An Interview with Poetry Contributor, Yimeng Iris Wang
In an interview with poetry contributor Yimeng Iris Wang, we discussed the motivations behind her piece “on grandmother’s lap” and her personal life as a writer. Wang’s poem includes simple sentences that also bring emotional depth to how short and impactful they are, as well as formatting that shapes the poem and experience skillfully.
Q: What inspired your decisions about the structure of this poem? What motivates each indentation or new stanza?
A: Honestly, for most of my writing, I go off of feels. I wish I could give a long winded and technical explanation but I really don’t have much of a process for these kinds of things in my writing. I don’t think much when it comes to writing, I let everything just go and type down whatever comes into my head next. It’s a very fluid process that I find myself enjoying a lot.
Q: What is the purpose behind the repetition of “It was one of those days”? What do you hope to evoke in the reader?
A: For me, I wanted to paint the scene in nostalgia and the one way I thought of doing that was repetition. The way that past memories replay in your head or the way that the same emotions come over you at half past nine. I wanted to capture that heaviness while simultaneously maintaining the simplicity of the piece.
Q: Looking back at your childhood now, have you found a name for what you were longing for, or do you feel it is meant to stay unspoken?
A: I think you phrased it quite well in this question; I feel that a lot of the things I didn’t understand then will remain a mystery. Of course, the more I live the more I feel like I unlock certain aspects of the mystery, but the bigger picture will never be crystal clear.
Q: Did writing this specific piece feel like a form of emotional release, or did it feel more like an effort to document and honor this specific moment?
A: This specific piece was a memory of my grandmother who passed away when I was relatively young from lung cancer. Through this piece I wanted to honor the little memories I vividly kept from my time with her as well as my feelings during and after her passing.
Q: What is one thing you hope another young Asian American reader takes away from reading your poem?
A: This definitely isn’t an ideal answer, but I truly feel that I don’t have any specific hopes on what readers could take away from the poem. Especially considering how abstract and vague the poem is, I don’t want to impose anything onto the readers. However, I will say I hope that another young Asian American reader will be encouraged to intertwine their unique lived experiences into their writing not just from my poem but from all the other pieces in the issue as well.
Temple Literary Magazine is a literary magazine dedicated to publishing Asian American youth writers, amplifying the overlooked struggles and hardships the Asian American community goes through. We also aim to give an accessible platform to youth writers who have raw talent and emotion. Interested? Feel free to submit to Issue 03 at our website, templelitmag.com under the “Submit” tab!
