The sentiment that ‘every writer is first a reader’ is one that we’re all somewhat familiar with. It is a universally acknowledged truth that every writer has drawn inspiration from those writing before them. Thus, each generation of writers plays a pivotal role in shaping and influencing the succeeding generation; founding an intricate and intimate system of ‘elders’ and ‘youngers’ in the writing world. But what happens when you are unable to find an elder who authentically represents you and your narrative? Is it possible to express yourself if nobody has used language to convey your truth before you? These were the questions mulled over at the Lighthouse Bookshop in a discussion between poets Harry Josephine Giles and Alycia Pirmohamed, and chaired by literary critic David Coates.
The discussion began with the poets introducing an elder that they look up to. In Pirmohamed’s case this was Li-Young Lee, an Asian American poet whom she had first encountered through online poetry forums. As a Canadian-South Asian woman, Pirmohamed was drawn to the way in which Lee described his interior family life, with a distinct weightiness to the words. Unlike other poets who had referred to family as a universal theme, Lee’s approach, focusing on the specific and intimate details of his life gave rise to a believable, nuanced tenderness. This was explored in the poem ‘Water’, read aloud by Pirmohamed, which described Lee’s father’s tormented relationship with water with unflinching stoicism.
Giles shared Rachel Pollack as their elder, a multifaceted comic book writer, science-fiction author, tarot reader and, of course, poet. She was also the first trans author to start writing in English and has been a major influence on celebrated writers such as Neil Gaiman, and indeed on trans poets like Giles themselves. They read out a poem by Pollack which explored the arbitrary and banal nature of our genitals; how they function and what they symbolise. Other than leaving the audience in fits of laughter, Pollack used her poetry to interrogate how and why gender identity is assigned to our physical vessels.
It became abundantly clear very quickly just how profound a role elders have played in the respective careers of Giles and Pirmohamed. Giles confessed that they would have been unable to articulate the trans experience into poetry if they had not been able to read it first. Writing trans literature seems like an impossible feat unless the experience of others serves as a frame of reference, much like the physical process of transitioning itself. Unfortunately, they lamented, a generation of trans voices was lost to the AIDS crisis, particularly affecting POC trans communities, and leaving a gaping vacancy in the collective trans narrative.
For Pirmohamed, her shift from Canada to Britain made her aware of the lack of discussion surrounding race and the lived experience of racialised peoples. She found that dominant culture readily approved POC writing centred on food and family, but wasn’t open to the prospect of accepting more diverse or subtle themes. The experience of building a POC literary community was a trying one, but eventually came to fruition with her co-founding the Scottish BAME Writers Network. Hence she assumed the role of an elder herself; she invests wholly into the belief that encouraging more POC writers will eventually decrease the burden of representation.
The focal idea discussed in this talk was that creativity is not born in a vacuum; it relies heavily on what we are exposed to. And exposure is political. Certain voices have been silenced from the dialogue between writers for fear of threatening the dominant narrative. In an environment that seeks to silence and stifle the voices of the marginalised, it has never been important to turn to unconventional sources in order to find the elders who can teach us the necessary language to help us articulate our stories.
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