Tag: Non-fiction

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Interview with Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Author of Touching the Art

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore is the author of three novels and a memoir, and the editor of five nonfiction anthologies. Her memoir, The End of San Francisco, won a Lambda Literary Award, and her anthology, Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots?: Flaming Challenges to Masculinity, Objectification, and the Desire to Conform, was an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book. Her latest title, the novel Sketchtasy, was one of NPR’s Best Books of 2018. Her next book, The Freezer Door, debuted in November 2020. Maggie Nelson says it’s “a book about not belonging that made me feel deeply less alone.”

I had the opportunity to interview Mattilda, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m the kind of writer who thinks that writing means living, and living means writing, the two are intertwined so that every experience becomes part of the creative process, or that’s the goal, anyway.

What can you tell us about your latest book, Touching the Art? What inspired this project?

Touching the Art centers around my relationship with my late grandmother, an abstract artist from Baltimore. As a child, she nurtured everything that made me different—my femininity, creativity, empathy, introspection, softness, thoughtfulness—but when my work became unapologetically queer, suddenly she called it vulgar. “Why are you wasting your talent,” she would say to me, over and over again. The book circles around this abandonment.

Based on the description for this book, it appears Touching the Art explores the concept of Jewish assimilation and identity. As a queer Jewish person, I would like to hear your thoughts on exploring that in the book as well as any thoughts you might have on the intersection between your own Jewish and queer identities?


My grandmother grew up in Baltimore at a time when the city was rigidly segregated. Jews in Baltimore both enforced this segregation, and were victims of it. So I’m trying to explore this duality, how the Jews of Baltimore, for example, overwhelmingly sided with the Confederate South in the Civil War. There were even Jewish merchants that were smuggling goods to the South when Baltimore was under Union occupation. Most of the businesses in the one neighborhood where Black people were allowed to own property were owned by Jews, and they enforced the same racist Jim Crow policies as other businesses. My grandmother grew up two blocks from the line that separated white from Black, and I try to think about what that would have been like in the 1920s and 1930s. Billie Holiday, who also grew up in Baltimore at that time, says in her memoir, “A whorehouse was about the only place where black and white folks could meet in any natural way,” and I think that tells you everything.

Understanding this history, which I did not know about when I was growing up in DC, really helped me to understand the family I grew up in, which was a very assimilated Jewish family where upward mobility and class striving were intertwined with Jewishness. And so was racism, misogyny, homophobia. As a child I was very proud of my Jewish heritage, but after my bar mitzvah I decided I didn’t believe in God, and I wanted no part of this type of Jewishness. Of course, there’s a long history of radical atheist Jews, queers and misfits and weirdos and iconoclasts, but this was hidden from me due to the violence of assimilation.

What drew you to writing, particularly memoir? Were there any favorite writers or stories that sparked your own love and interest in storytelling?

Writing is what keeps me alive, it’s how I process the world and express myself and figure things out and connect with people too, I think more and more in this alienating world it’s about connection. I don’t write with genre in mind, I just write what I need to write, and then once it reaches a certain point I take a look at the whole thing and figure it all out.

How would you describe your general writing process?

I think I am always writing, but this could just be one sentence in a day. I write without any intention of plot or structure or form until eventually, usually once I have several hundred pages, sometimes after years, I realize what the writing is becoming and then eventually it becomes a book.

With Touching the Art, though, I started by touching my grandmother’s art and seeing what would come through. Then I moved to Baltimore to see what would come through there. And after that I went into research mode. So all of this is in the book.

What are some of your favorite elements of writing? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or challenging? 

I’m an obsessive editor, so I love the editing process, that you can keep working and working and working with the same text until it becomes something else, and until you get to the kind of precision that you’re looking for, but at the same time you can keep a raw sense of searching. But then of course sometimes the editing process can be the most frustrating part, especially when you’re trying to get it right.

As a writer, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration?

I love going on walks, which sounds ridiculously cheesy, but it is what clears my head, especially leaning against trees, and I love dancing, but this has been very hard during the pandemic because I definitely don’t want to dance inside, and of course I get inspiration from reading, and from other writers, but you already know that. And sometimes there isn’t any inspiration, but I write anyway.

