Core Memories: Juliana Chang
We believe the origin of our work as creators is important to consider and hold. In CORE MEMORIES, we ask artists and writers about their own creative beginnings. What led them to operate in their genre of choice? Was it a specific moment, an errant thought, a movement? Was it an insight, a person, a place? Years into their work, does it continue to resonate?
In this edition, we interview Juliana Chang
Juliana Chang is a Taiwanese-American poet. Her debut poetry chapbook, INHERITANCE, was the winner of the 2020 Vella Prize. Juliana’s work appears or is forthcoming in The American Poetry Review, The Chestnut Review, diode poetry journal, Burningword Literary Magazine, Best New Poets 2023, and other publications. Her first full-length collection, So Long This Wound Stayed Open, is forthcoming with ELJ Editions in 2024. She is a student at Harvard Law School. You can find Juliana at www.julianachang.com and @julianawritespoems on Instagram!
What is your CORE MEMORY?
In 9th grade, I was on my high school's speech and debate team, and during one of our practices, my coach played us a clip of Sarah Kay's spoken word TED Talk to demonstrate how to use rhythm and repetition for emphasis. I was completely awestruck, and after practice ended, I went home and proceeded to watch every single video of Sarah Kay I could find on YouTube. It was incredible and life-changing. That night, I had two related but distinct realizations: 1. Poets could be alive! And modern! 2. Poetry did not need to be opaque or difficult to understand to be good. Something can be said simply and skillfully.
How has that moment impacted your current work or current artistic practice? The first of those realizations drove me to start writing poetry. And the second of those realizations continues to guide my day-to-day work. What I love about poetry is that it is so fluid and always able to meet the moment for me. Every few months, I find myself writing a little differently, leaning heavier on a certain tool or style or shifting toward or away from certain topics, or certain ways of looking at the world. At the same time, I am always guided by my internal mandate of creating work that is accessible, that is powerful because it translates something hard to name into something nameable. I want my work to make things easier to understand, not harder.
Finally, these days I am mostly a "page poet" who surfaces occasionally at the rare open mic, but I still "hear" everything I write, thanks to that first exposure to spoken word!
Are there any new projects you’re working on?
My debut full-length poetry collection, So Long This Wound Stayed Open, will be coming out with ELJ Editions in 2024. Here is the book description: So Long This Wound Stayed Open is a map toward forgiving and healing your inner child. In her poetry collection, Chang names core wounds like fear of rejection, and loss of heritage and home, and welcomes them into her arms, saying: we need not let our scars turn us into islands. Let them instead be the light others use to find us in the dark.