Temple Literary Magazine interviewed our Best of Issue authors for Issue 03: Waning Worship on their poems’ meanings, language, and inspiration. Our Best of Issue authors are Mira Lowitz and Joann Xie. Read their pieces in Issue 03!
Mira Lowitz
Q: Your poem has a lot of depth and requires thoughtful reading to understand its message. We would love to hear you expand more on your poem’s message and put it into your own casual words!
A: I wrote this poem with the intention of expressing the inexpressible: the experience of navigating my mixedness despite being constantly surrounded by my Filipino culture. I grew up Filipino—I hold the values and the blood and yet cannot fully identify as Filipino because I am not ethnically full. “i scrape existence off the skin of the milkfish” describes my desperation to integrate myself into my cultural identity and my community—a desperation that intensifies into this visceral scene of literally shifting into a cultural marker–the milkfish–just to find who I am.
Q: Why did you choose the metaphor of a milkfish to convey your message? Is it a dear childhood food, something in your life that makes it special to you, or something else?
A: I grew up eating milkfish. We call it “bangus” in Tagalog. I remember I’d eat it for breakfast with my Filipino family—fried, with tomato, garlic rice, and egg. I chose the milkfish because it represents a casual part of my culture. Despite it being a casual part of my culture, a part that anyone can experience, my mixedness prevents me from engaging in it fully.
Q: Who exactly is the figure, “he,” mentioned in your poem’s fourth stanza? Is it a family member, a figure, or someone up to the reader’s interpretation?
A: The figure is a real person, and that quote is a real quote said by him! “He” is someone I love and care for very deeply. But poetry is always subjective, and so I’m happy to let it be up to the reader’s interpretation as well.
Q: Your poem has very inventive imagery and figurative language! Who are some authors and poets you take after and are inspired by?
A: Gosh, that’s a hard question. Recently I’ve taken an interest in Richard Siken—his book Crush was particularly striking to me. His language does not hold back. If anything, it transcends those barriers that we are scared to break. I also am incredibly inspired by Ocean Vuong. However, I will say this particular poem is more figuratively dense than their typical styles.
You mentioned in your bio that you are studying Creative Writing at UC Berkeley. What are your goals going into college and beyond there?
Q: I just began my first semester at Berkeley, and I have loved it so far. Actually, I’m an intended Psychology major with a minor in Creative Writing. To me, college is going to be the place where I explore every facet of my identity: parts I haven’t learned yet, and parts I want to still grow. Beyond that, I’d love to go into education or a workforce that addresses real problems and works with real people.
Joann Xie
Q: What inspired you to take after the “seven deadly sins,” and why did you choose to use a triptych to format your poem? Was it something about your family values, your background, or something else?
A: While "seven deadly sins" stems from Christianity, I realized many of its teachings were also reflected in Chinese traditions. Using experiences as a Chinese-American, I realized I could blend the expectations of modesty and conservatism reflected in both cultures while contrasting the seven original sins with a smaller set of three to allow readers to experience more intimacy with the virtues that resonated closest to me.
Q: If you could add another sin to your poem, what sin would it be, and what memory would you choose to go with that section?
A: I would likely add envy to describe my experiences of being compared to everyone around me growing up. I could use the section of the poem to reflect on stepping away from this atmosphere, learning to internalize that success through various awards or achievements doesn't last, but rather finding personal growth is what brings meaningful accomplishments.
Q: In the third section of the poem, “欲望– lust,” you used Luke 15:21. It was a very distinct part of the poem which piqued our editorial team’s interest. Why did you choose to use that certain verse out of many other verses with a similar concept?
A: As my family is not really religious, I wasn't familiar with many verses in Christianity, but when exploring the blend of Western and Asian culture for this poem, I wanted to tie in an allusion to the Bible that could personally speak to readers no matter if they were Christian or not. When I read Luke 15:21, I felt a connection to the fear of my own parent's rejection for breaking Chinese taboos, and felt that it resonated closely with the last lines of my poem.
Q: What is your writing/thought process behind writing your pieces, and how do you come up with the ideas for them?
A: My poems often begin with an image or memory, and I let my writing flow from there. As I begin writing, I allow my poem's themes and structure to emerge in the process. When brainstorming, I also try to put contrasting images together and explore the underlying meaning that the combination can carry.
Q: What is one piece of advice you would like to share with new writers looking to expand their figurative language and personal meanings in their poems?
A: Even the simplest objects can carry a deep personal story if you let yourself release all your memories of both pain or joy onto the page. Everything that is uniquely yours carries meaning.
