae, Jess Rizkallah, Talicha Johnson, Taylor Steele, Cecily Schuler, and Evander Meraki.