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| all smiles, photo: Vincent M. Agosto |
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York. They are the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (Operating System, 2017), Sexting Ghosts (Unknown Press, 2018), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016), and the editor of A Shadow Map: Writing by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017). They received their MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Joanna is the founder of Yes Poetry and the managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine. Some of their writing has appeared in Brooklyn Magazine, Prelude, BUST, Spork Press, and elsewhere. Joanna also leads workshops at Brooklyn Poets. Find them online: joannavalente.com / Twitter: @joannasaid / IG: joannacvalente / FB: joannacvalente
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GB: Joanna, thanks for taking time to chat. Can you share a little bit about yourself? Any background info that's NOT in the bio?
JV: Something that a lot of people don't necessarily know about me is the fact that I'm a visual artist as well. I paint and take photographs and generally love fashion (although this latter fact is probably obvious). I also love to cook and bake, and really just love experiencing so many different things and mediums. While writing is certainly my main art form, it's definitely not always the most important or the only way I express myself. Getting my hands dirty, literally and metaphorically, is so important to me. My dream is to have a garden one day.
GB: Sexting Ghosts is easily one of the best books I've read this year. If you could use one word or phrase to describe its message, what would it be and why?
JV: Exploratory.
GB: On top of being an avid writer, you work for as an editor for multiple publications. How does that inspire or affect your own work?
JV: It inspires me to seek out writers and artists and give different voices a platform. Honestly, at the end of the day, I just want to help people, whether that means giving someone a platform for their voice, or connect other people to voices and experiences like theirs. That gives me immense joy. In terms of my own work, it also pushes me to work harder, to think of my art in new ways, to try and experiment. I love thinking in new frameworks and structures and setting challenges for myself. Growing as an artist is important because I never want to be stagnant. Who wants to create the same piece over and over again?
GB: What other types of art do you like to experiment with? Why?
JV: Visual art and music. With art, I paint and sketch and take photographs. I'm just starting to delve into music, largely with synth. In the past, I played flute and was classically trained, but I'm useless now. Perhaps I'll learn again and do some experimental flute playing, ha.
GB: What's your creative process like? Are there any recent challenges or roadblocks you've had to overcome?
JV: I'm pretty forgiving with myself. I do try to write for at least 15 minutes a day, but I try not to worry if I don't. While I am a firm believer in having a creative schedule, since I don't believe that "inspiration just happens," but I do also think overworking yourself causes burn out. It results in work that doesn't feel fresh or true. I'd say, overall, lack of time is my main challenge. I work full-time and live in New York City and try to have a social life, so it can be hard to balance all of those things, especially since I'm an editor as well - and editing takes up a lot of space and time and energy. So I'm always negotiating time. There's just never enough of it.
GB: Which authors/artists have had the most profound influences on your work?
JV: A list in no particular order: Kim Hyesoon, Richard Siken, Anne Sexton, Virginia Woolf, John Milton, Gustav Klimt, Miles Davis, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Yann Tiersen, Ang Lee, Leo Tolstoy, Alexander McQueen, David Bowie, Tori Amos, Lucille Clifton, Joy Harjo, Richard Brautigan, etc.
GB: Who and what is on your MUST-READ list?
JV: Besides all of the above, definitely Maggie Smith, Srikanth Reddy, Chen Chen, Keegan Lester. There's so many. My sister (Stephanie Valente), but I'm biased, of course.
GB: What does "success" mean to you?
JV: Finding happiness. Loving people to my fullest capacity. Jobs and books and awards and recognition is, of course, every writer's dream, but those are empty things at the end of the day. They don't love you. People do. You do.
GB: What's next for Joanna C. Valente? Got any forthcoming projects we can keep an eye out for?
JV: My chapbook, NO(BODY) is coming out in 2019 from Madhouse Press, so definitely keep an eye out for that. It has a lot of fun poems in there, like "Ode to Meatwad."
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