重音五问 I Five Questions with Jiaoyang Li

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    Five Questions with Jiaoyang Li

Accent：Why do you write in English?

Jiaoyang: It's an ironic accident. Although I was obsessed with literature and have been writing since childhood. That was all in Chinese. Why would I write in a foreign language in my hometown? However, my emerging career as a Chinese writer ended where I thought it could set sail. After starting my BA Chinese literature degree, I found out the literature program in China I fantasized about was actually focused on linguistics and literary histories instead of writing. I was frustrated, as my cohorts around me were all scholars and preparatory teachers; we seldom got drunk together. 

By chance, I discovered a documentary about the writer Hualing Nieh and her founding of the Iowa writers workshop. Amazed by the fact that writers in western universities could get funding just to write gossip and pass out in pubs, I decided to flee. After dropping out of my college in China, I re-enrolled into the Goldsmiths University of London's undergraduate creative writing program, then the MFA writing program at NYU. 

I guess for me, writing is a craft of escaping. Escaping from the math classes in middle school, the drudge academic work in college, the unbearable reality in mundane life. I had to write in English because that's the official language in college. I am used to writing bilingually nowadays. The untranslatable dilemma constantly reels me onto the beach of delusion. But I don't disagree, I like to suffer and to be broken open by the unfamiliar blade.

A: What did you get from your MFA, anything good, awful, or meaningful?

J: Got to read tons of Whitman, Plath, and Stevens when entering the program, then told to cancel Whitman, Plath, and Stevens before graduation. Got a beer belly, dark eye circles, and less hair. Got dozens of world-famous writer-professors who could not save you from despair. Got to know what good literature is, also what sells in the capitalist market. Got to know you have to make choices all the time however none of them would make you feel right. Got less money, more illusions. Got a meaner taste, messier life, but better temper, anything terrible is not that terrible, they are after all your writing materials.

A: What creative medium do you work in to take a break from your writing? 

J: Since I start writing in English, I am basically doing collage. English words do not jump naturally from the tips of my fingers; I pluck them up like daisies and sew them together in a chain. In this case, anything can be my text and my daisy, and my daisies can be sewn onto any platforms. Recently I made some film poetry, sewed text onto textile and audio-visual lighting installation, also edited poetry into 3D photospheres, and placed them in a VR theatre... But they don't mean anything. My conspiracy theory is that when you take something too seriously, you will ruin it: only taking breaks creates.

A: Tell us a book/movie/play/artwork… that you have recently enjoyed.

J：Poems by Pierre-Albert Jourdan, Marieke Lucas Rihneveld. The Next American Essay edited by John D'Agata. Illustration by Agnes Pelton and Xiong Shuhua. And theatre pieces by Dimitris Papaioannou and Korakarit Arunanondchai.

A: Share with us some gossip about your writing community.

J：NYU is the biggest real estate company in NYC. Poetry readings in NYC are actually fashion shows. If you describe your poems as experimental, the editors won't take you seriously. However, most journals like to publish poetry with weird forms. American editors like you to include your mother languages but not too difficult ones. US writers spend half of their time writing artist statements and applying for prizes and fellowships...

Bio

Jiaoyang Li is a poet and interdisciplinary artist currently based in New York. She received her BA in English Literature and Creative Writing from Goldsmiths University of London, and MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry pathway) from NYU. Her literary work has appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books- China Channel, 3:AM, Datableedzine, Harana Poetry, Chinese News Magazine, Spittoon Magazine, Enclave Poetry, Voice and Verse poetry magazine, Yespoetry, and elsewhere. Her interdisciplinary practices have been supported by the New York Foundation for the Arts, New York Live Arts Center, The Immigrants Artist Biennial, Performa Biennial, Artyard Center, Surface Gallery, The Greenpoint Gallery and more. She serves as the co-founder of interdisciplinary poetic practice journal 叵CLIP(cclliipp.com). Her work medium includes poetry, illustration, video performance, and VR installation.

Find her at

Website: www.jiaoyangli-textile.com

Social Media Handle: https://www.instagram.com/jylllllll___/

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