What led you to submit to RED SKIES?"
I noticed that a lot of new magazines have been born during this lockdown as people have had more time to dedicate to literary passions they might've been putting on the back burner. Only time will tell which ones will last after the pandemic, but if Red Skies or any of the other ones I hopefully get accepted by end up blooming into something amazing I can go 'Yeah I was there when it started'."
What writers have inspired you?
"I feel a strong, personal connection to Dostoevsky and Dazai Osamu. I also love Dunya Mikail and Anna Akhmatova."
What projects are you currently engaged in? Do you try to follow a specific theme, or do you focus on a variety of topics?
Right now I'm trying my hand at screenwriting. I don't usually follow a certain theme because my brain's too scattered. I've also dabbled in ghostwriting and prose.
How have you spent the year 2020?
"I spent the first half battling my relapse of Hogkin's Lymphoma and getting a STEM cell transplant. The second half was mostly recovering from that. I then got a job as a contact tracer for the State of Pennsylvania."
How have you maintained your artistic skills during lockdowns?
"I try to force myself to write a poem a week, or a page of dialogue or prose a day. Even if it's garbage, it's at least something."
Do you have any goals for the New Year? Is there a particular book you're hoping to start January off with? Hopefully I'll get my second chapbook, Don't, published. I've been trying to submit it to places for a few years now. I'd also like to refine my skills at novel and screenwriting. I don't want to just be a one-trick pony with poetry, even though that's my primary love. Is community important to your writing? Are there any magazines or small presses that you feel a strong attachment to?
Absolutely. One community in particular is The Madwomen in the Attic, a group of female writers based in Pittsburgh, PA and affiliated with Carlow University is very close to my heart. They host workshops. They've helped me hone my craft, gave me advice on how to write cover letters, and just provided so much support over the years. I definitely wouldn't be the writer that I am today without them. They're such an amazing group of women led by Jan Beatty. If you're in the Pittsburgh area, definitely check them out.
Before The Madwomen in the Attic, in high school when I first started to get serious about poetry I was a part of a program called WashArts started by a woman named Sandee Gertz Umbach. I was a pretty lonely kid all throughout primary and secondary school. I wasn't the best or worst student, wasn't athletic, musical, pretty or popular. I didn't have a 'niche' thing until Sandee showed me that I was talented at poetry. From there, I found a sense of purpose. There was something only I could do.
That's why I think it's important for young writers to have mentors and a community.