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

No one has yet asked how all the different threads in the book came together, and so I would say it was through the writing itself. Like with some of these parts, I had no idea what I was doing while I was doing it, but then suddenly, at the end, something would come back into the book, and I would realize oh.

Aside from your work, what are other things you would want readers to know about you?

What else do you need to know? I mean it’s all there, really, in my work. That’s the type of writing I do.

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

Yes, I have a new novel called Terry Dactyl, which is out in the world on submission now… Wish me luck! And then after that I have a new hybrid nonfiction book called Social Distancing. I’m on my fifth draft of that one.

What advice would you give to other aspiring writers?

Just keep writing. Don’t worry about how much or how little. Don’t worry about whether you hate it, just get it down on the page. Even a sentence a day, that’s plenty. Once you have it there, you can make it into what you need.

Finally, what LGBTQ+ books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

Honestly there are so many that I don’t even know where to start. I would say that reading David Wojnarowicz’s work was the first time I felt my entire sense of the world reflected in print, especially Close to the Knives and Memories That Smell Like Gasoline, but that second one is probably out of print. Another book I will always treasure is Gifts of the Body by Rebecca Brown. A recent book that I loved is Borealis by Aisha Sabatini Sloan. Oh and Miss Major Speaks by Toshio Meronek and Miss Major offers him a great informal history lesson.

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Interview with Clarkisha Kent

Clarkisha Kent is a Nigerian-American writer, culture critic, former columnist, and up-and-coming author. Committed to telling inclusive stories via unique viewpoints from nigh-infancy, she is fascinated with using storytelling and cultural criticism not as a way to “overcome” or “transcend” her unique identities (as a FAT, bisexual, and disabled Black African woman), but as a way to explore them, celebrate them, affirm them, and most importantly, normalize them and make the world safe enough for people who share them to exist.

As a University of Chicago graduate with a B.A. in Cinema and Media Studies and English, she brings with her over seven years of pop culture analysis, four years of film theory training, and a healthy appetite for change.

Her writing has been featured in outlets like Entertainment Weekly, Essence, The Root, BET, PAPER, HuffPost, MTV News, Wear Your Voice Magazine, and more. She is also the creator of #TheKentTest, a media litmus test designed to evaluate the quality of representation that exists for women of color in film and other media.

Clarkisha Kent is the author of Fat Off, Fat On: A Big Bitch Manifesto (Feminist Press, March 2023).

I had the opportunity to interview Clarkisha, which you can read below.

CW: Discussion of fatphobia

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

I’d describe myself as an internet shit-talker (laughs)! But on a serious note, I’m a writer who’s been doing so online (and then professionally) for just under ten years. Before then, I attended the University of Chicago to study English and Film. When I’m not concerned with any of that, you can catch me watching BoJack Horseman (again) or playing some version of the Sims.

What can you tell us about your newest book, Fat Off, Fat On: A Big Bitch Manifesto? What was the inspiration for this project?

So Fat Off, Fat On is my first book and while it primarily deals with my life, I mainly use my life story to explain how insidious fatphobia is. And that, yes, it’s not about merely “name-calling”. It’s a systemic issue.

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling?

My upbringing. It was rather oppressive and in order to escape (first mentally, and then physically, to Chicago), I used writing to tell the kind of stories I was into and wanted to see. Essentially, it was a way to imagine me being somewhere else.

How would you describe your writing process?

A little chaotic for the most part. I jot down ideas/random tidbits in my notes app and on my waterproof notepad in my shower. That’s usually the brainstorming part. But whenever a serious project is on the horizon, I’ll return to my desktop–in its special corner–and throw whatever I need to on the page. I usually also give myself a minimum time (1 – 2 hours) to write, depending on deadlines and etc.

Many authors would say one of the most challenging parts of writing a book is finishing one. What strategies would you say helped you accomplish this?

