Alexandra's poem "Stranger's Journey" won third place in the 2019 issue.
She just completed her Junior year at Milken Community Schools in Los Angeles, California.
This is her first entry into The Bedford Ledger.
She just completed her Junior year at Milken Community Schools in Los Angeles, California.
This is her first entry into The Bedford Ledger.
|
Tell us a little about yourself.
I am currently a Junior at Milken and a lover of all things literary. Poetry has become my deepest and most profound means of expression, but I do try to challenge myself with short stories and flash fiction on occasion. I have always found myself tethered to the written word; as a young child, I was engrossed by the entire Cam Jansen series and any other literary works that I could get my hands on and comprehend. As I grew older, I wondered what it would be like to explore writing myself and came to find the practice fulfilling and introspection-provoking. When did you first start writing poetry? I began my high school career in New York and moved to California at the start of my sophomore year. If I had to pinpoint the specific moment when I really began delving into creative writing, it would be that period of adjusting to a new life out West and of the uncertainties of change. Poetry became my solace; I found my notebook to be the perfect place to explore my emotions and unload my mental clutter. That hooked me and I haven't stopped writing since. Who or what inspires your love for writing/poetry? I have found a home in the world of poetry, because of the genre's singular ability to connect people; it is a liberating medium to explore one's emotions precisely because of its raw, human and unexpected form, replete with its flaws. I know that when I sit down to write, I am giving myself the space I need to be mindful of all matters from the minute to the weighty. |
Do you have any favorite poets or poems that you like to read or have influenced your style of writing?
My favorite poem is Elizabeth Bishop's “One Art”. Whenever I feel blocked and unable to enter the elusive writer's mindset, I read it over and let the powerful meditation on loss wash over me. It was my reading of Bishop that first inspired me to break away (albeit haltingly) from free form poetry. Although I often gravitate toward the latter for the freedom it offers, “One Art” opened my eyes to the power of using form and, sometimes, subverting it. Give us some background on your writing - do you only write poetry? Do you write for pleasure? Have you won any other contests? In the creative realm of writing, I largely focus on poetry. But I do explore several different forms within the genre; villanelles are my personal favorite. I write for pleasure whenever inspiration strikes. As soon as I get even the slightest creative inkling, I pull out my notebook or laptop and head to a sun-soaked corner of my backyard. My poetic pieces have been published in PoemVillage and Teen Ink. In addition to poetry, I also focus on journalistic writing. My essays, reportage and opinion pieces have been published in the New York Jewish Week and Teen Ink. What was the inspiration or the story behind your winning poem? wrote my poem, “Stranger's Journey”, as a means of exploring the feeling of nostalgia, of looking back on what has been. My piece concludes with the message not to allow the past to overcome the present. Looking at life’s events as waypoints on a long voyage, it is crucial to know where you first raised anchor. For better or worse, it is a guide to where or where not to venture. We may wistfully muse over those recollections of things lost or people passed by but mustn’t allow them to hold us captive or distract us from creating new memories. |
