Q&A with Breakout 8 Winner Pune Dracker

Pune Dracker is a 2020 MFA candidate studying Nonfiction/Poetry at The New School. She has spent many years writing and editing for the animal welfare world, and is a long-distance runner, jazz funk dancer and exceptionally messy vegan baker. Her recent work has appeared in SLICE, Hyperallergic and Barrow Street’s 4X2 Project.

Pune is one of eight winners of the 2019 Breakout 8 Prize, co-sponsored by Epiphany and The Authors Guild. Read her prizewinning creative nonfiction piece “It’s Not Chemo” (the opening of which is excerpted below) in the Fall/Winter 2019 Issue of Epiphany.

From the Fall/Winter 2019 print issue of Epiphany.

How did you first come up with your winning piece?

I had no intention of writing it! I was in the middle of my nonfiction thesis when strangers started coming up to me and asking if I had cancer, as all my hair had fallen out by then. These encounters were extremely upsetting, and I started wondering why people felt they could approach me or, for that matter, others who may or may not be undergoing chemotherapy. I thought it was an important topic that the Times might be interested in, so was thinking something short. I told my advisor, Laurie Sheck, that I would send her more of my thesis but first I had pound out this short essay while it was still fresh in my mind. Once I started, the piece took on a life of its own, and I just surrendered and followed, wherever it wanted to go.

What do you hope to gain from the year ahead?

It’s my final year of a dual concentration in nonfiction/poetry, so I am going for broke. I’m trying to learn as much as I can from my professors and classmates, attending as many events in the literary community as I can, volunteering at events, submitting, exploring, writing. To be able to make the time to complete an MFA program is an incredible gift. I am frankly terrified my practice will fall away after graduation, so I’m working on ways to ensure I keep writing and creating, always.

What, for you, is the most exciting development in contemporary literature?

Poetry is becoming more popular! The National Endowment for the Arts shows that the number of people reading poetry has doubled in the last 5 years. What a great opportunity to get people in the door to read poets like Terrance Hayes, who’s dealing with current events and sociopolitical issues using a “stuffy” old poetic form. His sonnets are just so insanely beautiful and deeply powerful. And they are NOT easy to write. He is out of control!

What resources are most valuable for writers just breaking into publication territory?

I think it’s important to learn about the literary environment, see how it works. The Authors Guild has a very lively discussion group, where you can get questions answered about anything. Say yes to any readings and conferences and events you can. Many are free and sponsored by colleges and universities. And there are SO many literary journals! Find the ones you like, and submit to them, and see if they offer opportunities to volunteer or otherwise get involved. Sal, who stars in my story, would always say that submitting and getting rejected was good for me, and he’s right. It helps you pinpoint exactly what is important to you, and helps you set goals, and helps you learn not to take it personally. Just keep moving forward.

Who is your favorite underappreciated author we should all be reading?

He’s not underappreciated and it’s certainly not current, but George Orwell’s 1946 essay, “Politics and the English Language,” blew my mind — and is still so relevant. Also, the first chapter in Edwidge Danticat’s Create Dangerously. It is one of the most perfect essays I have read to date — and touches on many important issues in the literary world today, including the question of “whose story is it to tell?”

Do you have a memorable experience of an influential teacher you’d like to share?

I would not be answering this question were it not for Laurie Sheck! She has imparted so many nuggets of wisdom, but most importantly the idea of trusting one's creative impulse and having the courage to follow your own curiosity. She often talks about how language is passed down from the writers who have come before us, and we are next in a very long lineage. Her description of poetry as dealing with the word on an almost cellular level… ahhh! I love it. And as a defender of free speech, she is an incredible role model.

It’s been said we write what we obsess over. What themes do you find keep cropping up in your writing again and again?

Pigeons and Andy Warhol! Both ubiquitous — but do we really know who they are? I spent more than two decades as a writer and editor in the animal welfare world, so dogs and cats always find their way in. And I am deeply interested in persona and fame — Marilyn Monroe, for example, a genius actress who was so sensitive and so misunderstood. And so American.

What was your favorite book growing up?

“Rascal,” the story of a young boy who takes care of an orphaned raccoon. I still remember the emptiness and ache I felt when Rascal was released into the wild; at the time I was really young, so that was a new emotion for me, when you first get that “profound” feeling, that things can be sad and right/true at the same time. In high school I discovered Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick, and stole “The Philosophy of Andy Warhol” from the library. I am sorry, library!

If the pursuit of writing is a quiet solo one, what are some ways you connect with other writers?

This may be weird but I don’t feel alone when I write. Most of the time I’m writing about or influenced by other writers, so I feel like they’re right there with me. I feel alone when I am NOT writing. I’m lucky because I have an insta-community thanks to being in school. There’s no better way to bond than to present your work to other writers in a workshop setting — it’s a funny combination of intimate/professional that creates a strong bond. It’s fun to do non-writing things with writers, too, though — the best is going to an art gallery or movie or play, because writers usually pay such incredible attention and have something good to share afterwards. I also recommend volunteering at a literary event or organization — it’s a great way to give back and get to know the community.

What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d have gotten early on?

It’s way easier to write than to not write.