Some of y’all gonna roll your eyes, but…outlining. It sounds so cliché (it is kind of), but it’s true. If you have an idea of where your story is supposed to end, it’ll be much easier to finish it.

Growing up, were there any stories/books in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, (and so much more). Presently, I really fucked with Red Lip Theology by Candice Marie Benbow and Communion by bell hooks.

As a writer, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general? 

Definitely bell hooks. Toni Morrison.

What are some of your favorite elements of writing? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or challenging? 

Getting paid for it (hahaha). But probably coming back to read the work. Sometimes I’ll wait years to read something I wrote in its entirety and then be like “damn. I really did that)!

Challenging elements would be the editing process. Either I do too little or too much. No in-between. That’s I consider a good editor a national treasure.

Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

Other than the obvious, I am a Pluto truther. #JusticeForPluto!!!

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but that you wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

I can’t think of anything off-head.

What advice might you have to give for other aspiring writers?

Consider another profession. I kid, I kid! On a serious note, you need patience. And if you don’t have it, well, you’re gonna have to spend time cultivating it. And I’m so serious.

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

I’m working on a Western about a Black female outlaw and, possibly, another nonfiction project.

Finally, what books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT? 

If you’re serious about fatphobia, and learning about its anti-Black origins, then you need to read Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings.

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Interview with Amanda Leduc

Amanda Leduc is a writer and disability rights advocate. She is the author of THE CENTAUR’S WIFE (Random House Canada, 2021), DISFIGURED: ON FAIRY TALES, DISABILITY, AND MAKING SPACE (Coach House Books, 2020), and THE MIRACLES OF ORDINARY MEN (ECW Press, 2013). Her essays and stories have appeared across Canada, the US, and the UK, and she has spoken across North America on accessibility, inclusion, and disability in storytelling. She has cerebral palsy and lives in Hamilton, Ontario, where she serves as the Communications Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD), Canada’s first festival for diverse authors and stories.

I had the opportunity to interview Amanda, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Of course! I’m a Canadian author and disability rights advocate. I’ve written several books: a nonfiction book called Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space, which was published in 2020, and two novels, The Centaur’s Wife, published in 2021, and The Miracles of Ordinary Men, published in 2013. I currently live in Hamilton, Ontario, where I write and serve as the Communications and Development Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD), Canada’s first festival for diverse authors and stories.

As an academic, what can you tell us about your book, Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space? What was the inspiration for this book?

Disfigured is a hybrid book—a blend of memoir and cultural criticism that looks at several well-known fairy tales from a disability rights lens. I look at my own lifelong fascination with fairy tales and explore how that, along with my disability, shaped how I grew up and viewed disability in the world.

What are some of your favorite stories/fairytales concerning disability, or containing disabled coding?

I think that Beauty and the Beast is a really great example of a fairytale that is deeply coded in disability. The Beast, as a character, is made to look different, is othered, as a result of his bad behaviour. This carries the message that those who look (or walk, or act) differently from the “norm” are this way because they somehow deserve it. It’s the kind of message that we can (sometimes!) deconstruct as adults, but it’s often difficult for young children—who are most often exposed to fairytales in their formative years—to understand this. And as a result, we grow up internalizing these kinds of messages—the good things that happen to so-called “normal” people versus what happens to those who are perceived as different in some way.

How did you find yourself getting into writing, both fiction and non-fiction? What drew you to those mediums?

I have always wanted to be a writer, since the time that I was very small. It’s just always something I’ve wanted to do in the world. I was initially drawn to fiction first, and spent a lot of time in my teens and twenties focused on learning how to write stories and novels. So it came as something of a surprise to discover in my thirties that I was also very interested in non-fiction, and in exploring the ways that this genre in particular could shift and grow and change.

How would you describe your writing process?

It’s very organic. Usually I start a book thinking of one specific scene or idea. With Disfigured, I was interested in the fact that so many of the fairytales I’d been introduced to as a child featured disability but were never discussed in explicitly those terms, so I set out to write a book that explored this idea, and along the way the book incorporated memoir and hybrid forms as a part of this discovery. With my latest novel, The Centaur’s Wife, I had a scene in mind of a woman who was struggling with her marriage (and with the world ending) but also secretly in love with someone else. I was interested in exploring what “taboo” love can mean, and looking at how grief and desire can intertwine. Then, as I was exploring these things, the novel began to incorporate elements of disability into the story as well.

