WOTM: An Interview with @transchivalry

30 NOVEMBER 2021

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The Writer of the Month Project is a revised segment of The Plain Poets that looks into what makes a writer, be it their craft or ideas. At the end of every month, we will be conducting an interview with a selected writer, and we’ll be diving into their muses, their writing history and much more.

Behind the eccentric and colourful feeds of @transchivalry, Anderson is a Chinese-American genderqueer poet from the Pacific Northwest. In his free time, he likes to collect arm tattoos and jibbitz for platform crocs, but he is also a reader and a writer. Right now, the writer is working on his Goodreads 2021 goal of 50 books, and honestly it’s all he can think about right now.

If you were to ask about the biggest sources of inspiration, myth would be one. According to the writer, myth has been perceived as a wonderful way of evoking and connecting past and present communities to the illusion people can relate to. In fact, Greek and Chinese mythology is one of his favourite concepts to write about. Oftentimes, he infuses the two into his poetry which takes on an autobiographical, yet creative edge on life. “There’s something so attractive about talking about stories that everyone knows and turning them into surprising resources.” Anderson says.

On the note of autobiographies, the writer does admit that his current location and background has significant influence on his work. Being based in New England, he’s written about the people, the furniture and the climate around him. Fall is super heavy in his works like Nevada Will Burn, and to be honest, such details add a lot of depth in his work.

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Anderson is also inspired by real-life poets such as Gertrude Stein. “She’s less accessible as a beginning poet, but I find her way of connecting with the world and words so fantastic.” he gushes, “Tender Buttons makes me feel like there’s creative possibility in even the most static objects. I think about it all the time.” Stein is an author he’d always recommend.

His writing account, however, was created on the basis of writing more regularly. This also reflects his writing advice for people who want to get into poetry for the first time: to write as much as possible, and to experiment. Anything isn’t off-limits so just try out everything with form, vocabulary and punctuation.

In his time as @transchivalry, he sees his account as a great blessing to create content and to meet other queer and trans poets on the platform. The joy is inevitable, and he admires the movement of creatives turning their pain and resistance into something meaningful. In fact, during the pandemic, he generated so much content and he feels eternally grateful for the writing opportunities to grow.

While poetry can be difficult and ambiguous in its loose shapes and forms, poetry is something he’ll forever appreciate. Regardless of definition, there’s always room for playing around. It’s hard to start at first, but it’s just a matter of time before you find a rough idea to branch out from. “That’s how I conceptualize poetry,” Anderson explains, “Joyful play even if the content is heavy.”

Other than Instagram, Anderson is always interested in still being a writer/poet in the future. Even as a child, he was writing, and today, it’s solidified as a means to process his life and emotions. Writing has also been his preferred method of communication as well, and a place to put forth strong opinions in a fundamentally creative way.

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Publishing a book someday has always been on the horizon. As of now, he’s working on a YA fantasy novel and there’s also poetry being developed in his MFA workshop. During the pandemic, he also had a hand at making zines to fund mutual aid for the Black Lives Matter movement, and his top surgery. But his MFA workshop is his biggest project right now, keeping his hands full as he tries to figure out his form and style. Only when he has something cohesive to churn out, he’ll let us know.

We’ll be waiting for you Anderson!

Here at The Plain Poets, we aim to identify these unique poets and writers and to put them on a pedestal via a platform everyone can support them. You may check out our page here.