12 or 20 (second series) questions with Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi

Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi is the author of DISINTEGRATION MADE PLAIN AND EASY (Piżama Press) and THE BOOK OF KANE AND MARGARET (FC2 / UAP). 

1 - How did your first book change your life? 
I was so sure my first book (THE BOOK OF KANE AND MARGARET) would never be published. I just thought, maybe these magical Japanese internment tales were too peculiar? Though, lots of the chapters had been published individually. But I wasn’t sure, maybe folks liked them as individual tiles? But maybe nobody wanted the whole tapestry? So I went through five years of doubt, feeling like I’d failed, let all of my writing teachers down. And then somehow, FC2 became such a loving home for it. It felt a little unreal, because for so long I thought, maybe I’m an awful writer??

In my memory, it was Aaron Fai, my wonderful beautiful friend, someone I went to graduate school with at UC Davis, who sent me the link for the FC2 contest and said, try. So it helped me to remember, it’s not a writer by themselves that makes it to the finish line. It usually takes a whole group of people working together to stay persistent and motivated. 

This collection of poems, DISINTEGRATION MADE PLAIN AND EASY, well, similar feelings were there. I’d been trying to get a version of the book published since 2014. At some point, I thought, maybe it’s not meant to be. Maybe not this strange, idiosyncratic collection of poems. But then Ben Niespodziany came into my life, and again, it felt unreal, magical. Somebody actually likes these poems enough to be their champion? The book is not just mine. It’s Ben’s. Piżama’s. It’s Gautam Rangan’s, who did thousands of profoundly beautiful illustrations for the book. I needed to remember, I don’t control any of this individually. I needed to find the right people to support it. 

2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
Very oddly. I met my partner when I was 21, and she went away, was sailing around the world. I missed her so much, one day, I kinda just sat down and started writing poems. So I wrote her like 150 love poems, really awful ones. I needed to have that overwhelming sense of dread and loneliness to push me into writing. But I think that was key, because it was just so many reps. I wrote those and then probably 150 more experiments before I started writing poems that don’t make me cringe. Maybe more? So many that needed to go into the trash. 

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?
For a poem, I need a significant block of time. I used to love 4 hours, but I can’t get that anymore, because I have a couple of young kids. But if I get 90 minutes that’s usually what I need to start the poem. It’s sort of like improvising on a scene, a moment, a feeling, with myself. It’s just going down very far down the rabbit hole. I want to be as surprising as I can from one line to the next, but it’s weird, I’m both performer and audience. 

And then I just need to sit on that poem for a long time, over a year, and tinker with it. I think it’s a year of asking, what the hell is this thing? I’m trying to figure that out for a year, trying to make the poem, less self-conscious, more itself. 

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?
I’m usually working through iteration. Though, I often don’t know that until later. I’m making this bread, using the same sourdough, thinking ok, now I’m going to make a pie. Now I’m going to make a Black Forest cake. And then there’s just, all this sourdough on the counter. I usually think I’m doing something original, but my subconscious is usually leading me toward an iterative process. 

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I enjoy meeting new folks at readings. And I feel like doing readings keeps me excited and motivated. But also, I have an intense fear of public speaking. It’s a lucky and rewarding experience to get to read and share my work. But I’m usually also very terrified. 

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?
I love these questions. I think there are so many great questions, but I’m usually trying to remember 3 layers. First question / layer is how engaging is this work? Will it delight? Will it entertain? 

Second layer. Is this work relevant? Is it connected with something of concern in our culture, in our world right now? Does work attempt to transform attitudes and beliefs in a way that makes reader, world, more expansive, more generous, less judgmental, more open-minded? 

Third layer. Is the work innovative. Will work inspire someone who hasn’t written before? Will work inspire another practitioner, give them some tools to further their work? Add something to their lifelong practice? 

