Q&A with Breakout 8 Winner Shuang Ang
Born and raised in Singapore, Shuang Ang is currently an MFA student at Sarah Lawrence College. She has been published by The Rumpus and the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, and her chapbook, Immigrant Ritual, was a runner-up in the Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize.
Shuang is one of eight winners of the 2019 Breakout 8 Prize, co-sponsored by Epiphany and The Authors Guild. Read her prizewinning poems “American Lessons” and “Gravity” (excerpted below) in the Fall/Winter 2019 Issue of Epiphany.
From our Fall/Winter 2019 print issue.
How did you first come up with your winning piece?
I wrote both pieces after moving to New York to pursue my MFA. "Gravity" is about the struggle of fitting in when I have a distinctly un-American name, and the attempt to reconcile that with my sense of self. "American Lessons" was written during my first semester here, when I was really acutely aware of all the things that made me different. It was also my first time experiencing Fall, so it's a reflection on how much change I was going through.
What do you hope to gain from the year ahead?
I'm working on my thesis, so I hope to have something close to a publishable manuscript! In non-tangible aspects, I hope to develop a stronger and keener voice.
What, for you, is the most exciting development in contemporary literature?
I'm very intrigued by the amount of boundaries being pushed by contemporary writers, and how literature as we know it is constantly being reinvented. I love reading work that surprises me and makes me think, "Oh, I didn't know I could do that!" Some examples would be the use of emoticons and text speak in poems, or new forms being invented like the pecha kucha or the duplex.
What resources are most valuable for writers just breaking into publication territory?
Peers or mentors whom you can trust to give valuable feedback and are unafraid of calling you out.
Who is your favorite underappreciated author we should all be reading?
I've discovered so many brilliant poets in recent years that not enough people are talking about! But off the top of my head, Hera Lindsay Bird. She's a New Zealand poet with such a surrealist and wacky style.
Do you have a memorable experience of an influential teacher you’d like to share?
I’m currently being taught by Marie Howe, and just the other day she picked out some lines in my poem and said, “Is this true?” And I hesitated and said, “Not entirely.” She told me: “Take it out. Whatever’s not true, take it out.”
It’s been said we write what we obsess over. What themes do you find keep cropping up in your writing again and again?
Now that I’m in New York, I write a lot about home (Singapore). I also seem to always end up writing about my mother, my self-identity, mental health, and heartbreak.
What was your favorite book growing up?
I was a big Harry Potter fan. At that age, who wasn’t?
If the pursuit of writing is a quiet solo one, what are some ways you connect with other writers?
I'm part of a writing collective—we meet up at least once a month to workshop poems, and other times to just hang out and chat. I also attend readings and events!
What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d have gotten early on?
Not to close yourself off to experiences or genres or forms or themes or anything like that. It's easy to say "I'd never do X" but later on you realize that you will, whether by choice or not. Keep yourself open to challenges!