When I write, I don’t generally have an outline—I start with something small and then build on that, and the outline gradually reveals itself to me as the story goes on. The initial part of writing—that first scene or idea—can often be quite slow, and I’ll spend months or years just jotting down little notes to myself and thinking through the world of the novel and what it’s trying to say. But then gradually the momentum builds and once I’m in the thick of a writing project it usually comes out in a steady fashion. At the height of things I like to shoot for a minimum of 1000 words a day, but I don’t always get there.

As a writer, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration?

I love Karen Russell’s work, and Kevin Brockmeier, and Carmen Maria Machado—I think they’re all doing really interesting things with form and voice, and the “reality” of the worlds that we as writers try to build.

I was, and still am, a huge fantasy and sci-fi nerd. When I was young I read a lot of the fantasy and sci-fi classics, like Octavia Butler and C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien, and it’s a genre that I still love escaping into, particularly when my own writing is proving difficult, (which it often does!). I love Sarah J. Maas, and am waiting impatiently for her next book.

Over the last few years I’ve noticed that I’ve reached a place where inspiration seems to come from everywhere—I find creative influences everywhere I look, from the shows I watch through to my daily walks with my dog. It’s really wonderful and I wish this for all writers—to be able to look at the world around you and see creativity everywhere feels like such a gift!

What advice would you give for authors for portraying disability (whether that of their own or of others) within their own work? 

I think it’s important for all writers to be honest with themselves around the question of portraying a character with a disability, particularly if that disability isn’t your own. You need to ask yourself: am I the best person to tell this story? Or should I be amplifying the voice of someone else who is already telling this story in some way?

If you really think that a character must have a disability of some kind, and you don’t have that experience yourself, you must pay to have your work read by someone with lived experience—in publishing they’re often known as sensitivity readers—so that they can give you advice on the portrayal of your character and suggestions for how it might improve.

What are some of your favorite elements of writing? What are some of the most challenging?

I love creating new worlds and imagined futures (and presents, and pasts!) and then getting to play in them. It’s the greatest thing. The challenging part of that is making sure that everything then makes sense in the context of the story!

Besides your work as an author, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?

I write a regular newsletter (amandaleduc.substack.com) and also work across North America as a disability rights advocate, giving presentations on accessibility in events and the presence of disability in storytelling.

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but wish you were (and the answer to that question)?

I wish that interviews talked about book advances and the financial realities of writing more! The reality is that most writers who are working in the world today do not write full-time—most of us have day jobs and do all of our writing on top of that. I think that a lack of discussion around this can perpetuate this idea that anyone who is a public writer has someone found a way to make a lot of money doing it, and that is so often not the case.

Are there any projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss?

I have a new novel called Wild Life coming out in Canada next year—and hopefully in other countries too—though I’m not yet sure exactly when that will be. It follows two hyenas who walk upright and talk like humans, and the writing of it is probably the single most enjoyable time I’ve had as a writer to-date. It was so much fun to do.

What advice might you have to give to aspiring writers?

I think a lot of advice to writers boils down to don’t give up. It’s a cliché, but it’s also true. Don’t give up! There is a time and a place for your stories. What I’ll add to this is: your work will find its audience. And that audience is not going to look the same for everybody. But that’s okay! Understanding your connection to your readers—what people are drawn to in your writing, and how your writing shapes the world that your readers inhabit—is part of the magic of being a writer. May you know that moment when it arrives, and treasure it forever.

Finally, what books/authors, including possibly those related to queerness and/or disability, would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

So many! Carmen Maria Machado for sure (Her Body And Other Parties, The Dream House), Keah Brown (The Pretty One), Emily Ladau (Demystifying Disability), and Alice Wong (The Year Of The Tiger, Disability Visibility), just to name a few. Happy reading!