US-based poet and editor, Chiwan Choi in an interview with Semilore Kilaso of PIN Literary Interviews, discusses poetry writing, poetry promotion, culture, languages, racism and literary activism.
Chiwan Choi is the author of 3 collections of poetry, The Flood (Tía Chucha Press, 2010), Abductions (Writ Large Press, 2012), and The Yellow House (CCM, 2017). He wrote, presented, and destroyed the novel Ghostmaker throughout the course of 2015. An Editor at Cultural Weekly, Chiwan is a partner at Writ Large Press and a member of The Accomplices.
- It is my pleasure having you on this session of PIN Literary Interviews. Can we please meet you?
Hello. Thank you for having me. My name is Chiwan Choi. I’m a poet based in the US, mostly in Los Angeles, but currently in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania while my wife is studying for her PhD in Human Computer Interaction. I was born in Seoul, Korea, then lived in Paraguay (in South America) for a few years when I was a little boy.
- Evidently, you love poetry. Why poetry?
I started writing poetry when I was 17. I wanted to be an artist because I was tired of trying to learn English (after trying to learn Korean and then Spanish). But when I discovered poetry through a friend in my high school, I felt it was the right thing for me. It could be short. I didn’t need to know too many words to be able to say what I wanted to say. So that’s how I fell in love with poetry.
- As poets, some of us tend to look at stylistics. How would you describe poetry in relation to your style?
I was lucky to study all the styles when I first started writing (and still do with even newer styles being invented and such), but at this point in my writing career, I like writing as simple and clean as possible, without worry for rhymes or meters. I want to be able to say what I want to say as clearly as possible so that someone like I was when I was young, struggling with the English language, could understand. But — I have been writing long, book-length poems and that’s a direct influence from my favorite poet of all time, Aimé Césaire.
- Your poetry explore the themes on culture, racism, identity, politics and family. Has sharing your truth via poetry affected your relationship with people?
Yes, definitely. I think because of what I write, whether it’s about racism or family (which also includes racism), people who meet me and people know me know exactly who they are getting.
- You are passionate and committed to supporting the promotion of poetry, with interest in People of Colour. What fuels this passion of yours?
When I was first starting out as a poet, I used to try and read at open mics around Los Angeles, and these established white poets would laugh me away. So, I told myself I would never be like that. Also, because I work in publishing in addition to being a poet, I know how white and racist and homophobic and all kinds of hatred there exist in the field. So, I want to change that as much as I can.
- What can be done to curb the systemic racism in the literary space? How can we have more POC as editor-in-chief, coordinators and directors in the creative industry?
Definitely. It’s not enough to just publish POC writers, although that is a good thing. We need more POC in editorial and other decision-making positions. And to do that, we have to kind of force lot of white people out of those positions, while also creating new ones.
- Having lived in South Korea, Paraguay and Los Angeles, you must have experienced different languages. What key influence does mastery of language have on poetry?
Well, different languages have different pacing and different visuals, you know? Even sound. Like for example, the way we describe how a dog barks is different in different languages. In English, a dog sounds like, “Woof Woof!” In Korean, however, a dog sounds like, “Mung Mung!” So I think what it does is it helps you write in your own unique way. It’s subtle sometimes but it does affect your writing and your thinking.
- Do you think African languages deserve promotion in the literary space? What advice do you have for users of indigenous languages for poetry writing and its translation?
Of course. For me, the few chances I’ve had to publish writers writing in different languages, I have tried to publish in that language, even if most people reading Cultural Weekly doesn’t understand the language. I think the reader can and should take the time to look it up, to try to translate it for themselves. Use Google translate, if you have to. But I think just seeing the original language, whether it’s African or any other languages, is important. We need to remind people that there are other languages outside of English.
With translations, it being done by people native to the language that is being translated is important. Often, white translators will get more fame than the original author and that’s terrible.
- Are creatives different from their art? Do you agree that incarcerated poets should be published and celebrated in the literary space regardless of their crimes?
Of course. But — this is where I think editors and publishers really need to put in work. Just like not all non-incarcerated poets are equal, neither are incarcerated. If I am not going to publish some poet who is well known for being racist or misogynist, which I won’t, I am not going to publish and celebrate incarcerated racists and misogynists, you know what I mean? And editors and publishers should put in the work, asking around, doing research, to learn more about the person. You can’t be 100% right all the time, but you can try.
- Poetry appreciation is gaining grounds in Nigeria and the world. What in your opinion is the place of poetry in literary creativity? What opportunities for Poets?
Opportunity is a double-edged sword for poets. What I mean is, on the one hand, there are so many venues that publish poetry, and if there isn’t one for you, you can create one. But at the same time, there aren’t many opportunities to be paid for publishing poetry. It’s the one thing that upsets me about what I do, the fact that the website I work for as editor doesn’t have the money to pay the writers yet. We’re working hard to change this, even if it’s a few dollars, but right now we can’t.
- What’s your take about literary activism in terms of taking poetry out of the pages to the streets?
Poetry was always about that. Rhyming was a way to help memorize so you can recite anywhere, whether it’s on a stage or on the street. And the word “publish” in its original meaning is “to declare publicly.” So, I think that’s why poetry, with its compact form, its willingness to express rage and love and feelings, is so suited for these times of unrest. The People can speak through poetry. The People can express through it. The People can demand through it. The People can mobilize through it.
- With your experience associating with Nigerian poetry via Nigerian Voices curated by Babatunde Babafemi, what do you have to say about the people and cultures of Nigerians?
I am just learning through the work. In a way, it’s been so many poets that I have been exposed through Babatunde and through the poets he’s connected me to. But I also know there are so many more. I do love getting a glimpse of daily lives, relationships, struggles, and loves through the poetry we’ve been able to publish. I also love how Nigerians use English in a different way than how we are taught in the US.
- Poets are universal beings. Is it possible hazarding the “creative temperament” of poets across political climes? If yes, please compare poets in Nigeria and that of your country, especially in terms of how they engage society via their poems.
Well, I don’t know enough about Nigerian poets to speak on it expertly. It is actually one of the things I’ve wanted to learn, maybe so I can share with poets here in the US. But from the very little I have seen, I absolutely love how supportive the Nigerian poets (as far as the ones we’ve published) are of each other. And there seems to be a real sense of pride of being poets.
- Poets in Nigeria is foremost in promoting what has come to be known as poetry renaissance in our country and across our shores. What do you have to say in this regard?
Once again, I don’t know enough to speak on it too much. I will say, here in the US, when institutions, especially old publishers and academics, speak of “American poetry,” they most always mean white poets. They relegate all the other poets to smaller sub-sections, i.e. Black poets, Asian-American poets, Native poets, etc. So, I love that Poets in Nigeria is really embracing a truly national poetry renaissance.
- Have you ever visited Africa? If no, do you have plans?
I haven’t but it’s something I have always wanted to do. Hopefully in the future, I will have an opportunity to visit as a poet and meets poets there, the ones that we have published in Cultural Weekly and others I do not know of, and learn and share and read and write together. Maybe even start an international publishing project!
- Your acceptance to be part of this Interview session is highly appreciated. Please leave us with few lines from any poem you have written (Max 10 lines). Thank you.
“portraitures and erasures” (excerpt)
it ends my sleep to want my story about
my skin melting in the sun that day of
summer and a doctor who tells me i am dying,
that thing i hide under my nails like dirt
scratched from summer skin.
so i pick up a pencil and begin to erase myself.
erasure is sometimes editing.
immigration is always editing.
(full poem here: https://poets.org/poem/portraitures-and-erasures)