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?
Tough to answer these. I feel every writer will answer these questions uniquely. For me, they go back to those three layers that I think of for my writing practice: how entertaining, relevant and innovative can my work be to serve whatever readership I have the opportunity to serve. 

I also love that Chinua Achebe quote, that goes, “Clearly  there is no moral obligation to write in any particular way. But there is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless. An artist, in my definition of the word, would not be someone who takes sides with the emperor against his powerless subjects.” (From There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra )

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
I feel like this process can be so lucky and rewarding and important for the work. Editor is helping to shape the work to become more itself. Editor is helping me to see all of the different strands in the work, how they are chiming, resonating off of each other. Editor is also helping to shape the work to be more interesting, exciting, memorable for the readers they serve. 

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
I love what Jane Wong says about her poetic practice. The things you don’t use for one poem you put them on the “compost pile” because they may germinate something for another piece. Nothing goes to waste. You can always go back to your compost. And you don’t have to try to cram everything into one piece if it’s just not working right. 

10 - 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 have young kids now, so they dictate all the schedules and routines in my life. But some key commitment for me is a weekly writing meeting I have with the writers Aaron Fai and Megan Cummins. They are extraordinary writers and people, and we’ve been meeting on Friday mornings. Typically we talk shop and set goals and intentions then do some timed writing sprints, usually between 18-25 minutes. It’s a way to keep going to and stay serious about writing, even if the rest of the week is a whirlwind. 

11 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
If I’m stalled in poetry, I need to go watch or listen to some standup comedy. It’s an art form that seems so profoundly difficult and scary and complicated, and I find it to be intoxicating to watch. And I also find it has some overlap with poetics in a way that inspires me. These folks who are thinking about how all these different voices and scenes and moments will work moment to moment. Coming at an old topic from a new, sometimes strange angle. Being so careful and intentional about word choice. Those folks who do that really inspire me. 

12 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Lemons. And hominy. 

13 - 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?
Right now I’m sort of obsessed with films by Hong Sang-soo which have these fascinations with iteration, duplicity, doppelgängers. 

And I love , in particular Force Majeure . Films about embarrassment and shame and the physical power and beauty of the human body. 

14 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
A huge percentage of what I read these days is literature for young readers, picture books, graphic novels. Really love books by Raina Telgemeier, Dan Santat, Kazu Kibuishi, Dav Pilkey, Scott McCloud, Lynda Barry. 

And there are so many craft books that have been key to my development, WONDERBOOK by Jeff VanderMeer, CRAFT IN THE REAL WORLD by Matthew Salesses, A SWIM IN A POND IN THE RAIN by George Saunders. 

15 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Write a romance novel. Or write a screenplay for a romantic comedy. 

16 - 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?
If I had the talent, and the bravery, and the right brain, I wish I could’ve done many other art practices. Music. Standup comedy. Visual arts. I’m not sure what I would’ve ended up doing if not for writing and teaching. Though my first job was washing dishes, and I was pretty good at it. 

17 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I wish I could’ve done something else. But then, I think reading and writing and seeing the world as a reader and writer has added so much to my life. Also, I think I write because it’s super cheap. Very little equipment to buy. 

18 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
I’m going to name two great books I read recently, both by comedians. The first is YOU’RE BETTER THAN ME by Bonnie McFarlane. And 488 RULES FOR LIFE: THE THANKLESS ART OF BEING CORRECT by Kitty Flanagan. 

The film that I thought should’ve been a huge runaway indie hit was I WILL MAKE YOU MINE by Lynn Chen. Sadly the film came out during the pandemic which likely complicated its release. But I loved that one and the other two films in that series.

19 - What are you currently working on?
I’m often working at some poems and fiction. Right now I have a folder on my desktop called NOVELS I WILL NEVER WRITE. It comes from an anxiety of having not enough years ahead of me to finish projects that I think would be fun or meaningful. And so the idea is to try and condense some novel ideas down into a summary, but summary kind of gets carried away and turns into a short story. 

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